Project L236

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Nice fish. You are about to head in the uncharted waters of 236 appearance. I say that because these fish morph. By that I mean if you take a time series of pictures of specific individuals over a few years you may find that, when viewed, you will swear they are not the same fish. Where this is most notable is between the fish when very young and then when a lot older- say 5 -10 years.

However, this does not have any effect on their offspring. Just because a more mature fish may have less white in it's later years doesn't mean the fry it is producing will also be less white. If you get to keeping the 173, you will find this even more pronounced.

The question I have always had and is yet to be resolved, is if either the 236 or the 173 will turn out to be Identified species (like zebras) or if they are natural hybrids. My gut has always been that the 236 are likely not a species and 173 are. But I have no proof of this, so I am prepared for science to prove me wrong. This is why I have super white 236 but would never consider wanting a super white 173 and especially not a super white zebra.

Having worked with zebras, 236 and 173, I have been able to watch each of them grow from egg to adulthood. I have never mis-dentified a free swimming zebra.
 
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TwoTankAmin said:
Nice fish. You are about to head in the uncharted waters of 236 appearance. I say that because these fish morph. By that I mean if you take a time series of pictures of specific individuals over a few years you may find that, when viewed, you will swear they are not the same fish. Where this is most notable is between the fish when very young and then when a lot older- say 5 -10 years.

However, this does not have any effect on their offspring. Just because a more mature fish may have less white in it's later years doesn't mean the fry it is producing will also be less white. If you get to keeping the 173, you will find this even more pronounced.

The question I have always had and is yet to be resolved, is if either the 236 or the 173 will turn out to be Identified species (like zebras) or if they are natural hybrids. My gut has always been that the 236 are likely not a species and 173 are. But I have no proof of this, so I am prepared for science to prove me wrong. This is why I have super white 236 but would never consider wanting a super white 173 and especially not a super white zebra.

Having worked with zebras, 236 and 173, I have been able to watch each of them grow from egg to adulthood. I have never mis-dentified a free swimming zebra.
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I am looking forward to watching their development from fry into adulthood. When choosing my fish I tried to choose the whitest ones in the group, and the best looking. There was a group of 40 for me to choose from. If they are anything like my king tigers I can totally understand thinking they are different fish lol my king tigers went from stripped juvies into the squiggly adult pattern Within a year.

173 is next on my list, once I have enough tank space for them.

Of all the reading I’ve done on the 236’s a agree with your assessment that it’s a natural hybrid
 
I can see a tail of one who has chosen a rock crevice as its home and one that lives at the back of the tank, the one at the back of the tank is usually pretty visible

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236 and zebra will cross breed. You should separate them before they are of spawning age unless you are certain they are all the sane sex.
 
TwoTankAmin said:
236 and zebra will cross breed. You should separate them before they are of spawning age unless you are certain they are all the sane sex.
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Thank you for the advise.

I absolutely will be separating before they all reach breeding age. The zebras have their own tank that they will be going into once I can catch them.

based on my research zebras take 2-3 years and 236’s take about 2 years. The zebras a little older than the 236’s. The zebras are about 1.5 years old (based on my math) and the 236’s are probably less than 6 months old being they are still 1.5 inches or so.

I have a very large rock in the tank which makes catching the zebras difficult, I cannot move the rock and they really like the back side of it ?
 
I have read accounts of zebras breeding at 18 months, I am not sure I believe them. But they can spawn before 3 years. 236 are faster in about 18-20 months is possible. Super whites took longer, I am not sure why. I bought mine at about 1.75-2 inch in late 2019 but they were delivered to me in earlt 2020 because I had by pass surgery in Sept of 2019 and that delayed my raking delivery until 2020. I had hoped they might spawn by the end pr last year byt they did not go until last month.

One can push these fish to spawn spponer, but i am not in favor of that. the bigger a female gets, the more eggs she will produce. it takes energy to grow and it takes energy to produce eggs. In a group setting females have a pecking order just like the males. only the top females get to spawn with the top ,ales. All the rest get to watch and wish. This natural system means only the strongest/;arhets males and females will get to spawn, Tis also mean those bigger females will produce the most eggs. However, of one puts a young male and female togther intheir own tank, them may spawn ate a much earlyier age and the female, being smaller, will produce fewer aggs.

Nature works things out pretty well but we can change that in our tanks. I prefer to work with groups and to let them sort it out. If my goal were to become a zebra factory, I would keep all reverse trios. I would also likely line breed as opposed to letting the fish decide who spawns with whom.
 
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