Guppies Reincarnated.... Should I?

[Ludwig Venter]

To cut a short story long,….. some time ago, (must’ve been around February 2011) I decided to sell my whole Guppy culture (started in 1995 from 2 males and 5 females)…. I sold more than 12,000 guppies for less than 1c each….. (on condition that the buyer takes all – I did not want one single guppy left)

I did, however keep around 20 – 25 males for an “all-male” Guppy display tank…..

About a month ago, I did a water change in my Corry pond (which is adjacent to the pond where the Guppies were kept)……. And there, I discovered one virgin Guppy female….. (Must’ve been a fry stuck to the net which got transferred to the Corry pond)….

I moved her to an empty 2ft tank in the fish room & selected a single male from the all-male tank to place in with her…… (all the other males subsequently died (the next night) due to a stuck heater soaring the temp to 43 deg C)

Right!!... so I’m back to one male and one female guppy…… (Stemming from my 16 year old culture).

Tonight, I notice that the female is very pregnant and ready to deliver within the next 3 days….. I’m in 2 minds now to decide whether I should try save the fry and start a new generation (bursting at the seams), or should I just leave them to be eaten by the parents

 

[OldMan47]

I would simply leave the fry with the adults and see how things go Ludwig. You may well be surprised to find out that guppies are quite capable of increasing their numbers with no intervention by you. I regularly sell off all of my adult guppies so that I don't overpopulate my tank before the next club auction. It works fine that way but often looks like this right before the next sale.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

You may well be surprised to find out that guppies are quite capable of increasing their numbers with no intervention by you.

No surprises here OM..... ..... but, I also know that the first 3 or 4 broods need some intervention, untill the culture is established.... I have added some additional (plastic) plants to see what I can save.....

 

[Ludwig Venter]

OK then.... my 3 day prediction (for delivery) was spot-on...... She delivered today and it seems like there are a gazillioin of them. One cannot imagine that so many fry can pop from one female.... especially considering that this is her first brood and I know, she's only been with one male .... On estimation, there must be at least 100 fry....

So .... whether I like it or not..... I'm back into Guppies..... (it appears like the parents are ignoring them - so all may survive)

 

[OldMan47]

Congrats Ludwig. I always love it when I have a fresh drop of fry in any of my tanks.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Congrats Ludwig. I always love it when I have a fresh drop of fry in any of my tanks.

Right.....it is now around 26 days since the first drop, (and the previous batch of about 90 fry are coming along just famously) and my female looks around ready to drop again within the next 2 days......

I do not know how long it'll take for the first batch to start breeding (maybe another 2 months).... and then!!!???... I'm full fledged back into Guppies..... That easy....

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Don't know where my calculations were with the previous post, but, today is 27 days after the first batch.....and she dropped the next batch..... (proving again that the Guppy cycle is between 26 and 28 days).

There seems to be less fry this time around, but it is hard to tell....I will only know in about a week when I remove the plastic plants where they are currently hiding, (but a rough estimate is around 70)....

So, already, in just 2 batches of fry,.... I'm sitting with around 170 of them and when the first batch reaches maturity,..... I'll probably have daily deliveries again and the pyramid will expand....

This time round, however.... I plan to do selective breeding by seperating males & females as soon as gender can be identified.

 

[lilfishie]

i think its great getting back into guppies, i have recently purchased 2 females both which have given birth since i haven't had guppies in a good 5 odd years

 

[Gem_xxx]

I've had a similar situaltion. I only had a couple of guppies left - they decreased naturally though and I didn't feel the need for any more. However my sister had become over run as she has a relatively small tank and three large guppy females with nothing that snacks on the fry. As a result I know have a boat load of fry (if any survive the community tank) and a big fat girl ready to pop again in a week or two. Dont ya just love guppies!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Don't know where my calculations were with the previous post, but, today is 27 days after the first batch.....and she dropped the next batch..... (proving again that the Guppy cycle is between 26 and 28 days).

There seems to be less fry this time around, but it is hard to tell....I will only know in about a week when I remove the plastic plants where they are currently hiding, (but a rough estimate is around 70)....

So, already, in just 2 batches of fry,.... I'm sitting with around 170 of them and when the first batch reaches maturity,..... I'll probably have daily deliveries again and the pyramid will expand....

This time round, however.... I plan to do selective breeding by seperating males & females as soon as gender can be identified.

The method I use that seems to work pretty well ... all the fry go into the "fry" tank, where I can feed them what they need. When they're old enough to sex they go into the appropriate tank, boys or girls. The only time I had a problem is when I mistakenly popped a little male in with the girls, and he got busy quickly.

But I must say I really like to watch guppies! They're really full of personality and curiosity.

Where on earth did you house 12,000 of them???

 

[Flexa]

I would've took 12,000 mollies for a Cent each.. lol.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

A new generation is born….. As it were with my first lot of at least 12,000 guppies…. These 2 are the Adam & Eves……

This is the daddy…..

This is the mommy

This is the pair….

And these are some of the babies

 

[Gem_xxx]

What a pretty male

 

[Ludwig Venter]

What a pretty male

Thanks Gem..... I am rather proud of him...... and I also think the female is of prime quality......

 

[thisguyek]

I think its so awesome that you have a 16 plus year legacy going on! It has to be so much work though to keep all of them going, but at the same time so very rewarding!

kudos!