female guppy question

[wildroseofky]

I got a few fancy guppies/endler cross a couple of months ago. I bought all males but ended up with a couple of tiny fry that were caught with the males. They were too young to sex at the time. They have now grown and I thought I had two females but one of them suddenly got colorful and turned out to be male. The other one is still tank with a black tale and rounded anal fins. I moved her to a 5 gallon tank without any fish in it so she would not get pregnant right away. I have a very colorful endler cross that I am thinking of breeding her with. How long should I wait before introducing the male? I do not want her to get pregnant before she has finished growing. I am new to fish breeding and so much of the info online contradicts itself.

Does the females color affect the fry color? I have a regular fancy guppy male that has beautiful coloring and I was thinking of breeding him. His top fin has turned an ethereal blue and his tale is a hot pink flame colored. He is getting some color on his body too so he may be endler cross as well. My local pet store owner isn't very knowledgable about freshwater fish. She deals mostly with salt water. Several times she has ordered things for me and gotten the wrong thing. She just goes by what her supplier tells her and it is most often wrong. I think they are taking advantage of her. She is planning on buying my extra guppy fry like she does my mollies and snails.

 

[henningc]

I typically don't introduce breeder to each other for four months. The female's size regulated some aspects of health and number of fry. Her color will play a role in the fry coloration. With Endler / Guppy cross outs it is a crap shoot. Take your best shot and see what happens.

 

[wildroseofky]

Thanks henningc. I am going to trade some molly fry for few more guppies and then decide who I want to breed. I am thinking of getting at least one more female. I have another 10 gallon tank that doesn't have any fish yet. I have an endler cross with a sword take I like and the other one with the hot pink flame tale and blue fins. I think both would make pretty fry. I will keep researching before any breeding happens.