This is a carry over from another discussion. But basically what I'm looking for is a flowerhorn with a Red front half and a Blue / blueish back half. Fin color can vary from red or blue. with Crazy pearls.

What we've discussed is the would be the best chances might be a a flowerhorn with a strong Red Face, and White Tail section and then a Vieja to get the blue appearance.

We also discussed a possible EBJD ( Electric Blue Jack Dempsey ) X Red White FlowerHorn. But they apparently have very weak genes which might get the blue wiped out completely.

What I'm considering is use a EBJD X Vieja = EBVieja Then EBVieja X EBJD = ??? then ??? X RED White flowerhorn with Crazy pearls, large kok, straight pine.

What do you think. Possible/worth it? Would the offspring even be able to have kids from the start? Help me out.

My goal is to have a red blue with white pearl FH.

Also I need to find a FS that has a Vieja, in Rochester NY. Or near there.

Or maybe this wouldn't be the best combo. Let me know. I really want a Red/Blue flowerhorn with Pearls

Jarli, this is going to be a very big project to actually see through to the end. It's not like you throw an EBJD and an flowerhorn into a tank and poof you get a blue FH... You are going to have to raise multiple generations of fry and many different batches, outcrossings, inbreedings, etc until you get close to what you are looking for. Not trying to dampen your spirits, just trying to make sure you understand everything that is involved. Maybe you should talk to a breeder like Jonz, Rll_Lao, Dragonball, Simon about their breeding programs to get a better idea of what is involved...

I have PM'd them and asked for their advice. I do understand that it will be a long project. But I am very willing to input the time.

The formula there is very simplified, that I know. But as for grand parents I need assistance figuring which would be the best to start with.

Thanks for your input though.

You are on the right track then! Good luck to you! I think the breeders you PM'd would be mroe qualified to answer than me, so I will let them answer

Ok for "grand parents" I think I will need a Female EBJD and a Male Red White split FH. And a counsin Vieja for increased blue. ( Probably bred into the 1st off spring )

In addition to the grand parents I believe I'll need a male EBJD for cross breeding color into the children as well as a Green Texas for increased
pearling.

My personal opnion on breeding is always to TRY IT. There are a lot of recessive traits that come out during breeding, which are sometimes unplanned. The only problem I personally see in doing something like this is that the kok of the progenty will suffer (ie. red texas- you do get exceptions!).

I am going back to breeding species again, simply to get certain traits that I would like to play around with in flowerhorns. I know this is going to get bloody but then again it is also fun. You have the intuition of a true breeder bro Jarli, not many wil have the tenacity to do that. It is both financially taxing as well as physically taxing.

Please keep us updated on this as this might be the start of a new era in flowerhorn keeping.

God bless you and your projects.

One question though, why dempsey? There are other species that you can use that gives pearls. Dempseys have elongated bodies which may get amplified, their tails are not very rigid as well. An option would be to use Carpintis varieties that the US has a lot of. There are a lot of amazing varieties I have seen from Donald Conkel when I went to his farm ages ago.

Well I was going to use an EBJDempsey because of the bright blue that is has in the body. I did notice the weak tail and the long body, but comparatively I didn't see many other SA or CA cichlids with a blue color that I was looking for. Could you give me some other fish that could be a candidate.

Thanks

Hrm I wonder if a Green Terror would even make suitable "Blue" colored mate.....

try searching for a texas cichlid "escondido" variety... :-)

Jarli that sounds great and very hard but not impossible good luck in your project and remember us here in NYC when u get the fries all the best

Best of luck on your breeding bro! I would like to add though that the EBJD gene is a recessive trait. So in order to bring it out it's going to take alot of work.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. Now I need to buy a seller. I will be using that fish.

for some nice pearling use Cuban cichlids (Nandopsis tetracanthus) they have huge blotch like pearls, much like KK.

This post has been edited by Gage: Oct 14 2008, 11:29 AM

so I've started my breeding.

I'm using my male which I've had for a couple months now. He has a decent 50/50 split. It's more like 65/35. And a really nice red female. I've got em divided out and I'll post pics when I get home tonight.

Divided out because I want to introduce them to each other. He seems eager, but ALL guys are eager for a piece. And she like ALL females seems to not care about him lol.

And any questions why I'm starting off with red first is because my male lacks the red color. And it would need to be breed in at anyways. Also since blue is a more recessive color it will require several breeding attempts to get the color quality that I want.

Wish me luck.

This post has been edited by Jarli: Oct 21 2008, 10:18 AM

Okay so here are the photo's I promised of the grand parents to my project.

Male Before ChingMix






Male Currently with ChingMix as well as being my breeder







Female

Good luck bro... Looks like a nice pair... :-)