Skyblue Dragon Blood Peacock Cichlid ••• Genetics and breeder selection

Charles discusses breeder selection and Dragon Blood genetics in this new color strain he started working on in 2020.
Goliad Farms Tropical Fish Hatchery

[@carsencrowley9395]

This new strain is amazing.🔥

[@goliadfarms7029]

It is a large very pretty fish with interesting genetics. What's not to like? Charles

[@kengilmore4384]

Those blues are beautiful

[@goliadfarms7029]

This strain requires selecting for good blue coverage combined with the pastel gene to convert the blue to skyblue. I have to be careful to avoid orange bleeding into the body. I don't mind orange fins. By the way, absent the pastel gene, the orange would be red. Charles

[@nospoon4799]

Wow, again. 😀

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. It is a very nice fish. Charles

[@caewalker9276]

G'day Guys. Hope all is going great for you. Just wondering what your average low temperature is in winter in the greenhouse? I'm thinking of putting fish out in my greenhouse this winter. I'm subtropical. Thanks for the beautiful fish you breed and all the hard work that goes with it.🇦🇺👍💚

[@goliadfarms7029]

During a prolonged cold, cloudy spell, water morning temperatures can reach 68F (20C). We are researching building a large compost heater to heat water to keep the temperature from falling below 75F (~24C). We are also considering geothermal. Charles

[@TheN00Pe]

​@@goliadfarms7029Hello Charles, silly question given the origin of this species, but can you really tell a difference between 20 and 24C in terms of the fish health, development and overall just general well being? Do you think 20C is just not optimal or can it work long term?

[@geopie3879]

I vote for Susie to pick the new breeders and for Charles to pick the new GREENHOUSE.

[@goliadfarms7029]

I hate giving up breeder selection but would for another greenhouse. Charles

[@Thomas.Saunders]

I love that Charles shares the genetics behind his different color strains. Many other breeders might consider that information trade secrets. Also, in this video, he shares how use selective line breeding to improve the overall quality of his stock. Very helpful information, and not shared all that often.

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. I try to be both informative and entertaining. We are setting up a white board in the office so I can expound a bit on the genetics after looking at the fish. Charles

[@juderyan1284]

@@goliadfarms7029 Please do 😀

[@goliadfarms7029]

@@juderyan1284 Working on it, by that I mean Susie is supposed to get it done. I just raise fish. Charles

[@Exquailibur]

These guys are incredible and the color palate is a little uncommon in fish too, that is what is great about African cichlids though is that even though the body plan between species is largely the same they differ a lot in color. Its almost like you took the sparkle of a congo tetra and the color palate of a peacock gudgeon and made this opalescent beauty in the shape of a cichlid. The females look alright too which is always a plus since I tend to gravitate toward species with less sexual dimorphism most of the time, or at least fish where both genders look good. It can be a bother to get a bunch of juveniles and they all end up drab females or all males and then you dont get the full range of behavior. Its only a matter of time before I get into African cichlids at least a little, ill probably choose a strain with good looking females and get a male and a group of females to start. They are larger than most species I keep though since I like to go with larger numbers of small fish over fewer larger ones, a large school of neon tetras is pretty hard to beat.

[@goliadfarms7029]

There are Mbuna Lake Malawi cichlids with colorful females. There are species like Pseudotropheus demasoni where the sexes are identical. Then there are species like Pseudotropheus lombardoi where the males are gold and the females are blue and black. Interesting enough, the juveniles of both sexes have the female blue and black color pattern. While Aulonocara species have drab females, some of their hybrids have colorful females. Our Gold OB and Orange OB Peacock females fall into this group. Charles

[@Exquailibur]

@@goliadfarms7029 That is really interesting, its crazy how many species there are in just these few lakes. Well and each the lakes has its own set of cichlids that are different from each other. Its very interesting how lakes become hotspots for speciation once they have been there for long enough. There are even some cichlids that live in the incredibly harsh soda lakes with PH high enough to be toxic to almost all fish.

