melbournebetta

Might be something I could look into down the track, I don't think I'm as partial to the metal front end, a black body appeals to me! I'll keep them alive, and have a few spawns and see what comes about (: Thanks for the feedback! x

Thanks guys... I've decided the guppies will get their own tank (divided) and I may just end up with a really lovely display tank.... I bought some colourful mutts for my mum to plonk in an IQ3 Dymax tank that I have kicking around... but I would like to breed Doyle and his lady friends. Interesting, I bought some Black Moscows also (big spread, lovely fish) I wonder what would happen crossing them to the red lace? I find the guppy designer forum a bit scattered, and I'm an artist - I skim over the content when a heading says "genetics" but I do understand the X and Y genes are inherited with gender dependance... i got that far. Cheers Y'all - any advice on these guys will be well-received!

HA! you think that's bad - I wonder if the judges will notice I have a few STUNNING fish that are completely hands-free... ahh well. Up to you - he's divine! (I'm being cheeky and tearing some kids out of the spawn tanks to show.. dammit, get your WRAP ON or get out and WIN SOMETHING you terrors) This is why i'm never having children, can you imagine what i'd be like? DAMMN i nearly bought that trio of guppies- sorry it didn't work out, I'll keep an ear to the ground and see if theres any spear tails around... hopefully the girls drop some babies for you? x

JHA - you're a great welcomer! Welcome madam rainbow fish, you have come to the right place.... We're just a straight forward helpful bunch of people who are also pretty fish-mad and will quite happily talk about fish until the proverbial cows come home (which it sounds like is more probable at your house than it is at mine) There's lots of information on here, and no problem you have is likely to be a new one, so use the search engine function, and ask as many questions as you like. We're gluttons for photos, so perhaps think about setting up a photobucket account and sharing images if you have some - of any or ALL of your animals. You must have your hands full looking after all those pets! I struggle with one dog, one ferral pigeon one horse, 3 housemates & eighty fish.... Anyway - welcome, we look forward to getting to know you. -Ness

Actually I have two red oopses and they really look like they have a weird marbling saddle... and yeah, it's pinkish... The base colour is really orange.. not red... i am a midnight liar. IS MAGENTA GOOD? DO I HAVE EXPENZIV GUPPIEZ

it's taken me 5 years to wrap my head around betta i... can't cope (BUT THEY SHO SHYNEY) I think I diserve a display tank...

Black Oops and his Missus, Madam Oops will be sure to take that into consideration! Now I feel like a new Betta breeder; WAHT DO I GET IF I CROSS A BLACK ONE WITH A SPOTTY ONE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? ohmygohd http://www.fancyguppies.co.uk/GuppyGeneticsPrimer.pdf

This is oops he is very black This is oops he has an angry face on his tail This is oops, he is a red round tail (with some light marbling in the body?) This is Oops he is a standard snakeskin My mum is after a tank of happy guppy males, so don't freak out like i'm freaking out about this freaking freak out. ok? I got a rocking deal on these noodles, and will probably keep the black one. he has a wife. in fact they all have bloody wives.... why did I do that? I went a bit mad. I can sense some purchase of that bloody embroidery mesh to seperate the guppy noodles, I don't even have a suitable ruddy heater for the little monsters. I never wanted to breed black or brown fish, and I was SURE i wasn't ever going to breed guppies...... but but... I can put so many pretty males in together and it looks like lollies!!! :(

JArrod: WHATS WRONG WITH US????? I accidentally talked my way into the Coburg quarantine rooms today and selected a pair of black moscow guppies, along with a few others... oh em gee... this is too much for my little brain!!! (I likey me that medusa colur)

What unusual colouring - did he come with a female? Gosh - if he's coming to the meet my little pathetic excuse for a DT is up against some serious competition!! I really like him.... he's more solid white than dragon yeah? What colour was the guppy male?

cool! Where have you bought your fish from in the past Adam? They've really nice. I'm so excited to see these new kids on the block with better fish than I bloody well have! xNess

Exotic Aquatic / Adrian's fish are all sourced from someone Lea (youtube channel "Fishchick65") and they're all top end, so I'm not surprised you have such nice fins. This whole keeping thing can be a really steep learning curve, because you do have to learn a bit about water chemistry to keep the little blighters alive, and they aren't very good at explaining what's wrong - however thats where this forum and a community of experienced people can really help. (: Glad you've seen the light - so as to avoid any of our fish "going to the light" uhhhhhh - you'll get used to my bad Uncle Ness jokes. -Ness

can i keep the guppy females in a sorority with my betta females and the psycho angels? Everyone seems pretty calm in there and it's planted up the wha-zoo..... thoughts? Just thinking aloud...

