Selective Breeding Guppies

[Ny82]

I tend to find that guppies I used to get from LFS didn't last at all but the fry I have had and sold on are still going strong! I haven't found any nice ones near me, I need big tailed females. 

 

[DiddleBug]

So then how do you do it?  Breed half siblings?  Get 2 males and give them 2 females each to vary the gene pool?

 

[Ny82]

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? 

 
This is a controversial one. I will tell you about my platies. I have a white, blue eyed platy female, she had a mate who was identical. They had fry, the male died but 2 fry survived. They are still growing but if I have a male, I will breed him back to the mum to see what the fry turn out and if they have less black spots. If they do I will take the best male and female and breed them together.
Guppies are the same, a lot of people are against it and a lot of people are for inbreeding. I used to be against it until I started doing the black line. To successfully keep it going, you need to line breed and not introduce any new lines. I am only getting females from lfs because I thought I was finished and that was it. Since seeing how stunning the fry are, I am going to take the best one with the patterned fins and spots on his tail and breed him with his half sister who is in a different tank. I will see how they turn out. 

 

[DiddleBug]

So it's ok to interbreed?  Does this plan sound ok?  My one female has fry and I breed her son to one of the other females i have.  They have a son and I breed him with a nice female from the LFS to get a new bloodline.  So basically you just breed and keep the best fish and get some new lines in here and there?  I'd feel guilty breeding brothers and sisters and moms and sons constantly with only one male and 3 females to start with.     

 

[Ny82]

Yeah that sounds ok. I would only inbreed one generation as not to make it weaker. 

 

[DiddleBug]

That's what i thought...so then how would you do it?

  Would I keep males and breed with females from the LFS, or keep females and breed with males from the LFS?  How other wise am i going to keep selective breeding without over inbreeding?

 

[Ny82]

I would take the fry then breed back to either mum or dad to keep those colours and line breed. If you want to add more lines then just breed to females or males bought outside the "colony".

 

[DiddleBug]

sounds good. I'm excited to see how it goes. I've never tried selective breeding. I always had a group of guppies and never really had anything in mind besides saving some fry here and there.

So, I know females can have numerous batches after one mating. Let's say my three females could have 2 more batches without being with any males. And I get another male and put him in with them. Could he father their next batches after they have the fry they're carrying? Or would they have to have more fry from the precious males? I hope this makes sense.

 

[Ny82]

The female will have the fry from the previous male if there is no male present in the tank, whatever male is present and if she mates with him, it "should" be his fry! 
I am just going to get a few females and put them into the tank and let them breed, I will have a colony in no time and will just leave them to it, but remove weaker fry if I need to.

 

[DiddleBug]

heard on a few web sites that the previous males will father the next batches unless another male can get in there in the 24 hour period after the female has just given birth. Did you ever hear this?

 

[Ny82]

I wasn't actually sure how it worked and I have breeding for almost 3 years now lol. I always thought that the female would store sperm from a previous male, if there was no male present, she could still have his babies but if there was another male, she would have his.
I put all mines together so don't know if she had his fry or some other males, I only had 1 male in the tank, when the fry were born they were all black, then turned into the ones I posted. There were 2 females, I think I have kept the other female with the cobra tails fry.

 

[fish48]

There are many ways of dealing with inbreeding for example keeping　large Numbers　outside in ponds　is almost like a natural environment, when kept in large Numbers inbreeding of the fish are not a problem, the adult fish have more of a choice to pick from meaning that not all mattings will not be too closely related of brother to sister, also mattings among the different generations can only be good for the fish and can improve the gene pool, inbreeding can and do occur in the wild.　 Unrelated or related fish can sometimes produce weak or sick offspring, in the wild nature takes care of such problems there will always be Predatory fish or creatures that prey on the vulnerable its survival of the fittest.
in the home aquarium inbreeding can easily be controlled you can expect to get good healthy Guppies from inbreeding them, one method I use is to run to tanks of the same Guppies let them flock breed, once　every few　years mix from both tanks this method　works very well, or select the best male and female to breed from,
　Or simply run one tank let them flock breed and when or if needed remove any deformed or sick fish,
　By using this simple guide inbreeding Guppies /is not problem, and just to mention Guppies are not to over breed and weakened by too much inbreeding continued inbreeding side of it as very little to do with the stat of some of Guppies/tropical fish that are sold these days. Many farm breed strains are weaker caused by incorrect use of antibiotics hormones and many other factors causing health problems,
Always breed or from good stock remove any weak sick or deformed fry/fish,

 

[Ny82]

　Or simply run one tank let them flock breed and when or if needed remove any deformed or sick fish,
　By using this simple guide inbreeding Guppies /is not problem, and just to mention Guppies are not to over breed and weakened by too much inbreeding continued inbreeding side of it as very little to do with the stat of some of Guppies/tropical fish that are sold these days. Many farm breed strains are weaker caused by incorrect use of antibiotics hormones and many other factors causing health problems,
Always breed or from good stock remove any weak sick or deformed fry/fish,

 
Spot on!
This is what I am doing, one tank and leave them to it. Remove any which are weak. 

 

[DiddleBug]

Thanks for all the advice guys! You've been a huge help!

 

[Ny82]

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