Adding color to guppy lines

[Rychean]

Hey everybody,
I inherited a family (two generations, it looks like) of orange guppies from a friend. It appears to be a good mix of male/female (roughly 1:3, though I haven't officially counted).
If I want to add some color variety to future fry, is it more likely to succeed by adding males of the new strain, or females? Assume that I plan to keep the ratio the same.
I'm not trying to be too scientific about this, but if I'm going to tinker with the fry outcome, I'd like to get the most bang for my buck.
Thanks!
Brian

[jetajockey]

I'd go with adding a male. Females can work just fine also, but it's much harder to know what kind of genetics they have since they don't show as much color. I'd just go to a pet store and pick out the nicest brightest male in the bunch.

[Fishguy1997]

Originally Posted by jetajockey

I'd go with adding a male. Females can work just fine also, but it's much harder to know what kind of genetics they have since they don't show as much color. I'd just go to a pet store and pick out the nicest brightest male in the bunch.

I agree with JetaJockey... But if you want to make sure that the male you get breeds with the female of your choice I would put them together in a breeder box for about 20 minutes so that he has a shot of doing his thing and also make sure you keep an eye on them if you intend to do that! Good luck! 🐠

[Samzter]

Originally Posted by Fishguy1997

I agree with JetaJockey... But if you want to make sure that the male you get breeds with the female of your choice I would put them together in a breeder box for about 20 minutes so that he has a shot of doing his thing and also make sure you keep an eye on them if you intend to do that! Good luck! ddc20

That actually sounds quite a good method lol!

[Fishguy1997]

Lol thanks and I just thought of it lol

[Rychean]

Originally Posted by Fishguy1997

put them together in a breeder box for about 20 minutes so that he has a shot of doing his thing and also make sure you keep an eye on them if you intend to do that! Good luck! 🐠

I realize they are guppies, but they can pull that off in 20 minutes alone in a breeder box?
I do have a little 2-quart container that I can keep in the water so that it functions as a breeder box. I will have to give it a try!

[jetajockey]

I'd keep the males and females together indefinitely unless you are completely sure that the females are virginal.

[bettaowner]

If you want a brightly colored guppy, get a colorful male like jetajockey said. You'll also want to have a colorful female.