Rodger Dodger (I'm going to need lots of help with these d00ds) I'll let her drop and grow them out to see if there's anything there I want... Subscape have said they'll take quality males as there aren't many metal laces around. Yee Haw! I think I want red ones now.... oh dear...

Hahahah Matt - I don't know, I think they've all been housed separately - I must clarify that with someone...(?) dus anyone know?? They all arrived in separate bags... are those little eyeballs too developed to be just a few days old?? Les - I'm really happy with them, I have registered with the Gdesigner site - but i must admit I find it a bit lacking in the red lace department. Are there any good links you can point me to with the sort of form I should be looking to enhance? (I need help navigating that forum... where is the GOLD) Sunday these little blighters are going in their own tank (currently shared with 2 pairs of betta in my 3 foot... it's too much FISH IN ONE) a bit risky too, but I have so much stock at the moment it' a bit despo. Killies - yeah nah, I like delicate little fish, but killies are just toooooo small (and I cant piff the females into my betta sorority cos killies are psycho) Dont forget my background is in the kind of show goldfish that you need two hands to lift out of the water - TANK BUSTING FAN TAILS MAN.... these little fish aren't all that impressive - but guppies ! SQUEE!

You made it to the forum! Welcome to the party Ken. They're all pretty handsome boys, you have great taste in Betta, that's for sure. What I wouldn't give to get my mits on a DT gas dragon like madam here: You be sure to tell aunty ness if you ever decide you want to sell the ladies!! both those females are show stoppers. Rocky looks to me like a pastel dragon (red underneath a white wash covering) which I was thinking about the other night, and might explain the eye thing. Dragons are subject to random tumors, but we'll leave that for the clinic thread shall we? The orchid is really sweet, but I'd suggest he's got some crooked rays, and with the damage he's sustained - probably has nice breeding genes (hint HINT) but s'long as he's healthy now they generally don't mind their fins not looking 100% Brad is HOT... so is his missus... and Eddie is a spunky red and black copper dragon - you have some great fish young man! Welcome to the party. x Ness

Hilarious - they've just done the same - gutsy ladies are always up the front of the tank when I pass and the male is starting to do the same - little pigs, I forgot how greedy guppies were. I was about to say that I didn't have any time to shoot them... then the MSG kicked in from my pho dinner and I got all excited. I'd still like to put him in the "photography tank" that I made with the crappy DIY thread... but the lighting and a bit of flash - and my golly they look orright under fluro light! I LIKE THIS PHOTO BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE SHES GOT PEOPLE INSIDE HER This is DOYLE - short for DOYLEY.... get it... metal LACE ... uh hhh hh h huhhhh my favorite girly HIM again - do you have any idea how horrible these fish are to photograph? don't say i don't do nothin for ya. x

Welcome to the forum!

That's weird - I replied last night but it hasn't posted. It was 1am, and I'm fairly sure I wasn't dreaming (did i post in the wrong thread maybe) probs. Anyway - I hopefully will be looking for the same thing and came across this image that I thought helpful: Left is female - right male. Below the female is in the middle... apparently it's best to sex fry at around the 30-35 day mark "In about 2 to 3 weeks, female guppiesdevelop a gray spot (gravid spot) a little above their anal fin area. This canbe better seen when you place them on a clear glass. Expert aquarists could beable to identify the spot earlier than that. A guppy does not have to bepregnant to see that dark spot on their body.Waiting for the gonopodium in males is saidto be the most reliable way to identify a guppy’s gender. It is a somewhatmodified fin that appears gray and horizontal." http://www.fish-fl.com/how-to-tell-the-gender-of-guppy-fry/

MT - thanks, I'm a total nuff nuff when it comes to other species.... will look closer into their needs and wants. They're hiding up the back - VERY timid little dudes, he's coloured up, and one of the females has particularly nice markings. (: will intimidate with camera sooon

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou - this is the voice (try and understand it) that I was hoping to hear! I've already got a LFS really happy to take extra fish, so I'm not worried about where they're going as surplus, and there will be a few takers at our fishy meets Wonderful - I need to go home and photograph Doyle (short for doyley - get it? ....lace) and identify what I want my lace kids to be... primarily strong in the body and colour. Thanks Serkan!

