Guppies, how do they rate quality, desirability etc?

[Bubba643]

My wife has a planted 40g breeder with some pretty cool looking male guppies and two females. Was just wondering how you tell what quality they are as far as demand, etc. below are a few pics, are these guys pretty common?

 

[nirbhao]

Guppies are very prolific breeders. You're probably not going to have a market to meet your supply.

 

[Bubba643]

I agree, I was just curious how to judge certain ones. Not for profit, I have heard most end up feeder grade but was just wondering how one would judge if they had a good strain or not.

 

[nirbhao]

So you are breeding for competition?

Where did you get them?

The fish nerd place I go to gets very, very fancy strains. They are not cheap!

We have guppies, and oh my goodness can I not keep up with the fry! It makes me crazy, always new fry. I would get rid of them in a heartbeat if stocking were entirely up to me. Still, when I see these gorgeous guppies, I want to bring them home.

So if you want a good strain for personal enjoyment, your fish look healthy. For competition, you need to up your game.

 

[Andy Sager]

Go to the International Guppy association (https://www.ifga.org/) and look at what they recognizing as good strains. I can tell you that blood lines are where their value is. Fish that produce pure strains are worth more than those that pop out assorted fish. Here's a hint: if you bought yours from anyone other than a breeder, they are not "top quality" fish. Now, that doesn't mean they are bad fish, just not top of the line fish. One of my local stores sells Guppies that are beautiful but I found out, they are usually the bottom of his breeder's barrel. So you never know unless you deal with a breeder.

 

[Bubba643]

No I'm not a guppy guy really and thanks for the replys they answered my questions. So it's basically like dog breeding, probably not going to find a Westminster champion at the local pound, but you can still find the best dog ever in your eyes.

 

[Bubba643]

So you are breeding for competition?

Where did you get them?

The fish nerd place I go to gets very, very fancy strains. They are not cheap!

We have guppies, and oh my goodness can I not keep up with the fry! It makes me crazy, always new fry. I would get rid of them in a heartbeat if stocking were entirely up to me. Still, when I see these gorgeous guppies, I want to bring them home.

So if you want a good strain for personal enjoyment, your fish look healthy. For competition, you need to up your game.

I'm not breeding, I'm more "happen to be a few males and females in the tank" and with guppies you know what that means. I guess they all look the same to the untrained eye was just curious how one would judge a difference, I should have guessed bloodlines I guess there is no other way really no matter what animal or species to confirm quality.