Selective Breeding Guppies

[DiddleBug]

Sure! I'd love to see them!

 

[Ny82]

So, I started off with 3 guppies. My all black male, a half black female with a lovely big tail and a half black female with a cobra tail. Here are the fry I kept. 
 
I love how this one has patterned fins!

 
This ones tail is purple
 

 
This ones the only one with a light coloured tail but he has yellow and black fins and green in the body.

 
Here are the rest, I love how the bodies are green!
 

 

 

 
I am so proud of these fry! They might not be the best looking but I have never had green before. I definitely want them to breed!
 
Here is my old man, beautiful with a yellow and pink tail
 

 

 

[MrsEspoNYC7]

wow ny82 they are so friggin cute..... I have to totally agree in the way you go about it pick your favorites, that's what I plan to do , the surprise is so exciting.... if I wanted a guppy that's already out there i'd just go buy it IMO

 

[Ny82]

wow ny82 they are so friggin cute..... I have to totally agree in the way you go about it pick your favorites, that's what I plan to do , the surprise is so exciting.... if I wanted a guppy that's already out there i'd just go buy it IMO

 
Thanks, yeah I know what you're saying, this is why it's important to breed something unusual or a different colour to what's already there to enable them selling and stop you getting over run!

 

[DiddleBug]

Nice fish! They are really pretty! So did you get any black offspring or just blues?

 

[Ny82]

Nice fish! They are really pretty! So did you get any black offspring or just blues?

 
They were all black to begin with but I am happy with how they have turned out! 
This is what they looked like when they were just young 

 
These were the females 

 
This was dad.

 
He died, then I sold all my guppies and just kept these 5 fry. They will be my foundation stock as I was meant to give up the guppies altogether but I miss it too much so will start again

 

[DiddleBug]

i know!  i was getting sick of guppies a while back but 'the guppy fad' crept up on me again.

 
Here are 2 of my females.  The three look exactly the same but Saturn does have a tint of blue on her tail.  They are pretty small yet.

 

[Ny82]

That's good you have young ones. Have they been bred before? Did you get a male for them?
 
On closer inspection, 2 of the fry I kept from the 2nd batch are actually female. I have 5 males which are the pics I put up, and I have 2 females. I also have 6 fry who were born before I gave the guppies away so I kept them. I am about to mover them to the fry tank in the kitchen. 

 

[DiddleBug]

Well, they were in a tank of males at the LFS.  I had that male for them but he died, as I stated earlier.  He had been in their tank but I highly doubt he would be the father of any fry they have if they do.  There were 10 or so males in the tank.  I saw some tiny frisky black and red males chasing the 5 females in the tank (3 were the ones I got), so I could see them having some red and black fry. That is if they are pregnant.  I've had them a week and they don't seem too big.  It's hard to tell as they are small and I feed them a lot.  i could try and get a close up pic maybe...

 

[Ny82]

How small are they? They could be fry that haven't coloured up yet. 

 

[DiddleBug]

They are slightly over an inch long.  
 
Here's a few pics of them.   I did a lot since they aren't the best quality pictures.

 
 

 

 Here's a video: http/s1283.photobucket.com/user/Passamaquatty/media/IMG_1761_zps7a13b0cf.mp4.html?sort=3&o=2   (Ignore my mom talking in the background. She was teaching some math to my brother. )  

 

[Ny82]

They have gravid spots, they are females! One of them looks like she is about 2 weeks pregnant. 

 

[DiddleBug]

Yeah, I knew they were females for sure.   Maybe I didn't tell you that. Do you think they'll get more color? 

 

[Ny82]

They might do, females tend to look a bit bland but if you keep looking you do get some lovely ones., I chose the ones with patterned tails and I remember putting pics up and people mistaking them for males cus they had lovely big tails lol. They might get more colour as they get older. 

 

[DiddleBug]

Yeah, that would be nice.    Now I just need to get myself a nice male for them (and hopefully he won't die on me!).

Another question.   Let's say I bred these females to one male.  I get some cool fry from them.  Would I keep males and females both and breed the best to each other?  Or would I keep just some of the best males and get some females at the LFS for them?  Or even keep the best females and get some males from the LFs for them?  What's the best way to selective breed without getting your fish to interbred while still keeping the looks you want?