aernympha
Fish Herder
What to look for=to begin, you need to know what you want. Picking a guppy with only a little bit of red on it might eventually lead to a red strain, but it could take years. Knowing what you ultimately want in your guppy before you purchase the first fish will make the process much simpler. Body Size=Wild and feeder guppies tend to be small. If you want to end up with a smaller fish, I would stick with these. Commercial breeders have greatly improved on the guppy's size so if you want a fish with a larger body, but still want the challenge of working from a feeder strain, I would begin with the largest male feeder guppy that you can find and match him up with larger females from the fancy tanks. Taking advantage of the work that has already been done will quickly increase the size of your strain and allow you to focus your efforts on the more eye-catching traits of coloration and tail shape.
Colour=Once you've found some sizable specimens, look at the colour. This is truly the most exciting part of the breeding process. You get to design your own fish. Guppies have been bred to display nearly fluorescent shades of yellow and red, but the blues, greens, and purples are still underdeveloped.
Some common Guppy tail shapes. From Top to Bottom, Lyre tail, Flag, Veil tail, Bottom Sword, Top Sword, Round. These colours could easily be exploited to develop brilliant new guppy strains.
Tail Shape=Once you've figured out the colour you want, consider tail shape and size. I prefer the flag tail but the veil tail is still the most popular and by far the easiest of the tail shapes to find. There are many possibilities, so decide what you want and go for it. If you happen to find a male with the tail shape you're looking for or something that is similar, buy it. Don't feel guilty for taking a couple of short cuts; you still have a lot of work ahead of you to develop a strain that breeds true. Feeding the fry is serious business. The better food you feed them, the quicker they'll grow, and the better colors they'll show (which will help you decide who to keep for breeders, and who to feed to your Oscar!). I suggest a high protein diet including as much live food as possible. Micro worms, water fleas or brine shrimp naupuli will work well for this, and are not too difficult to culture. Micro worms are especially handy and easy (not to mention cheap) as a food source.
As the males age you may note some characteristic you hadn't seen before. Don't be afraid to change your vision of your final product if you see something special. I suggest waiting until the males are at 3/4" long before you start breeding. Take the time to wait for males to grow. You don't want to miss the best breeder because you couldn't wait to get started! Once you find suitable males, use them to replace your old breeding stock. Replace the females at the same time. It would also be wise to bring in outside females every few generations to increase genetic diversity. Select your best females for breeding. Here I am talking about the best female for growing the best males, not the best looking female. Selecting the best male is easy; selecting the best female requires becoming familiar with your strain. It is really not hard to find out which type of females drop the best males. Breed each of your different types of females to a single good male. Raise the different batches of babies and compare the males when they mature. Use your female type that produces the best males. Don't use the first male that matures. That first male rarely reaches the size that the slower maturing males reach. Keep a related strain. Two related strains (preferably the same colour) can be occasionally crossed. Otherwise, you could lose your strain from too much inbreeding. The first signs of too much inbreeding are low fertility or a high percentage of deformities such as bent spines or hernias. Feed young fish often. If you want your guppies to grow as large as possible, feed them often during the period of rapid growth in their first few months of life. Feed 3 or 4 times a day. Feed the babies newly hatched brine shrimp or micro worms if possible. Feed the juveniles frozen brine shrimp and live foods as often as possible. Do small daily water changes. If not, then at least do weekly water changes. Decaying food and fish wastes will quickly foul the water. Be patient. Only 5-10 percent of each drop has the potential of being better than their parents; however, that is more than enough fish to improve the strain.
hope this is to help, also i think it was pjguppies who i was talking about this to .... 8)
Colour=Once you've found some sizable specimens, look at the colour. This is truly the most exciting part of the breeding process. You get to design your own fish. Guppies have been bred to display nearly fluorescent shades of yellow and red, but the blues, greens, and purples are still underdeveloped.
Some common Guppy tail shapes. From Top to Bottom, Lyre tail, Flag, Veil tail, Bottom Sword, Top Sword, Round. These colours could easily be exploited to develop brilliant new guppy strains.
Tail Shape=Once you've figured out the colour you want, consider tail shape and size. I prefer the flag tail but the veil tail is still the most popular and by far the easiest of the tail shapes to find. There are many possibilities, so decide what you want and go for it. If you happen to find a male with the tail shape you're looking for or something that is similar, buy it. Don't feel guilty for taking a couple of short cuts; you still have a lot of work ahead of you to develop a strain that breeds true. Feeding the fry is serious business. The better food you feed them, the quicker they'll grow, and the better colors they'll show (which will help you decide who to keep for breeders, and who to feed to your Oscar!). I suggest a high protein diet including as much live food as possible. Micro worms, water fleas or brine shrimp naupuli will work well for this, and are not too difficult to culture. Micro worms are especially handy and easy (not to mention cheap) as a food source.
As the males age you may note some characteristic you hadn't seen before. Don't be afraid to change your vision of your final product if you see something special. I suggest waiting until the males are at 3/4" long before you start breeding. Take the time to wait for males to grow. You don't want to miss the best breeder because you couldn't wait to get started! Once you find suitable males, use them to replace your old breeding stock. Replace the females at the same time. It would also be wise to bring in outside females every few generations to increase genetic diversity. Select your best females for breeding. Here I am talking about the best female for growing the best males, not the best looking female. Selecting the best male is easy; selecting the best female requires becoming familiar with your strain. It is really not hard to find out which type of females drop the best males. Breed each of your different types of females to a single good male. Raise the different batches of babies and compare the males when they mature. Use your female type that produces the best males. Don't use the first male that matures. That first male rarely reaches the size that the slower maturing males reach. Keep a related strain. Two related strains (preferably the same colour) can be occasionally crossed. Otherwise, you could lose your strain from too much inbreeding. The first signs of too much inbreeding are low fertility or a high percentage of deformities such as bent spines or hernias. Feed young fish often. If you want your guppies to grow as large as possible, feed them often during the period of rapid growth in their first few months of life. Feed 3 or 4 times a day. Feed the babies newly hatched brine shrimp or micro worms if possible. Feed the juveniles frozen brine shrimp and live foods as often as possible. Do small daily water changes. If not, then at least do weekly water changes. Decaying food and fish wastes will quickly foul the water. Be patient. Only 5-10 percent of each drop has the potential of being better than their parents; however, that is more than enough fish to improve the strain.
hope this is to help, also i think it was pjguppies who i was talking about this to .... 8)
with the new female and my male they would have beautiful babies, and both of them are the colors Im looking for!!! I am in the process of looking for another Male but I havent found one I like 
still unsure about some of my fry....
