Re: [RML] Newcomer to rainbows

Gary Lange (gwlange at stlnet.com)
Wed, 2 Sep 1998 23:31:57 -0500

There are some very good looking herbertaxelrodis still in the hobby. I don't
think you'll find many of them in a petstore though. It's always hard to say
because shopkeeps must be blind. Common sense says to put them over dark
gravel or sand. They almost always use white???
Breeding the same fish for many generations isn't a problem if you know what
you are doing. Rosario LaCorte has been breeding the same emperor tetras and
keeris since he caught them in the late fifties. They really looked good.
I've been keeping several rainbows going since the early eighties. There is a
somewhat reasonable picture of one at:
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html/herbertaxelrodi.JPEG
I really need to go back and redo that shot though because a good herbie is a
worthy bow to keep in your tank. As suggested before the best way to obtain
them is thru the Rainbowfish Study Group. The RSG has been publishing and has
had an active fish and egg listing since late 1987.

Gary Lange
gwlange at STLNET.com
Rainbowfish Study Group of North America
http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html

----------
> From: Michael Eckardt <mike at odg.com>
> To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
> Subject: Re: [RML] Newcomer to rainbows
> Date: Wednesday, September 02, 1998 8:11 AM
>
> It appears from the consensus on this list that the fish I asked about are
> M. herbertaxelrodi. Since most pictures show this fish in its "wild"
> colouration, it took me a little by surprise how washed out the colours are
> in the inbred, hobby version of the fish.
> I assume this is due to the limited number of wild specimen that made up the
> original genetic pool. Rampant inbreeding would have resulted in the
> dilution of the colours.
> The obvious question is this: what's the possibility of introducing fresh
> genes into the hobby? AFAIK, Rainbow eggs can be mailed reasonably well. So
> the introduction and distribution of new fish should be fairly easy. Why is
> it not done though?
>
> Michael Eckardt
> --------------------------
> "Whatever you do or dream you can do -- begin it.
> Boldness has genius and power and magic in it."
> Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
>
>