I. K. G. H.  - Numbers Explained © - Steve Elliott 

DOWNLOAD COLOUR CHART © - Malcolm Clarke 

The Convention and Guppy show have been a great success in the new venue. There was a great deal of interest in the guppies and by far there was one question that was asked much more than any other. " What are the numbers on the tanks ? ".(for example 6:3:12) 

Simply it is a three number system for identifying the types of guppies so that the judges all based their scores on the same type of guppy. We had managed to get all the tail types together but even then there were colour differences and the number system could have been used to keep the like with like, - for example all the red fish together and all the blue etc. The number system shows the colour types with the tail types. 

The first number represents the tail types. There are 12 tail types  

1   FAN TAIL                                                    2   DELTA or TRIANGLE TAIL 
               

3   VEIL TAIL                                                       4   FLAG TAIL                            
               

5   DOUBLE SWORD                                     6   TOP SWORD                                           
         


7   BOTTOM SWORD                                          8 LYRE TAIL
             

9   SPADE or COFFER TAIL                            10   SPEAR TAIL
                                      

11 ROUND TAIL                                            12   NEEDLE or PIN TAIL                        

The second set of numbers is the coding for the background or base colours. 

   1       Grey                             6          Albino

   2       Gold                             7          White

   3       Blond                            8          Silver

   4       Blue                             9          Cream

   5       Pink                              10         Lutino

 

Most of the guppies that we see are likely to be grey or blond. Often you can see the difference on the forehead of the guppy. The guppies must always match, both with trio shows and with pairs. This may seem simple ,but sometimes a brood may contain both ! This is an easy mistake on the show bench. The colours indicated are self explanatory except for (and this is always the second question) what is Lutino ? 

Lutino is WREA albino ! Wine Red Eye Albino. This ground colour is originated by different albino genes. In lutino you will find that the red eye is not a bright red or pink as in 'normal' albino. The red would be more similar to the red of wine or colour of a clay brick. In addition the whole body looks a little bit darker than the real red albinos.                                      

Lutino Blue Neon   Photo by Philip Shaddock, 
From the Italian Guppy Club website:
http://www.aig-italia.com/html/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=66
 

The third and final set of numbers is the colour of the foreground which is again self explanatory :

1.      Red                                       11.       Snakeskin

2.      Blue                                       12.       Viennese emerald

3.      Green                                    13.       A-coloured (single colour)

4.      Yellow                                   14.       Polychrome (mixed multi coloured)

5.      White                                     15.       AC (all colours)

6.      Black                                     16.       AOC (all OTHER colours)

7.      Neon                                     17.       Multicoloured   (two tone coloured)

8.      Moscow                                18.       Japan blue

9.      Metallic                                  19.       Blue/red grass

10      ½ black and ¾ black

 So 6 : 3 : 12 would be a blond, Viennese emerald top sword 
 But it can get a bit more complicated................

 A 2 : 1 : 10/4   would be a grey, half black yellow triangle tail !

 or a 11 : 3 : 8/1 would be a blond, red Moscow round tail.

 You will soon get used to it !

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