# Guppies(and breeding them)



## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

I've never done the whole 'mixed gender guppy tank' thing because I know they're as bad as rabbits at just popping out babies all the time.

But, I've seen some AMAZING guppies around lately.
_Huge fins, high dorsals, brilliant colors...._

I have the time, the tanks but not the experience.

Do guppies need heaters?

I know you should isolate the female when she births so the fry aren't eaten, but what should I feed the fry? Crushed versions of the adult food? Do they eat bbs(I have some decaps here from when I last bred bettas)?
Any other tips/tricks?

I'm thinking of having the male/s separate from the females until I pick out the best/healthest looking two girls to breed, then moving them together got a time to 'get er done'.

Is this an o.k. method? 

I've heard that the females can produce babies for a while, without having to be near the male again? Is this true? About how many times will they birth before needing to be near him again? When to the fry reach breeding age?

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Also, does anyone here breed guppies? Do you have your own color/strain you're working on or did you just get a few from the local petco? Post pics of your lovelies? xD



It should be noted I don't have any guppies yet. I'm currently looking to get around 8(6 girls, 2 boys) but the local petco is far enough way I don't frequent it and when I was last there the selection left much to be desired.
However, I'm not looking to spend $100 on my first batch of guppies when I have no real experience with them either. ><
~sigh~


I'm really interested in looking at the starts and currents of people working towards a goal if you or someone you know has a blog/webpage/thread documenting it.



*TL;DR
I WANNA BREED CUTE GUPPIES, so post pictures of yours and/or any advice/knowledge you have~*​


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes Guppies need a heater, they are also tropical fish like Betta's 

I don't know exactly what they eat. I feel as if they are classed as insectivores like Betta's though so I would assume the same.

Usually it's good to keep the 1:2 M:F ratio because even when breeding the male will pick on the female so you don't want anyone harmed.

And yes I've also heard that, I believe they can store up the sperm much like birds can do (mostly chicken's, don't know about others much) but I don't know the exactly time length for this.

I believe fry will be a month old before they can start popping out babies, that is what it was for Platies though so I would assume all livebearer's to be similar but since the size varies, I'm not sure exactly about that one.

And have you looked at AquaBid for Guppies and idea's about fin types and colors for what you want to do? That might be a good place to at least start to get ideas for you know? Otherwise no, I actually don't have any experience with Guppies much except for when I was a kid and we all know how those stories end lol My mom tried to breed them, kept the female in the breeding thing but I don't remember what happened to them. i don't think we had a heater for them so...yeah, not a fun story. Oh well, that was like 15 years ago so it's all good now :-D


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

I've been all over aquabid. xD The other day there was a set of HD guppies for $100 that were so bright and just...beautiful. But expensive. ;c
Nothing in my price range is popping out currently.
I want one with one of those long flowy tails like a HM or super delta, that also have the high dorsals.
I enjoy the snakeskin/leopard type spotting and I'm thinking color wise a blue/green to yellow as the main color(s) of focus.
But really I've seen some lovely purples and red too

I know the usual ratio is 1:2. I plan to have 3 females to each male so that there is an extra if one dies/won't breed/gets sick and what not.

Glad to hear my heaters will still be useful~

A month? Wow, they grow quickly. ><


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, yeah they do grow quickly given the right care haha When I had accidental Platy fry they weren't much after a month's time and one of my Betta's ended up harrassing them to death the poor babies, there were only 5 anyway but yeah, everything I've read about Platy breeding should at least be similar to Guppies since they're all livebearers ^_^ 

Ooh yeah, I love the Snakeskin ones! I wanted some Snakeskin Endler's but man they were pricey! I was like not for that price will I put them in to be harassed by my Betta's lol If I did really want them though, I'd get a tank for them, not going to spend that much just for them to be eaten.

But yeah, so far you sound like you're on the right track at least! I'm pretty sure I stop being helpful beyond this haha.


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

A lot of what I learned breeding bettas carries over I'm sure. xD

You were a real help, thank you.
^^

ETA:

Anyone know if there is a guppy equivalent to betta shows?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Glad I could help a bit at least! Yeah I would assume the same principles apply to all breeding respectively ^_^ Of course with each breed having their own quirks and such. And no idea about Guppy shows.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

females can generally have four drops ("litter") from a single mating.

crushed tropical flakes will be readily accepted by fry.

And yes, there are guppy shows. I don't remember where though, so you'll probably have to google the organization people show through.


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

Thank you.


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

Hmmm, I found this site:
http://www.ifga.org/guppy_show_main.htm

Buuuut, it doesn't look to have been updated since 2011?
so I'm not sure if it's even active anymore.


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

This whole 'not being able to edit' thing is bothersome...xD

About 12 hours ago I picked up a few guppies at the local petco, 1 lemon cobra male and 3 mixed females.
Thet

.....Apparently one of them was /very/ pregnant but didn't look it(I looked them over carefully at the store and when I got home, or so I thought).
I just looked over thinking they got awfully active and found them chasing a fry.
I only counted three but they may have ate the others.
I'm not going to bother separating them as I wasn't planning for fry just hours after buying the fish. I don't even know which female dropped them(I suspect the black one as she's the largest).

