CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I was looking at a book in Borders the other day.It was a nice looking book so I bought it, plus it used work by Dr.Axelrod and Dr.Burgess.Anyway it had a whole section about different colors and strains of oscars and it mentioned that the fish everybody calls albino but knows that it isn't really an albino was produced in Taiwan and was originally called a lutino.What do my fellow owners of white oscars think about that?

A lutinous oscar looks just like an albino. The way to tell the difference is by looking to see if there eyes are black or redish orange. If they have black eyes it is a lutinous.

I was aware of that, I just wondered what people thought.

Yea, I think reason is that what goes by "albino" is really not "albinism". The fish does really have "pigment". TRUE albinos have "PINK" eyes not Black or Brown etc....

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

oh, sorry

The term albino really mean's complete lack of pigment(kinda like powder..movie) but in most cases just the lack of pigmentation is refered to as "albino". Which hey, doesn't really bother me that much. Lutino or Albino, whatever the case may be darker eyes or that brighter orange eyes, they still are beautiful. I do prefer the lutino's although(and I'm guilty of calling them albino's also). Other than that I still do enjoy having the color patterns located in the tigers mixed with the white ghostly appearances of the albino's. Just a preference I guess.
Chuck

I'd really like to see a live true albino in the fin. I'd pay good money to own one actually. Anyway the only reason I started the post was I was curious about the opinions of others. The term albino irks me becuase it is innacurate and I always try to do my best in stating things accurately. I like my white oscar anyway, even if he has trouble producing certain globular proteins correctly and in copious amounts.

Yea, must say I really do miss my "so-called'albino'" oscar Was really great seeing him play in the tank's vertical jetstreams(made by my pumps).

Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

Hey, I was also wondering if my albino was a true albino. I was wondering because he looks different from any so called "albino".
His fins are much different.They are much longer better looking than any other oscar's
that i've seen.The 2 fins that extend from I guess close to his stomach are much longer than any oscars that i've seen. Instead of 2 to 3 inches i'm guessing they're over 5 to 6. He also has orange eyes. His tail fins are larger and longer too, much like a fancy gold fish. he also is pretty much all white except for alittle orange on his tail fins, but no orange on him himself. If you can tell me exactly what kind he is it would really be appreciated.

hes lut or his eyes would be pink/red not orange


cooly,
thomas

Brandon,
Where did you get your fish? Was it from a big pet store or a little one? I've heard of people breeding long fins into many kinds of fish including things likt swordtails and other small fish. I think I've even heard Joe talk about oscars bred to have long fins. Although they look very stunning, sometimes the fins are too long to effectively breed, especially in the case of live bearers. Joe would have more info on the capability of spawning with extra ling fins. It may be just that they have more difficulty swimming since oscars don't have to actually mate the way live bearers do. It could also be a possibility that the female, or a fish of the opposite sex if yours turns out to be a female, wouldn't see it as a potential mate since it doesn't have the same looks as most other oscars of the same type. But hey, they can breed a bull dog with a chiwawa!

It sounds like you have a very pretty fish, if you have pictures, there's now a forum just for pictures. I would love to see them!

Good luck!

------------------

Jen

Long fins in oscars and other cichlids...think of them as "mutations"....to tell you the truth, personally I think that normal fins look better....but then I'm one who'd pass on 10feet long arms

------------------
Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

I wanted to try to stay away from the really long finned Oscars, now. At first when I started keeping O's again I was interested in having a long finned version. But after a while of looking at them, I started getting the impression of a Goldfish but with that Oscar personality(and appetite) we have all grown to love so much. Most of all of them that I have seen are the Lutino's or Albino's, not realy any regular tiger's or Red's. People who have kept them say really nice things about them, but others say thru breeding for just the long fins they start to get a little "stupider" or have problems. I don't know. I would like to find some, if I have to order them I will, but to keep them and personally try them out. They do look cool though and hopefully I can get a pair of them or 2 that get along so they don't destroy there fins thru violence or territorial disputes. I will keep you informed. Getting my other tank tommorrow. Special made 55ga. couple of inches shorter in hight and length wider than 13 inches so the fish will have a little more room to turn around. I hope it turns out alright. The guy gave me a GREAT deal on it...$50 for the tank. I'll keep ya informed about it. Laters!!

------------------
Chuck
kickstart4@aol.com

I really havn't observed long finned oscars, only seen pictures, but I would "ASSUME" that they really can't be as agile and as tough as regular oscars. Well on the other hand, there's more "fin" for others to munch on Maybe they're good for the barbecue

------------------
Joe
www.cichlidfish.com

The 75 gal I have has pretty good dimensions for an oscar. It's 4ft long by 21 inches high by 18 inches wide. The glass is about 1/2 inch thick so that little bugger can bang on the glass as much as he wants! (As long as he doesn't try to ram a rock through it!)
Jack is all banged up again. Just when he healed too...When I woke up this morning he had a ton of scales missing on both sides of his body and 2 gouges in his head. I guess he's afraid of the dark! LOL He get's really frisky at night...I hear him splashing downstairs all the time. I didn't hear anything last night so I was suprised to see him that way when I got up. Huh...who knows!!

I'll bet a big fat fish would make a good BBQ, I don't know about long fins though. It has to have all the fins and skin (and of course the head and tail) for me to even consider eating it!! LOL
------------------

Jen

[This message has been edited by Repunz (edited 10-16-2000).]