Guppy question

[SushiRoll]

I have 9 guppies (5 females and 4 males) that I think are close to 5 months old. Can I put the females in with my favorite male or should I wait a little longer they are all siblings and are about an inch long. Thanks!


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[Andy Sager]

Considering that Guppies can start breeding as early as 2-3 months old, they may already be pregnant from the males they are in with. If you are trying to selectively breed them for coloration, you might want to remove the males and let the females be alone to see if they give birth when not stressed by the males. If they don't give birth in about 4-6 weeks, they most likely are still virgins and then you can control the breeding by putting them in with only the male you want to sire the fry.
If they do give birth withing that first 4-6 weeks, you need to remember that females can hold sperm for some time so you may need to wait another 4-6 weeks to see if a second or third drop happens. These will be fry sired by their siblings and will influence the line.

Hope this helps.

 

[SushiRoll]

They've been separated for almost a month and none of the females look big or squared off. I did separate them as soon as I could tell the differences in gender if that helped. So if they can breed before their gonopodium (hope I spelled that right) fully develops then my females could be pregnant. I moved the males the day that their anal fins started to look pointy.


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[Andy Sager]

They've been separated for almost a month and none of the females look big or squared off. I did separate them as soon as I could tell the differences in gender if that helped. So if they can breed before their gonopodium (hope I spelled that right) fully develops then my females could be pregnant. I moved the males the day that their anal fins started to look pointy.


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Then you should be fine. Just remember to put more than 1 female in with the male so he has other fish to distract his attentions to

 

[SushiRoll]

Yeah there will be either 3 or 5 females. I just can't decide if i want to put all of his sisters in or if I just put the colorful ones.


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[Andy Sager]

Yeah there will be either 3 or 5 females. I just can't decide if i want to put all of his sisters in or if I just put the colorful ones.


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Usually, the best way to get the most colorful fry is to only breed the most colorful fish to begin with. It shortens the time it takes to bring out the colors in the phynotype when they are in the genes.

 

[SushiRoll]

Yeah that's what I thought it's just I only have 2 tanks so where would I put the other 3 males because there's only 2 colorless females. There are a lot of hiding places in it so maybe they'll be ok so I'm going to go ahead a do it.


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[SushiRoll]

My guppies
The females

A terrible picture of the male because he wouldn't stop moving

He looks almost exactly like his brothers but he has more mottling on his sides.


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[Andy Sager]

Sometimes, you either can't keep all that you want or you have to get another tank. That's the reality of fish breeding/ keeping.

See what happens but be prepared.

 

[rostick555]

So true lol

 

[livefishguy124]

nice fish, and i kept my males and females together the whole time.

 

[Andy Sager]

nice fish, and i kept my males and females together the whole time.

There's nothing wrong about keeping them together UNLESS you are breeding for specific colors or patterns or shapes. Then you need to be very selective as to whose genetics get tossed into the mix. I believe the OP is trying to get a specific outcome with this breeding program.

 

[SushiRoll]

There's nothing wrong about keeping them together UNLESS you are breeding for specific colors or patterns or shapes. Then you need to be very selective as to whose genetics get tossed into the mix. I believe the OP is trying to get a specific outcome with this breeding program.

Yeah I chose my favorites and put them together. The male I chose had a brother almost as good just his tail had more black stripes and less color. I'm doing this correct right? Also what does op mean?


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[Andy Sager]

Yeah I chose my favorites and put them together. The male I chose had a brother almost as good just his tail had more black stripes and less color. I'm doing this correct right? Also what does op mean?


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Yes, you start with the physical characteristics you want to exploit then keep the the offspring generation ( known as the F1 generation) pure to breed back to the parents. Then, you breed the siblings of the parent /child spawns to each other to increase the genetics of the fish to the characteristics you are trying to have. So it would look like this:
Step 1-Mother/ Father breed
Step 2-F1 Male(s) with the desired look get bred back to the mother
Step 2- F1 Female(s) with the desired look get bred back to the father
Step 3- Whichever offspring from both step 2 have the desired look, need to be bred to their sibling ( NOT their 1/2 sibling) This will help determine which parent the desired look came from.
Step 4- Whichever fry from step 3 show the desired look, they need to be bred to each other. Siblings and 1/2 siblings can get mixed now if both show the trait you want. At this point, most of the genetics of all the offspring showing the desired looks are locked in so you want to keep breeding generations of these fish to each other. HOWEVER, usually, about 6-8 generations in, you will start to see more fry with malformations or disabilities and at that point, you will need to introduce new blood into the line to correct these bad genes. From there, you will need to do some selective breeding again to regain the characteristics from all the fish being born. It will be easier this time because the source fish will have more genes for that look.
So, did I confuse you? lol You can read up on the process here: Punnett Square Calculator | Science Primer


OP = Original poster. That was you

Hope this helps