[@noahreese9469]

Dudes Darwin 2

[@goliadfarms7029]

I'm not sure what that means... Charles

[@thatfatpirate]

When it comes to something like the orange faced one you would work an aquarium strain off if you had the space, could you just add him to the sump and see what you get while waiting on new green house?

[@goliadfarms7029]

I'm probably going to hang on to him and maybe give him a half dozen females in a 55 or 110-gallon vat. We're rebuilding Greenhouse 3 this summer. That will give me another 18 or so 300-gallon breeding vats. That said, I still want Greenhouse 4! Charles

[@FoxyFoxyShazam]

You've mentioned it a few times now and I'm beginning to suspect that maybe, just maybe, you wish Suzie would let you build another greenhouse. 🤣

[@goliadfarms7029]

I'm surprised you picked up on that. By the way, Susie hasn't picked up on it or is very adept at ignoring it. Charles

[@ArmyVetGaming768]

Jace from South Shore Retail just saying hi! Love watching your videos :)

[@goliadfarms7029]

Hi back! I think y'all just got a shipment from us. Charles

[@danielbarrett6026]

That would be great if you were able to build another greenhouse for breeding difference strains. But, money doesn't to grow on trees. Fish look awesome as usual. The sky blue/red mix is pretty spectacular.

[@goliadfarms7029]

I also like the Skyblue/Red. We are rebuilding Greenhouse 3 this summer which will give me about 16 additional 300-gallon breeding vats to work with. Charles

[@kenithburnett8074]

Thanks for all your videos I love watching how you run things

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you for watching. We hope to do a long video walk through of Greenhouse 2 this week. I'll discuss our systems, fish, foods, plants, etc. Charles

[@Matt_Hill]

Maybe you could run an auction on aquabid?

[@goliadfarms7029]

We have done Aquabid in the past. We probably should consider that again. Charles

[@Sean-yr2rl]

really nice looking fish! i'll be keeping a lookout for some younger fish on your site, good fish keeping!

[@goliadfarms7029]

We need to update our availability list and plan to soon. Charles

[@dirtyoldfarmhand3]

Awesome

[@goliadfarms7029]

It's a very nice strain. Charles

[@nrfishinman009]

I have enjoyed watching this strain develop. May I ask why keeping the color has been hard? Thank you

[@goliadfarms7029]

It is difficult to keep orange from creeping into the body. It also takes a few generations to know which females will produce the best males. Charles

[@pingary7502]

Do you guys still sell scuds if so do you have any advice on culturing them?

[@goliadfarms7029]

Yes, we do on our website (goliadfarms.com/shop/gammarus-scuds/). There is also a blog about culturing them on the website. And there is a video on this channel about them. Search for scuds or gammarus. I'm planning to release an updated video on scud culture soon. Charles

[@pingary7502]

@@goliadfarms7029 awesome i just now read the blog and watched the video I would love to see an update keep it up!

[@goliadfarms7029]

@@pingary7502 I hope to do an update on scuds in the next week or so. Charles

[@stevecote8088]

Beautiful color cichlides...!!!!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. I think it is a very pretty fish. Charles

[@chelseamorning608]

Love that pink color with the red spots on the tail and fin

[@goliadfarms7029]

They do have a nice color pattern. Charles

[@steffietee740]

Wow! Gorgeous fishes, great job!!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. I'm pleased with the progress on this strain and look forward to further improvement. Charles

[@marioc1836]

Love this fish. Thanks for the update!

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thanks for watching. I like this fish not just because it is pretty but also because it has interesting genetics. Charles

[@ianm659]

That sky blue with the red face is so unique

[@goliadfarms7029]

Sorry for the tardy reply. Yes, he is. If I had unlimited resources, many fish like him would be given harems to produce new strains. Charles

[@franklincalvin7437]

Beautiful

[@goliadfarms7029]

Thank you. It is now one of my favorite fish. Charles

[@thomasdelgado3874]

How can I order fish from you?

[@goliadfarms7029]

You can order fish at goliadfarms.com/. Charles