Not sure if im posting this in the right forum , but what is Mooning ? and what does it look like ?

Mooning is when at the top of a frontosa stripe you have a white spot.
it will also look like the stripe is splitting.

serious cases are actually extra stripes.

So mooning is where it looks like a stripe is about to split into another.

Its called mooning because in the minor form its just a small circle, or moon shaped.

Thanks , i was just looking at a pic of some fonts that have Mooning

Where did you see these pics at. I would like to see as well.

Use the search feature to find pictures of mooning.

Is it a bad thing?

Hi Fern, mpimbwe seem to suffer more mooning that other variants some of my babies have it to some degree, after taking advice from TR6 i switched to feeding a spirulina flake food and it has coloured them up and reduced the mooning.

Fern wrote (View Post): › Is it a bad thing?

Its more a cosmetic issue than health & well being, looking at your pictures i wouldnt worry about it.

Ok so adding in some spirulina flake will help, sounds good. And being a cosmetic issue if it helps that's good and if it doesn't that's fine too

It's true that mooning is a cosmetic problem.
Most juvies with mooning will over grow it.
No problem so far.
Then again it should not be underestimated.
It is not desired to have fronts with extra stripes or less vivid colors.
Still think it isn't wise to breed (adult) fronts with serious mooning.

Fern wrote (View Post): › Is it a bad thing?

Not bad as in unhealthy, nor does it indicate poor breeding in ALL cases.

Wilds have been brought in with mooning, and you can't get more genetically diverse than F0.

Its bad in that you will have a hard time selling them to frontosa experts.
you could sell them to newbies or most LFS stores.

So then you have to ask yourself, is it ethical to cull a healthy fish, that does not look the way you may like.
only those who decide what to cull can answer that question.

The easiest way i have found to deal with culling is to keep a fish that will only eat live food.
You have to feed that fish live food, no way around it, so you give him your culls.
Otherwise, raising a fish to be culled even though healthy will be unethical or cruel in some people's minds.

These are F1's 4 (smaller) from one colony and 5 (larger) from a different colony.
Once they grow up I plan on selling the males and getting 1-2 males of either F0 or F1 for genetic diversity. Going on what yall are saying I would also sell any adult with bad mooning to someone who wont breed them.
Yes I am familiar with culling, I have 2 flowerhorns that look forward to it.

Sounds like a good plan Fern.

With the advice Lee gave you your juvies are most likely to turn out just fine

They are ignoring the spirulina flake....... Any other ideas?

Wow mine go nuts for the flakes, are the used to pellets? if so, u can get spirilina pellets. U can also try not feeding them for a day and trying them agian.