In the previous pool we explored the easiest way to create the grass tail pattern phenotype in many colors. The most direct path to take when trying to produce additional homozygous grass guppy strains in myriad colors is to out-cross "clear with grass" or "grass with grass". You will achieve greater success with this approach if homozygous strains are your prime objective. If you add tiger or leopard tail patterns to the mix you can will discover that the majority of the grass phenotypes you will see will lead to "heterozygous for" strains. What about the grass multi phenotype? How can you go about creating this phenotype? The most straightforward approach would be to out-cross grass with clear multi. The easiest clear multies to stabilize are the ones you will often find in early generations of the tuxedo CD guppies. Various clear multi blue and grass multi blue phenotypes will show up in the tuxedo F2- F3 generations when you explore the tuxedo guppies right off the CD. I find these phenotypes somewhat bland and uninspiring but they are the best place to start if you want to stabilize a few clear multi strains with which to work. Since MaZone (I've given her a new name, what do you think?) often shows us clear multi in the F1 generations, I have not stabilized many clear multi strains as homozygous strains. I haven't even tried. For this article I searched my collection of strains and found several dozen "clear multi hetero for something" strains  but only one homozygous "clear multi" strain that I thought might produce some eye candy for you and make the project interesting for me. (As usual, MaZone had her own ideas about where we were going and how we were going to get there.) The homozygous clear multi strain I found in my files was a white bodied albino tux strain, "walbino clear multi electric blue". I chose to out-cross this strain with the same cobra grass strain used in pool 31, "cobra grass canary spice" (the .fsh file was already in my "items" folder). I enjoy working with white-bodied albinos. There is "something" unique about this phenotype that has the potential to create something "new and wonderful" when used in an out-cross. I selected a female from the walbino (don't try to pronounce it, I made it up) file and a male from the cobra file. Here are the males produced in the F1 generation. See what I mean about the F1 generation males! MaZone has done herself proud with this batch of males. However, pretty as they are, I know that F1 males are just for show. I decided not to go for albino this session, selecting non-albino parents for each generation (no specific reason). Let's see what a pair from this batch will show us in the F2 generation. Interesting but limited. The blue pec male will lead to a heterozygous strain (been there, seen that, bred that, got that). The grass males look like Dad (why bother). The grass multi guys are my only alternative. I selected one of the grass multi males and produced the F3 generation. MaZone produced just two males in this batch. The grass multi male looks just like the guys in the F1 but since the phenotype skipped a generation maybe MaZone now considers him another "fork in the road". Well, I won't know unless I try (and it is so easy to delete .fsh files if I later change my mind). The grass multi male produced this batch of F4 males. The appearance of the "clear multi burnt orange tangerine" male in this batch suggests to me that the "grass multi males are going to prove "heterozygous for" his phenotype and that phenotype will in turn prove to be "heterozygous for clear" (I've been down that road too many times). Let's see where this leads. (We are just at the F4 and things usually get goofy in the F4 and F5 generation.) I again selected a "grass multi" male to produce the F5 generation. Yep, the "grass multi" phenotype is leading to the "clear multi" phenotype and MaZone shows me the clear yellow phenotype to let me know (if I read the road signs) where she is going if I continue to follow this "fork in the road". Again, the same phenotype as the F1 guys appears. Since I have no idea where his phenotype will lead (yet) I select him to produce the F6 generation. Well, well, well. A "grass multi denim" guy appears. MaZone is dangling the bait waiting to see if I'll bite. His phenotype is the same as the walbino strain used to create this out-cross but MaZone has added the grass pattern. As far as MaZone is concerned this is the logical phenotype to chase (she speaks to me in my dreams). If I choose to not take her lead she will pout and probably let me have the "grass multi orange" but with all sorts of heterozygous strings attached (I know `cause I tried). I asked my assistant (Ms Windoze) to find all the files on my computer with the word grass in them to see if I had a homozygous strain of cobra grass denim on file (she found 476 files with the word grass in them which lets me know I am truly an AZaddict). Searching Ms. Windoze's list (she tries hard but sometimes falls down on the job) I find that this would be a new strain for me so I decide to see where the "grass multi denim" male will lead. He produced this batch of F7 sons. The selected male from this batch produced this batch of F8 males. I can hear MaZone whispering, "Common, chase the orange multi, I dare you" so I stick with my plan and select a blue male to produce these F9 males. MaZone pats me on the head and says, "Good boy, you made the right choice". Here are the males in the F10 and F11 generations. Well, these guys are "grass multi" and homozygous "grass multi" is the phenotype that I set out to create. They are sorta drab and certainly not eye candy. What MaZone will let me have in blue she will not allow me to have in orange. The next step is to see what MaZone will produce when this strain is used in an out-cross. I looked through my files for a really hot orange color grass strain and selected a tuxedo strain labeled "albino tux grass burnt orange topaz". This is the tuxedo version of the albino strain in the previous pool that carried the gene for black overcoat. Curious to see if this strain also carried the gene for black overcoat I decided to use the strain. Here are the strains being out-crossed. I selected a male from the blue cobra tux file and a female from the albino file. Here are the males in the F1 generation of this out-cross.

