Albino Bristlenose

muddy9 · Post by **muddy9** » 05 Jan 2005, 05:32

Hi All,

Can any tell me if albino bristlenose breed true, or do the albino genes only come out as mutations?

Cheers,

Jenny.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 05 Jan 2005, 10:43

Considering the frequency of Albino's in the shops, I'd say that you should be able to breed them by having both parents being albino.

And by the way, Albino isn't a mutation as such, it's simply a genetic combination that is recessive, same as blue eyes in humans. Recessive genes mean that "both sides must contribute", i.e. both father's genes and mother's genes must say "I'm albino" to make the child albino. In the case of Albinism, I think the genetic combination is more than a single genome, so it takes a lot of "right parents" to get the first albino. This of course happens quite easily in the aquarium, because of inbreeding, whilst in nature, the chances of the baby being albino is nearly zero.

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Mats

davidkozak · Post by **davidkozak** » 05 Jan 2005, 19:08

My albinos have yet to breed(they're almost old enough) but I've spoken with a few people who say they get a percentage of albino fry and a percentage of brown fry...I also know of someone who got 100% albino fry from his pair...It would all depend on the genetics of your fish..David