The females were in a separate tank, on another section of the wall so she must have been pregnant before she was even stocked(which I hear isn't too uncommon).

anyway, just wanted to share the random fry news. xD

------

These aren't the color and what not I want in the long run, but I'm expecting a mix of colors in the fry when I do decide to rise them, so I may just work from there or set up a separate ten gallon for another trio/group if I find one in the colors I like.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

lol fun times with guppies XD You should definitely start a breeding log or a journal of some sort when you do start, I think it would be quite fascinating! :-D


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

Haha, I was just thinking I should start a journal to follow the fate of these(now 7 or 8) fry. Since I have no idea who the father is, or how long the mother has been/will be dropping fry from him it's be interesting to see if I get any males to live to breeding age in a color other than yellow.

I'm almost positive it was the half-black female who dropped.
I sat and watched them last night she seemed the most likely to be in labor judging by what I read they look/act like.

I wasn't planning for fry for another 4 weeks or so since I only just put them together. So with no real hiding spots I'm not even sure they'll live past couple days.

At about what age/size can I stop worrying about them being eaten I wonder?

Also, I wish I had the money to bid since the shipping is free.
These guys have a pretty little edges to their fins(image clickable link to auction):
 I wonder if you could eventually breed them into a guppy version of a black butterfly like the bettas:


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Mmm that's be beautiful! I would totally have Guppies if...you know, my Betta's weren't killers >.> they can be so beautiful!


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

Haha I know how that is.
All my past fish experience is with bettas. any spare tanks were for fry/new additions. xD

Anyway, I ended up with 12 fry.
I moved them into an empty betta cup last night and floated them in the tank.
Today I cleaned out my old large kritter keeper(holds about 2-3 gallons) 'm going to move the fry into there.
hey are loving the decap bse, I would sit here and watch them eat all day.

One looks a bit smaller/weaker than the others but no losses to illness or stress(from being herded into the cup) yet.
The other 11 are really active.


Once in the smaller tank I'm thinking 50% water changes every day, hopefully start sexing around 2 weeks and separate once I can sex them.

I started a journal and will probably copypaste this post over to it in a second and try to keep my updates there.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Sweet! I'll go check that out soon because I really am interested in this! I never really think of Guppies as like...idk, a good fish I guess. Similar to Betta's and goldfish really where they're taken advantage of, I know they were when we had them when I was a kid, I feel bad thinking about them now lol but all is said and done. But I'm really excited to see some really good fry from you! ^_^


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

I was lucky enough(I guess? xD) to not have had fish as a child, so I can't look back and be mad at myself.
And my first "real" bettas were a pair of sibling marble HM 'culls'(missing ventrals do to over feeding mw). They and their fry were the longest living, healthiest fish..couldn't have killed them if I tried. SO MUCH went wrong with my first spawn but I still had over 70 fry reach adult hood.
------ 
I've been eyeing the guppies on aqubid for a while. The colors and the work that people have put into their fins makes some of them look like smaller bettas, really. xD
They've even got HM:







image from his shop, they also had reds:
http://www.atfgguppy.com/stock.html

I've been admiring this person's HD(high dorsal) guppies on aquabid.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

That's probably why I'm liking them more now haha, mini Betta's that can, for the most part, be kept together! That's brilliant haha but yeah, their hardwork has paid off, those guppies are just beautiful! I find I really like the longer bodied fish; Betta, Guppy, Killifish and such of the like, never quite got into the dime-bodied fish like bigger Tetras, barbs and all. Very interesting to look at


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

I have two guppies currently, one of them; her dark spot has grown quite a lot, I'm expecting babies.  

Good luck with yours, stunning bachelor you have!


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

lilnaugrim - I like longer bodies as well, even the smushed look of most DT's bothers be a bit. xD

LebronTheBetta - I look forward to reading about her drop.  Do you have any pictures of your pair?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I agree bambi! All my DT boy's have long enough bodies where they look good for the most part, although I wish one of them; Jarvis would grow his tail out more, not sure what exactly is up with him, he's a special boy all around though lol


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

It's not really a pair, I actually have two girls. Their dark spots have just grown bigger, (weird, I know)


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

If you bought them recently they were likely pregnant when you got them(as i learned xD).


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

Oh, nah. I got them a few months ago, I was trying to breed them to the males but they died; sorority girls attacked.. And they introduced columnaris! Smh

Now I got Breme for payback! (they annoy him, he nips. 25% chance only.)

I actually want them to have fry! No luck. T.T


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

Well I make no promises, but if I get more than one male(I want to keep least one for breeding) I can send some of these babies your way in a month or so(once I sex them).
You'd just need to pay shipping.


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