Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys. New here, forgive me for the lack of proper introduction but I have more than a few questions and since I'm extremely tired and not confident in my ability to explain them properly, I'll go with a simple explanation and question. Thanks for anyone who responds in advance

So for AP Biology my teacher told us that he had, a few years back, obtained one male red guppy and one female yellow guppy in an effort to study dominent and recessive traits just for fun, eventually culminating in what he explained was a tank of guppies that can be found nowhere else in the world. The first generation (F1) was mostly red, then after that some more yellows appeared and now, he's shown, there are some with a red front, orange middle and yellow tail. Recently I had some heartbreak in that my Turtle I'd had since age 5 (had been with me more than 3/4 of my life) passed away and so either out of interest in my teacher's claims or sadness in my loss, I obtained four guppies from a LFS. With some help from a very helpful employee, I received two true breeding pairs, one set of striking yellow colored guppies and another set of rainbow tailed guppies.

Since then I have moved them into a 10 gallon tank that I have split in half, placing the male rainbow with the female yellow and vice versa. My question for the moment is if this is a bad idea? Once I believe a female is pregnant (and close to conception), she will be placed in a breeding box I have procured from a local Petco, though I also had the idea to simply move the males together on one side and the females on the other if pregnancy in both was assured in an attempt to stop possible harrassment. Can anyone lend a hand here? I apologize for this lengthy mass of questioning gook but as I previously mentioned, it's been a long day but I would like the best for my fish because I really do see this as being a hobby I could grow very interested in.

Thanks very much,
~Matt

Hey Matt. Welcome to the boards.

Usually you want a 3 to 1 ratio of females to males because the males tend to pick on the females when they're pregnant. They are very persistent. You should NOT put a pregnant female into a breeding box until she is very close to giving birth, and no more than 24 hours because it is very stressful for her... well both aspects are very stressful. You can tell how close she is to delivering by the gravid spot (located by her anus). It will get darker the closer she is to delivery. In my experience it would be a reddish color, but I've also had some that had a greyish gravid spot. My best friend could see the little ones inside hers, but I could not. It depends on your fish what you can see and what color the gravid spot is. Usually when she is close to delivering, she will rest her big belly on the bottom of the tank or on some decor. In my experience, my females would refuse food during the last couple of days.

You could separate the females and males, but live bearers eat their young, so if the one female is giving birth you may lose a few by the other female.

Water quality is extremely important for the fry, so you will have to keep up with the water changes. The fry require feedings at least 4 times a day, so your tank can get quite nasty very quickly.

If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to help you.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

You no doubt already know this, but I'll post it anyway. Guppies retain sperm. If you are trying to create a line, throw out the first drop as it will most likely not be pure to your male. I have the many tanks, so any time I get a new female, I keep her away from ALL males for 2 to 3 months. When you get a female from a breeder, she is supposed to be a virgin. I have have NEVER found this to be the case. For years I thought guppies where born pregnant. If you have the time to do it right, keep that new female away for any males for two mouths AFTER she has her last drop.

Now I know you can't do this with yours as they have already had exposure, so I would recommend you discard the first drop. Give her half a day to recover, then breed her with your male right away. I used to try to give my females a rest between drops, but it seems that if they don't hook up with a new male in the first 48 hours or so, they will used their stored sperm to start another batch. It took me a long time to figure this out, and frankly I can't say the timing is exact, but I'm hoping this will help you avoid many cases where you don't seem to get a pure drop.

Separate and cull your batches as soon as possible. I normally make sure the females are all separated in less then 30 days

I highly suggest you look into first foods to feed your fish. I used to hatch brine shrimp and grow micro worms. I don't bother anymore. I feed very finely crushed flake food, paste made from hard boiled egg yoke, a comerical food called “First Bites” and a product from Ocean Nutrition called “Instant Baby Brine Shrimp”. I feed fry a very small amount of food but feed them every hour for the time I'm awake

To do it right, your going to need a LOT of tanks (and dividers for those tanks) ans you have to keep very accurate records so that once you get what you want, you know how to keep it.

Hope this helps you

Craig