Way to go MaZone! MaZone really used a lot of paint on these guys. Let's see what MaZone has to show us in the F2 generation. A random pair was selected to produce this batch of males. Yep, the albino strain carries the gene for black overcoat. I probably produced both albino strains in the same breeding session so this fact does not surprise me (I've got no clue as to when I created those two strains). What is very interesting is the tail pattern of the walbino male. What is it? Looks like the dark blue color was splashed over the turquoise color. Since the non-albino males will all be wearing black overcoats I chose to go for albino in this gene pool exploration. Since I had been chasing homozygous "grass multi some shade of intense orange" for several days I decided to save the walbino guy for later and follow the path of the "grass multi orange" guy. He produced these sons in the F3 generation. Hummmmmmm. Again MaZone is peddling the walbino phenotype. "Here take another look", she says. MaZone also shows me two gorgeous orange multi males that exhibit intense coloration with an enhanced grass pattern. Take a look at this guy matured to ten months of age. Now, which would you choose? Would you select the subtle walbino or the hot, hot, hot orange grass multi? Well, we are just at the F3 generation. Let's see where the hot orange phenotype leads. Here are the males produced by the selected male (pictured above). MaZone produces only two males in the batch. Well it only takes one to move on to the F5 generation. Here are the males in the F5 generation. I got the feeling that MaZone was really trying to shove the walbino phenotype down my throat. I took the hot orange multi phenotype out to the F14 and stabilized the strain as a "heterozygous for" strain. Standard operating procedure. Take what you can get from MaZone and be grateful. I then returned to this F5 generation and took a closer look at the walbino. Just what was the tail pattern of this phenotype? The selected walbino male produced this F6 generation. This guy produced this batch of F7 sons. Oboy, MaZone is really having fun with me now. She throws another phenotype at me. This phenotype is the same tail pattern and color as the original "cobra tux grass multi denim" male in MaZone's albino version. MaZone has been hiding this phenotype for seven generations. Well, on to the F8. Here are the males in the F8 generation. At this point I took a break, rebooted the computer, walked the dog, played with The Sims for a while and contemplated never playing with MaZone ever again. She has persuaded me to accept heterozygous strains but does she have to insist that every strain I take a fancy to being heterozygous? Well, after watching virtual Sims pee all over the floor just because they couldn't find the door to the bathroom I returned to MaZone. Here are the males in the F9 generation. At this point I decided to mature two of the males just to see what I was looking at. This tail pattern was too subtle for my old eyes to see on the three-month-old males. I liked what I saw. The tail pattern was different. I asked myself, "Self, is this tail pattern really different? Has self seen this tail pattern before?" I fired up a freeware program I use called Irfan View and took a look at all of my stabilized walbino strains. Irfan view's thumbnail option is great for checking out pics I have on file of my strains. As you can see, the tail patterns the walbinos demonstrate can be very unusual. I did not see the "splash" pattern. OK, MaZone is showing me something she thinks is "new and wonderful". Will MaZone let me stabilize the phenotype as a homozygous strain? I threw another pair into the tank. Here are the males in the F10 generation. You do not want to know what I had to say to MaZone when she produced just two males in this batch. I did tell her that goldfish, discus and marble angelfish from a foreign country could be obtained. I told her that a Geisha Mother AZ from Japan could replace her. I told her she wasn't the only alternative for Mother Nature available to me. Whatever I said must have scared her because she allowed me to have this strain as a homozygous strain. Here are the males in the F14 generation. Here are the two strains mature to ten months of age. The "splash" tail pattern is new to me. Have you seen it yet? My wife heard some of the things I was muttering to MaZone and cautiously approached. When I finally shut up she said, "Splish splash in the grass with a dash of hash is what I think is going on in here. Just what have you been doing? Who are you talking to? Don't make me have to sell that computer at a garage sale! If you keep acting crazy, I'll start treating like you're crazy. Crazy old coot."