Are albino discus weaker than regular ones?

[richmond5]

Just curious, with other species of animals, the albinos are usually weaker. They grow slower and more subtable to diseases? I would like to start a discussion on that before spending big bucks on them, thanks!

[Eddie]

Just curious, with other species of animals, the albinos are usually weaker. They grow slower and more subtable to diseases? I would like to start a discussion on that before spending big bucks on them, thanks!

Hi there R5,

I have never owned them before but I have read several posts about them actually being the more aggressive fish, the more heartier of the group. That's what I have read anyways.

Eddie

[dpt8]

I have 5 golden albinos from Dan which I have had for 1.5 years and 5 albino SSxSpotted from Kenny which I have had since June. From my observations and talking with Al I do believe albinos grow slower and take longer to mature. Some may grow out a little smaller than their natural colored counterparts. Albino X albino matings are a challenge when trying to raise the fry with the parents.. Harder for the babies to find the parents to feed on. I would not say albinos are a weaker fish, more susectible to diseases. I imagine really weak albinos are culled out or just don't make it.. I love albinos so I would not exclude them from my collection. I think the source they come from is important just like any other fish. The strongest albinos ( if we knew their background) I think come from intermediate matings and albino to intermediate matings, although albino to albino for a mating or two may not be very weak. Forrest or a good breeder could shed more light on that. Good luck and enjoy. David T

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
I don't know about all strains of albinos but all the strains I have worked with tend to grow slower than normal types of comparable age and strain..

I have bred one group of albinos and grown them out to adults with their normal (wild type ) siblings .... you can read about it...

http://www.forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=59962

hth,
al

[Eddie]

So it's safe to say that the Albino strain has been strengthened through selective breeding. I guess that goes for all hybrids...right?

Al,

I noticed you mentioned that you had to cull more of the Albinos. Is that a defect in the strain across the board. I wonder if it is like that for everyone who is breeding Albinos.

Eddie

[brewmaster15]

So it's safe to say that the Albino strain has been strengthened through selective breeding. I guess that goes for all hybrids...right?
Eddie I don't know if thats safe to say at all... I think its a goal but not sure how realized it is...Most albinos I see are not very large fish (of course there are exceptions)

As for the ones I bred...I'm picky and wanted to work with the best...but I can say that I rarely culled any wild type siblings...the shape was better there as was the growth.. The albinos tended to be less round and very beaky and weak in the chin...Thats actually a trait I have seen in alot of golden albinos posted.... I've spoken with several others that have noted similar...in many albino lines.

If you look at the shipments of fish that come in...one thing that is obvious to me is the low numbers of albinos and higher price... I think one way to interpret that is they are harder to breed, and possibly have a higher cull rate....what I saw was only from two sets of fry ( same pair) here so its not much of a data set...just an observation that supports that.

As time goes by and more and more hobbyists are breeding albinos successfully I hope we get more info one way or another.

hth,
al

[Eddie]

Eddie I don't know if thats safe to say at all... I think its a goal but not sure how realized it is...Most albinos I see are not very large fish (of course there are exceptions)

As for the ones I bred...I'm picky and wanted to work with the best...but I can say that I rarely culled any wild type siblings...the shape was better there as was the growth.. The albinos tended to be less round and very beaky and weak in the chin...Thats actually a trait I have seen in alot of golden albinos posted.... I've spoken with several others that have noted similar...in many albino lines.

If you look at the shipments of fish that come in...one thing that is obvious to me is the low numbers of albinos and higher price... I think one way to interpret that is they are harder to breed, and possibly have a higher cull rate....what I saw was only from two sets of fry ( same pair) here so its not much of a data set...just an observation that supports that.

As time goes by and more and more hobbyists are breeding albinos successfully I hope we get more info one way or another.

hth,
al

Thanks Al, very interesting indeed. Those Albino's are definitely an item. I know what you mean about being picky, gotta be just right. I knew you were a perfectionist. LOL

Good luck with the breeding and thanks again.

Eddie