Melon confusion

[samir]

could someone please clarify some things for me. what would be a better option
1) golden melon , was told body red face golden, are they just normal red melons?
2) super melon. is this a cleaner white faced red melon or is it a red melon hybrid ?

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Samir,

The fish on the right I bought as a Super Red Melon, she was a much deeper red than my Red Melons, she was also blind in one eye. The fish on the left is a Gold Melon, some of them go real red and others have stayed the gold colour.

[tao]

just one kind of fish, different gender or different food colored. don't be annoyed by the commercial name, they are all red melon. maybe even from the same parents.

[samir]

thanks for the info, the fish on the right (which I'm assuming is female) looks the same as my red melon pair. seems like I have the only white faced male around :? . The super melons from Chai discus have white tails, whereas those I've seen here have black. Here's some pics, one is from Chai and one from someplace in the US.
another from discus habitat
http://www.discushabitat.com/html/g18big.htm
all have no black in their tails and dorsal fin ??? :?

[mistakes r crucial]

Love to own the fish in the top pic.
MAC

[samir]

yup either that quality or no "super melons" for me :D

[mistakes r crucial]

Best of luck mate, finding them could well prove difficult and when you do make sure you get a confirmed male or, as I've been told, buy 30 males and you might get one good one. Red fish = males suck!
MAC

[samir]

I'll get them small, around 6-7 cm. Anything larger than that in good quality becomes ridiculously expensive. I have 2 red males atm, one is very good, one is average, my problem is actually finding a red male :? . Reds can be such a pain in the butt to breed :evil:

[mistakes r crucial]

Join the club!
MAC

[stonedavid]

Im starting to agree guys my RGD male just swims around in the tank with the female doing nothing. So have decided to throw some competition in the tank and see how he handles it, hopefully that will kickstart him into breeding. Since throwing the other males in he is staking out some territory so looking good.
Pete

[samir]

please show us some pictures of you RGD.

[samir]

Love to own the fish in the top pic.
MAC
I've sent that pic, along with a potentially dangerous "don't worry about cost" to someone, lets see what they come up with. :roll:

[stonedavid]

Hey Samir, yeah have been meaning to post some pics, have to get a new batt for the camera and once i do will put a pic of him on. He is a nice fish, and has the mottled colour (not full red) as the malaysian breeders state. Hopefully will get a batch out of him before new years.

[mistakes r crucial]

Don't worry about the cost???? Helll Samir that's a worry lol! Addictive they are. I hope you get what your looking for, I haven't yet.

David, red/gold males are so frustrating. I have two I've kept as spares purely because these guys, IMO, are exceptional but do you think I can get them to fertilize an egg, no chance! I wish you all the best and if you crack it please tell me how, these guys are firing blanks on a regular basis.

I reckon people like Rod and LR know the anwser but they're keeping it to themselves :D
MAC

[Merrilyn]

:lol: No secrets MAC, but they are late to mature :wink:

[samir]

with the reds I seem to be getting excellent fertility in a community tank with a powerful canister, 100 - 200 wrigglers with both pairs even right near the spray bar. The moment I put them in a breeding tank they totally blank out or only have around 20% fertility / egg eating :? :? :? The only difference is the common tank ph is around 5.5 whereas the breeding tanks are 6.5 - 7.5. I probably have close to a thousand dead wrigglers in my canister filter. :? Any ideas ??? :?

[stonedavid]

hi have had the same thing with my rose reds samir, they dont bring out any babies by themselves but once in with another pair rear a batch up. Have found some of my pairs prefer a current , dont know why but it seems more work for them chasing the bubs around.I agree with LR about slow to mature i have 5 Rose reds that im waiting to pair off and they are doing nothing yet the same aged fish in a different strain have raised at least 6 batches by this stage.

[mistakes r crucial]

That's very interesting David as almost always my pairs lay their eggs on the side of the cone that is facing away from the inlet therefore away from any current. I reckon they do it on purpose and love taking the p*ss!
MAC

[stonedavid]

Yeah most of my pairs are the same just the odd couple that will lay under the current ( a couple of my tanks have a slight current and these are the ones they prefer to lay in the current). Pete

[samir]

mine are mostly near the canister inlet. as soon as they become free swimming they go straight into the canister. the're back in breeding tanks again. lets see what they come up with now :roll: