F1 fish showing broadtail and color
Heavy bodied F1s in with the male.
Another F1
Well, I have looked at black fish for many years and yes, they are my favorite, but what about having some fish with the same bodies and broadtails as the moors, but in a different color?
I have been intrigued by this for some years, but when I tried it a couple of times, the resulting fish were either A. Mud colored B. Not worth keeping, even after 2 generations. Well, I would like to say that the above fish were a part of a well thought out scheme, but alas…..
I have a trio of calico telescopes that I thought quite a lot of. I had some trouble with the female not wanting to spawn. As a precautionary measure, when I caught a female moor spawning one morning, I grabbed her and hand spawned her to one of the male calicos, just to safe guard the genetics.
As the spawn grew, there were 2 distinct types.
Broadtailed fish that were turning color
Short tailed heavy bodied fish.
Both types I liked quite a bit, and I’m a hard sell- due to lack of space in my fishroom. As I have grown them out, I have liked them even more.
I crossed a female from the spawn back to the calico male this fall and have a good amount of young fish (B1 or backcross 1) that I am working with- from both types mentioned above. My plan is to backcross that group one more time for a B2.
It is important to see into the future when thinking about starting a line- from scratch. I feel it is very important to keep the parent fish around so that you can go back to them, several times if needed. In this case my plan, for now, is to breed this B1 group back to the calico male one more time for a B2, then in the following year plan to cross the first spawn F1 to the B2.
I am not sure at this point whether I will be crossing body and fin types or running them separately. Only time will tell that! Until next time.