Male and female guppies in separate tanks?

[bubbaboy]

Hello AA,
i have a question.
I'm thinking of separating the female/male guppies in two diffrent tanks to prevent overpopulation
I'm wondering every generation or so i would pick the best looking female and male and breed them together.
What i'm wondering is can I just put one male in a breeder box (for fry's) and one female in the same box and just wait for the male to mate with the female, and right after put them into their respective tanks?
Or will the sperm travel through water and impregnate the other female guppies?

 

[wildroseofky]

Guppies are live bearers not spawners. The sperm is inserted directly into the female so it will not travel through the water. The female will hold onto the sperm by enfolding it into different pockets in her reproductive organ. This way she can have several pregnancies from the same male in case he is no longer around. You can get as many as 4 birthings from one mating. If you want a specific pair to breed you need to make sure the female has not been around any other male for probably 6 months or more or is a virgin. I separated my female as soon as I saw that she was indeed female so I can breed her with my choice of male and not hers. She is in her own 5 gallon tank until she matures a little more.