RGD

[nicholas76]

Like Crocky says, we have had "RGD's" before but not the real deal. But like I have said - these look to be legit from what I can tell from those pics. I have yet to see them in the flesh - I havent even been to Xtreme's store yet !

Once bitten twice shy. These are legitimate I assure you.

[G-1000]

Hi Nick,

Im not disputing that they are legit

But being careful is important nonetheless.

G

[G-1000]

Oh Tao,

Let me just clarify for you there.

RGD's can come out of either a red rose x pure golden or a san merah x pure golden.

The pure golden should have no pigeon blood - very true.

Both the red rose/san merah and the pure golden come from brown discus - very true.

However, your point about the true RGD being ugly and only intermediate is not right. The RGD intermediate is actually a red rose/san merah which has a recessive golden gene. This will only become expressed when inbreeding the F1 offspring (i.e true RGD's come when you get to F2).

With these fish here from Xtreme, I dont see any evidence of pigeon blood involvement. Thus, they seem to be clean. However by the same token, whilst these RGD's are good quality and nice looking, they have some features which are not show quality. I have shown these in the next post (bear in mind, when it comes to discus - I can be quite picky sometimes :P ).

G

[G-1000]

Here is one of Xtreme's pictures for their RGD. It has good shape and nice colour to it. If I had space and the price was right I would take it.

G

[G-1000]

This is the same fish, but with the positives and negatives that I see attached to it.

In red, we have the bad points:

- There is redness inside the nose of the fish, suggestive of a transient infection. Note I say transient, because after being in stable conditions and not being freighted etc, this will go away.

- On the gill plates, we have abnormal pigmentation, sort of like shiny oval shapes if you know what I mean. This is normal due to fish genetics, but the less of these oval shapes - the better.

- In the dorsal and anal fin again we have clear circles, detracting from the uniformity of the colour we see. This reduces the characteristic "halo" effect through the fins of the RGD. Still, this is something you would expect to see in RGD's, but the less you see the better.

In green we have the good points:

- Beautiful red eye, with a uniform deep red colour. This is perfect - even the shape of the eye is flawless.

- The tail (caudal fin) is perfect as well. Totally clear and transparent (mark of a true RGD).

- The pelvic fin is also uniform red in colour. This again is spot on.

So here, based on these pics I would say Xtreme does in fact have true RGD's.

G

[Dee]

Looks like the diagram craze is starting to take off :P

G,

If these RGD's where imported by who I think they where, you can rest assured they are definatly the real deal mate. IMO these are a very nice example of RGD's ... better than most I have seen. They will turn out to be very nice adults IMO.

As for RGD genetics, I always thought RGD's where from a Virgin Red x Golden (no PB gene) ... but i guess only Ung Seng Lip knows the real story there.

Cheers,

Dee

[G-1000]

Now, just to highlight the difference here:

This picture below is from a certain EX-SPONSOR on this forum, this RGD below IS NOT from Xtreme.

This picture below shows an imposter "RGD"

Where:

- The tail (caudal fin) is extensively blackened and very dark.

- The dorsal and ventral fins also have a black peppering streak through them. There are none of the clear dots at all - this is a warning sign, even though you want as few as possible it is highly unlikely they will all be gone.

- The eye is orangey and not uniform in colour indicating potential colour feeding.

- There is also peppering appearing on and around the nose.

- The colour of the whole body also has a fluorescent sort of orange glow to it.

Even not withstanding this, the fish has a bad shape and quite a skinny appearance.

This is not an RGD at all and not a fish I would even buy as a melon quite frankly.

G

I have also added another image of an "RGD" from the same ex-sponsor which has the same problems.

[tao]

though have a close look of the ventral fin in the pic, I saw a little bit something.
it's hard to find pure golden without pb in the world. most pure golden male useless. like pure albino brown. even lucky enough meet a good male, only 30% babies is golden, others rubbish. can hardly use this kind of fish to create new species, because itself is unsteady. so have to cross something to commercialize this species.
lets imagine use a 20%pb golden(which is not bad, maybe look pure very much and easier to breed much more) to make a RGD. babies very clear and high percentage of good quality. though still a little bit clue of PB. but it's a commercial way to make new product and money, rather than scientific research.
another possibility, use yellow white rather than pure golden, yellow white babies 20% looks like pure golden, yellow white more easy to get, that would be reasonable enough to explain why RGD no peper and doesn't look brown.
anyway only breeder know the truth, we can only guess. in the pic, I still smell PB,which is one of the most successful artificial discus species.

[ivo]

Hi G, Merry Xmas. Re the RGD at Xreme as an example. When the fish is matured will it grow to fully red on the body?

[G-1000]

Ivo,

To you too mate.

The RGD you see there from Xtreme will turn into a beautiful adult fish with presumably a deep red colour to it. So yes, it will look awesome when older.

G