Is this a worthwhile mating?

[Barb]

A male solid white pearlscale, standard fin, and a female standard fin black marble.  If so, I may give them their own 20 gal tank and see what happens in our hard water.  Probably nothing?
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

The cross is good.  The eggs won't hatch in your water.  Collect rain water and filter it.  I need pics of the fish to give you a better opinion.  It's all about quality.  Let's see what Mug thinks/

[Mugwump]

A male solid white pearlscale, standard fin, and a female standard fin black marble.  If so, I may give them their own 20 gal tank and see what happens in our hard water.  Probably nothing?
Barb

Is the male a Plat ??..... if so, and the Marble carries a gold??...you really won't get much...but the sibling crosses have promise 

50% g/g +/pb
50% M/g +/pb

if just a g/g +/pb X M/+....

you'll get some marbles with a gold M/g
silvers with a gold and a pb.....+/g +/pb
marbles with a gold...M/g
Silvers with a gold...+/g
25% of each genotype....

[LizStreithorst]

but if the male doesn't show gold, if the fish are good it will make a great cross.  I can see the 2nd generation in my mind's eye.  A good black and white marbled pearl scale would be something to die for, no?

[Mugwump]

but if the male doesn't show gold, if the fish are good it will make a great cross.  I can see the 2nd generation in my mind's eye.  A good black and white marbled pearl scale would be something to die for, no?

no...the gold 'g' and the pearl scale 'p' are both recessive, and require (2) copies of each to express the property...

I've seen very pale/white golds, but I'd bet it's a Plat g/g pb/pb p/p.....
either way, the fry would be 'het' for pearl scale....if the marble has a gold..

50% g/g +/pb +/p
50% M/g +/pb +/p

crosses of the golds that will be het for pb/p..will yield some Plat pearl scales...and Plats..
The marble siblings will yield a conglomeration of blue marbles, Plats, in mixes and matches, some pearl scale..others het for both pb and p........a whole slew of things....LOL....a lot will look identical but be het's.....which can be difficult to sort out since the 'het' will be, in this case, non-expressing recessive genes.....

[Barb]

Thanks Liz and Jon, I feel like I just read some Chinese or Arabic.  Sorry, I know nothing of all those letters.  I will let you know how it goes, I could catch rain water if we had some. It is like a desert here, our grass is brown, flowers dying...  I hate to say the H word, but what we need is a hurricane's rain.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

Barb, Im trying to translate from Greek.  It's hard!  I think that Mug is telling me that the black and white marbled pearl scale  fish I see in my minds eye will never exist because of the gold gene.

[PaulineMi]

My angels' eggs always turn white in our hard water.  I had to put them in RO water to get them to hatch.

[Barb]

The eggs are not visible today, but the parents are guarding something, the whole left half of the tank belongs to them, they say.  Maybe they did hatch and were moved.  I have heard of angel eggs hatching in very hard water.  I will let you know what I see.    BTW, upon closer examination of the dad fish, he is pearl scale all over, the color of a pearl, and his dorsal and anal fins are blue.  He is really gorgeous.  I see no gold at all on him or the mom.
She has a bluish bit here and there on her black and white body.  After NADA I may just give them a tank of their own and see what happens.  I haven't had an angel spawn to raise in about 17 years, it may be time to do it again.  Not that I have a single minute to devote to anything new these days...
Barb

[Mugwump]

....sounds like a Plat pearl scale and a silver marble....interesting..

[Barb]

Jon, can you tell me what color(s) I may get?  I don't understand all the letters.  They seem to be guarding a few wrigglers they moved to a piece of wood.  If I might get some pretty angels, then I will set up a tank just for them in a month.  If just junk then I will leave them in the community angel tank.
Thanks for advice,
Barb

[Mugwump]

You'll get some marbles that look almost the same and some Golds that will be worth a sibling cross...the Plat and Pearl scale go by by for now, unless the Silver marble carry it..??....they'll be pretty, but it's the offspring that carry those cool genes in 'het' now......it really boils down to them not sharing any genes in common.........if they just happen to each carry a stripeless and perhaps the Silver marble is 'het' for gold/pb....you'll hit the mother lode.........Plats. PB's, paraiba's, etc...the fry will tell the story..

[Barb]

Well, sounds like I should set up a 20 for them next month.  All my angels are from Mellowaquatics, he breeds them all there himself, so these 2 fish could have some of the same good genes. 
This will be a good new fish project.  I would even be willing to buy RO water by the gallon at the Culligan machine in WM.  I use it for all my African violets, could use wc angel water for my violets!  Thanks Jon, I will let you know how it all goes in a few months.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

You have wigglers!  In your water!  How cool! 

Mug isn't fond of the pearl scale gene because of the associated problems.  I think that the look they have is worth the draw backs.  Making more pear scale plats and getting pearl scale Marbles would me my goal if the fish were mine.  It's a breeding project, though.  The second generation will be the fun one to work with.

I like Mellow Aquatics fish.  If you think there's a chance that he might remember what genes are behind your Marble you should ask.

[Mugwump]

Well, sounds like I should set up a 20 for them next month.  All my angels are from Mellowaquatics, he breeds them all there himself, so these 2 fish could have some of the same good genes. 
This will be a good new fish project.  I would even be willing to buy RO water by the gallon at the Culligan machine in WM.  I use it for all my African violets, could use wc angel water for my violets!  Thanks Jon, I will let you know how it all goes in a few months.
Barb

yep, John has some nice lines over there.........good luck