Fancy Guppy or Feeder Guppy

[MagicAfra]

I'm unsure whether this should be classified under breeding as it has not yet happened, however it does have to do with selective breeding in the future.

I wanted to start selectively breeding guppies mainly because of their variability in color and pattern. Breeding them seems to have so many possibilities. I am interested in genetics and I thought it would be cool to document each guppy as you move down through the generations. Hopefully I will not only see a change, but I will be able to attribute that to either the genetics of the father or mother. If I were to breed, especially fancy guppies I would do line breeding, with two lines because this would allow for a large amount of control.

Now, given that I wish to breed for maximum change and yet still trace-able genetics and beauty should I start with fancy or feeder guppies, or a male feeder with a female fancy?

I want variation in the offspring so I can choose offspring with the desired trait. Do you think the offspring of fancy guppies are too uniform? Or that the breeding of a feeder with another feeder will produce results too similar to wild guppies to be selected from by someone new to breeding guppies? Perhaps the answer lies in a male feeder with a female fancy? I have heard that this will give variation which is what I want but hopefully not all the way back to a wild guppy or something that I cannot work with. Let me know what you think. Thanks

 

[derail]

Great idea, I've started keeping a running log of whenever my guppy's breed, mainly because I've decided, as well, to take that more seriously. Now, there's a few things about it that I think personally.

Of course, the majority of the "fancy" and "feeder" guppies that you get will have been bred to be this way for generations (that case more apparent in fancies) and feeders seem that they're just the needed part of the fry that should be culled. I've had a fancy guppy male and female breed, and the offspring were, in turn fancy but there were fry that were not as pretty and ultimately I had culled.

On the other hand, that same father (a fancy red guppy to be exact) bred with a much more plain guppy (some light yellow on the tail but otherwise no coloration) and this has produced fry that actually include males (first batch all female [that is, the batch from fancy red male and fancy leapord female]). Also, the Fry between the Fancy red and 'feeder' female has produced a beautiful freak baby boy, that has gotten color much sooner than the other fry did.

My first batch of fry took about 4-5 months to start developing color, and this freak baby took less than 2 months, actually born with color. Since then, The fancy red guppy boy has bred with a third female (tequila sunrise female) and I'm awaiting those results. What I have found that even those feeder female guppies are capable of birthing beautiful offspring and fancy females are capable of birthing dull fry and beautiful fry.
The best option you will have will ultimately be to acquire your male and females from different stores to reduce the risk of having an inbred group (optimum ratio 1m-3f), as many fancy guppies are line bred to enhance that trait and we all know what inbreeding can ultimately lead to. Honestly, I would go with (tanks willing) two males-one male fancy and one male feeder, and mixed female fancies and feeders so you could see all possibilities. If you don't want/have the necessary room/tank space, i'd say go fancy male and feeder female.
Best of luck with you, this will be fun to follow along with.

 

[GNarnian]

I subscribed to this. Genetics in these fish are quite interesting. I'm looking forward to following this thread!

I've been thinking about starting to breed these little guys too!

 

[Shay]

This is a fun project, long term in some ways once you start going thru fry to get a desired look/color. Have a couple lines that I've been working with for a few years finally to the point they are breeding 90% true.

Good luck!!