Issues with mixing different strains ??

[JackRent]

Is there any issue with mixing together several different strains of dicus ? I am not sure I would be able to chose just one color morph. I am particulary fond of the tangerines. Anyone have a great source ?

[Apistomaster]

You can mix any color strain of domestic discus you wish. They are all the same fish, just different colors, exactly like mixing different types of gold fish.

[tdr1919]

One thing is not if they will breed, but how they will look, mixing (PB) pigeon blood with "barred" can result in some real ugly fish, with black pepper through out.

- Tom

[krandrus]

In my limited experience I have also seen that some strains are not as agressive eaters as others. This is backed up by others discussing "weak strains".

My experience has been that PB based fish are very aggressive and strong while "newer" strains may not have the same constitution. That is on a sample of about 30 - maybe some more experienced hobbiests would like to support or dispute this.

Of course the weaker fish will get less food, grow slower, and be even weaker competing for food. I am seeing this play out with the Golden Emperors and LSS that I have now. The fish that are strongly PB are outcompeting the Non-PB Golds and the LSS.

Kevin

[Apistomaster]

Pigeon Bloods do seem to be of vigorous stock. I don't have any experience with Pigeon bloods because I only raise red turquoise domestics. All my other efforts are aimed at breeding wild discus.
I answered to OP based on collecting different color varieties and without commenting on interbreeding. This can be a way to develop a new strain but most of the fish would not have much resale value since most of us want pure breeding strains. Given enough tank space and cover even pigeon bloods do fine with other color varieties. Lots of simplydiscus members do it.

[ShinShin]

Good point, Kevin. Different "strains" will and do react differently in the aquarium. Your obsevations are correct. PB's are definately a hardier and more aggressive strain than most other domestics and will dominate a tank. Dick Au brought this point up at a talk he gave (not PB's, everyone found this out very quickly after they became available in the States) of keeping different strains together in a tank. He recommended growing out one strain in a tank. Of course, most don't adhere to this line of thinking, not because it may not be true, but because of tank space.

Mat

[mikel]

I agree with the theory that PB's are stronger and more active in getting more food. My two that I got from Al are by far the strongest of my 7. My others, the blue and red turquoises, are not as vigorous...though a few are holding their own in terms of size and growth rate.