This might be a flash in the pan idea, but I saw some guppies on someone's channel and fell in love with Metal Red Lace Guppies. My trio arrived this morning, and have acclimatised and been released into a 40lt tank, prepared as I would my betta... including with some IAL. So part of me thinks this is a GREAT IDEA yeah! s'goin to be fun! The other part of me thinks this could be a severe distraction from the halfmoons. So long as I can stay on top of population, identify males and females early, and choose well, this should be a breeze... right? No, don't worry, I'm under no illusions. However I do want to know more about this particular genetic strain (lemme learn one strain at a time eh) and how I can improve the pattern, colour and form. I also have a sneaking suspicion that these little noodles will be harder to shoot than betta. In the meantime, this is an image of the Metal Red Lace Guppy: Here's an interview with the developer of the Metal Red Lace Franz Zeipelt: http://www.guppies.com/forums/showthread.php/34736-How-red-lace-guppies-was-created-(an-interview) I read with much interest of an interview between Robert Gall and Franz Zeipelt about the origin lace guppies. As I don't have any permission to cut and paste the whole interview, I think an extract of the interview would be sufficed for everyone here who loves lace guppies. Guppy Labs: Franz, when have the red lace snakeskin originated for the first time? And which were the basic strains? Franz Zeipelt: I started breeding the red lace snakeskin in 1976. They reached a show quality for the first time end of the 1980ies. My basic pair was a male from a Live Fish Shop and a female from of my own strain. The male was an import from Singapore, which I bought with several over males of various colours for 14,40 GDR-Mark (for each fish, this was quit a lot of money at this time). Normally all of these males were made sterile but I had good luck with my male. The male had a bright shiny green snakeskin pattern on the body, a very short, pale yellow dorsal fin and a very round delta caudal with a pattern of red and black. The female came from my half black red strain. But it showed no black because the half black is y-linked in this strain and so the females have just a gene for red, no half black. It showed no colour at all on the body and had only a pale red caudal. Guppy Labs: So that was the pair you started your new project but how did the first red lace look like? Franz Zeipelt: The first offspring almost looked like the father. I sent these male very successful to various shows. But only years later the caudal and dorsal improved and the pattern on the body became more fine. The first red lace were born. Sometimes black dots (or eye spots) appeared on the fore-bodies and also in the caudal. I tried to breed selectively these dots to stabilise them, but I had no success. Mid of the 1990ies I showed these males for the first time on international shows. Before I showed them only on our own shows. Until this time there were no “red lace snakeskin” in Europe and the fine shiny green lace pattern with a orange caudal was never seen before. Some breeders bought them and bred them successfully. Nowadays you can find red lace on all shows in good quality. I prefer actually orange coloured fins because they show a better harmony with the green lace pattern on the body in my opinion. This is such a male with a very fine lace pattern and a more orange than red caudal and dorsal: The guppy's picture was at the attachment above. Source: guppylacelovers.com Full interview report can be viewed and read if you're a member there and look for my post under "General guppy topics" and the thread Snakeskin and Laces. Below are a few prize winning red lace gups no idea what my boy looks like... he was pretty stressed when he arrived, can't wait to get home later tonight and harass him with the camera. Anyone know anythin' about red lace?

Oh well - the little girl that I bring for you - you can put her in the show... she's big and bright enough. Should be a great day (: x Ness

Adam-fro, Colour wise I would go for the Salamander male - provided he has a nice D shape caudal.... if you buy them all you can bring them to the show and we can tell you what we think of them. If you're looking to breed - maybe you should get this female (left): instead of this female (right): I know the one on the right has a bigger dosal, but there's something about her downward pointing tail, and the shape of her back - and the way the anal fin matches up with the caudal. I'd be happier if I knew you had the better female if you are breeding (i'll make the one on the left the same price for you) Wasn't sure originally if you were setting up a sorority or not... She's also got a bit more red through her colour so she'd help that top male darken up.... all just my opinion... up to you. You basically want to keep Red/Salamander together.... copper/metallics/blue/turq together, and yellows with yellows. Down the track with your salamanders I'd suggest introducing a good extended red to darken the pigment of the red again. (: -Ness