Rainbowric Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Melanotaenia herberaxlerodi ...Mostly called the "Yellow Rainbowfish" in most of the LFS. However as you may have noticed with the trifasciata "Running Creek" they look fairly similar in coloration. What is worst is that there are a number of variations of this fish seen in the hobby. Like changes we have seen with the parkinsoni, boesemani, and trifasciata there are a number variations with the herbertaxlerodi. Breeders selectively breed to what they think that fish should look like and since the herberaxlerodi is at the top of the list for popularity and has been around since 1980 you can understand why there are so many selectively bred variations. A few members of ANGFA are suggesting that the fish should be collected again from the wild. Unfortuantely, I doubt if it would look like the originals! My first colony of the herberaxlerodi came from, as a lot of my species, Jeff Burch in London, Ontario. Jeff was very much into Genetic pooling and had 3 or 4 different variations that came from 3 or 4 very reputable breeders. They all appeared to look quite different so the group that I got from him, which I don't have today came from the Gary Lange collection. I do have a not very good picture of them, taken a couple of years ago with a point and shout camera, which also at the time, the only setting I knew on the camera was "Auto" ! The picture does not do this fish justice! This was fairly large fish when it's picture was taken...more than 4 inches which I have not seen any variations of the herby in any LFS that matches the size of this strain that Gary is preserving. This strain is still in Alberta and AA member geleen in Edmonton is maintaining it and has in the past offered it for sale. I have another strain which I obtained from the LFS. I was quite surprised at how nice it looked and figured that if I raised some myself from the egg in local water, I might even improve it more, however it never exceeded 3 inches in lenght. But it did breed true and there was no signs of any of the over 150 fish bred from it that might suggest it was a hybrid. I have a number of times in the past bred a fish that looked pure and was shocked at the young that it produced. This herby is one of the few species I have that originate from the LFS where as most of the rest of mine are traceable. It is an exciting little fish with lots of color and attitude! The thing that caught my eye in the LFS is they were spawning, just about all of them in the tank!!! and I didn't buy them the first or even the second time I saw them but every time I came in the males were lite up chasing the girls around and the girls were loving it!! Still today they are one of my most prolific species I have, spawning and providing a show for us daily. Below is a male from this strain.... The female ..... Every morning it is the same thing....male with the strip down his nose ......want to do it here dear.....! Can't we have a little privacy..... This herby and most of the other variations are a very happy Rainbowfish ....no not because it is so prolific! They are great as a target fish when you have a bunch of shy fish in the tank, helps the other fish to relax. One of the best community fish to obtain from the Rainbowfish group! They are... yes, very easy to bred and raise and no LFS will turn you away ... having a bunch to sell! They add a lot of color to your tank in more than one way. That is why I keep this LFS strain! Hope you have enjoyed! Best regards Ric -------------------------------- "Melanotaenia boesemani from Lake Aytinjo" The Aytinjo variant does have stronger colours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 The ones I got from geleene are doing great , colored up really nice .The other strain I got is very similar in color the 2 males fence with one another and even caused the color in my Blahri male to come out full .It had never come out untill they were added to the tank.I'm still looking to replace my running creek male and Praecox(quartet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Man, this pair I picked up at the ACE auction pale in comparison to these photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbowric Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) Hard to say Jason without knowing where they come from. Some variations are really quite pale when young, some even white, even the strain I got from Gary's collection that came through Jeff, that I believe is the closest variation to the real thing, was quite pale at 2.5 inches. The one variation that I am running with from the LFS practically glows in the dark, another reason why I went with them besides them being so vibrant and prolific! Ok..... I am running out of tank space and they are smaller.... Other reasons for pale herbies and even the Running Creek. Stress! it has been a while since the auction so the stress of that should be over. Something in the tank may be bothering them. Taking a while to adapt to new surroundings. Hope you didn't get a pair of females! Two males could stress each other out. Doesn't take much to make yellow fade out to white with the yellow fish. I think my male herbies would be a lot more pale with out a female to play with! Eugene .... In most cases my Running Creeks have always been brighter then my herbies. Same reasons for the herbies to be pale, in addition maybe some of the weird live food you feed your fish might have upset him If any of the yellow species feel a little ill.... they will get pale. I have a Running Creek in my upper tank, eye level, brother to one in my lower tank, near the floor, and you would never think they were brothers. Is your praecox in with the larger fish. Usually they are okay with them but I have seen them fade out with the stress of being with bigger bows. I am sure that your fish are enjoying all the effort you put into giving them live food Eugene... Still to soon to right off your herbies Jason! Oh almost forgot, I think both of you have fairly heavily planted tanks so this shouldn't be an reason. But if you have lighter colored substrate. I was intending to put this in keeping Rainbowfish, but "Rainbowfish 101" the darker the substrate the more they will display there colors! This goes for all Rainbowfish! Ric Edited November 5, 2012 by Rainbowric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Mine are definitely a pair - I think they might be past their prime, as they are full grown. Not a lot of plants and tankmates are only other rainbows (praecox and wanemensis) and plecos in a 120 gal. The other 'bows are always displaying to each other; I just think mine are probably old and lesser quality. I'll put them in a breeding tank in a couple months to see what comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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