FlyingFishKeeper Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Hi, I was looking at the Aqua Huna website, and was wondering if there was a reason for there being males only for most of the variates of guppies and endlers? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Most people only want colorful fish and for guppies and Endlers that equals males. And the other thing (and I totally do not get this part) many people are fearful of a population explosion and therefore do not want female guppies. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 @Daniel For some of us, breeding wasn't in the plans 😂, however I feel it's lame to NOT have males and females when you have schooling fish or fish that like larger groups. I purposefully picked 2 types where they both look the same- and like I said- because it wasn't in the plan, wouldn't necessarily breed in my tanks (Harlequins and Black Neons). BUT then I picked Otocinclus for that reason as well, and now I have about 50 "extra". Surprise!! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 It makes me sad to know what must happen to most of the unfortunate females of fish that have less color than males. My 2 female guppies are not as flashy but still very lovely, though 3 weeks in I've gone from 3 guppies to 10 guppies (and counting)... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 I agree @Maggie I think it's a shame that the females in some types of fish are looked over. I'm actually not into super flashy fish, I would TOTALLY have a group of female guppies, it'd be adorable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Something I only learned recently, despite endlers being my first fish love, is that most color patterning is carried on the Y chromosome for endlers. So as long as you get some females from somewhere (wish I could send you some of mine!) you should be able to breed them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingFishKeeper Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 (edited) Thanks everyone! @Kirsten would this likely also apply to guppies since they're in the same genus as endlers? (If not might experiment with lyre tails to see how that works!) Edited April 11, 2021 by FlyingFishKeeper Mistyped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Just now, FlyingFishKeeper said: Thanks everyone! @Kirsten would this likely also apply to guppies since they're in the same genus as endlers? (If not might experiment with lyre tails to so how that works!) Guppies I've noticed have more color distinctions in females than in endlers, probably because they've been bred for color and patterns for a lot longer. So I'd try to stick to breeding pairs/trios of guppies if you want a specific strain. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingFishKeeper Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 Thx, I'll probably look at some types of endlers too. There're probably a bunch of other places that have the guppy I'm looking for too. Thanks ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 Just now, FlyingFishKeeper said: Thx, I'll probably look at some types of endlers too. There're probably a bunch of other places that have the guppy I'm looking for too. Thanks ! Good luck! And be sure to keep your guppies and endlers separate, as they can hybridize. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 There are breeders who are very protective of their strains and will only sell males to prevent anyone else breeding them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaitieG Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 6 hours ago, Daniel said: Most people only want colorful fish and for guppies and Endlers that equals males. And the other thing (and I totally do not get this part) many people are fearful of a population explosion and therefore do not want female guppies. Having experienced a population explosion when I was just starting out with ONE tank--no extras--that was quickly overrun, I do kind of get this. I really like my female guppies--a lot better than the males actually, but boy can they produce fry! I probably could have not fed them anything else and then had them eat their babies, but they sure weren't interested even getting fed only once a day. I'd had the impression that they'd take care of the fry population a lot more than they did. I also live in a very rural area, so there aren't many places to get rid of the "extras"--my "L"FS an hour away took some of them when they were old enough to show colors (took...not bought), but I went from 5 to 50 in one month before separating into M/F tanks. That was shocking. And if you don't have multiple tanks or a good place to give/sell the fry, or a good predator, you can get overrun pretty quickly. This time I have a plan 🙂 But I also have more tanks and space and options. Not everyone does. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChefConfit Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 @Maggie don't worry about those females I doubt anything bad happens to them. For fish that don't pair off for breeding the farms would rather sell more males, because it impacts their production capacity less to sell males. For example say I have a colony of guppies with 50 males and 50 females and my LFS want to buy 40 guppies. I could do 20 males and 20 females, but my production rate would drop. Instead I could just give them 40 males and my production rate would not be impacted at all. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Daniel said: Most people only want colorful fish and for guppies and Endlers that equals males. And the other thing (and I totally do not get this part) many people are fearful of a population explosion and therefore do not want female guppies. I started selling my yellow tiger endlers on eBay and aquabid back in January, and I initially priced the females cheaper than the males because they have no color. I did not expect them to fly off the figurative shelf. I ended up pricing the females higher later on and still can barely keep up with demand. Apparently a lot of breeders do hoard the females. Fortunately, my colony produces a lot more females than males. Edited April 12, 2021 by StephenP2003 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn T Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 On 4/11/2021 at 11:52 AM, Kirsten said: Something I only learned recently, despite endlers being my first fish love, is that most color patterning is carried on the Y chromosome for endlers. So as long as you get some females from somewhere (wish I could send you some of mine!) you should be able to breed them. That's good to know. I've been able to get female Endler's from one source, but the source that has the colors I really would LOVE to have only sells males. I've debated ordering males from them to add to the females I already got, but I wasn't sure whether I'd get anything that resembles the males. I won't hesitate next time I place an order to get those males I want! Thank for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 On 4/11/2021 at 6:01 PM, KaitieG said: Having experienced a population explosion when I was just starting out with ONE tank--no extras--that was quickly overrun, I do kind of get this. I really like my female guppies--a lot better than the males actually, but boy can they produce fry! I probably could have not fed them anything else and then had them eat their babies, but they sure weren't interested even getting fed only once a day. I'd had the impression that they'd take care of the fry population a lot more than they did. I also live in a very rural area, so there aren't many places to get rid of the "extras"--my "L"FS an hour away took some of them when they were old enough to show colors (took...not bought), but I went from 5 to 50 in one month before separating into M/F tanks. That was shocking. And if you don't have multiple tanks or a good place to give/sell the fry, or a good predator, you can get overrun pretty quickly. This time I have a plan 🙂 But I also have more tanks and space and options. Not everyone does. I agree, I got 2 types of endlers and a strain of guppies and swordtails. they have all had explosions and I'm about out of tanks, trying to find the right fish to help keep their populations down. I know what fish don't work for that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 32 minutes ago, Marc said: I agree, I got 2 types of endlers and a strain of guppies and swordtails. they have all had explosions and I'm about out of tanks, trying to find the right fish to help keep their populations down. I know what fish don't work for that. The struggle is real! I see guides saying swordtails are good baby eaters but I haven't seen that yet. Crossing my fingers this angelfish I got will do the trick. He's not much bigger than silver dollar size and he's already chasing those fry. We're cheering him on lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaitieG Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 48 minutes ago, Marc said: I agree, I got 2 types of endlers and a strain of guppies and swordtails. they have all had explosions and I'm about out of tanks, trying to find the right fish to help keep their populations down. I know what fish don't work for that. Alright, I'll "bite" 😉. What fish DON'T work? I'm hoping an angel will since that's my plan for the big tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 2 hours ago, KaitieG said: Alright, I'll "bite" 😉. What fish DON'T work? I'm hoping an angel will since that's my plan for the big tank! I keep a well stocked tank so I figured the sheer number of other fish would pick off the babies. I've added some forktail rainbowfish and a gourami and a beta and even some danios. The bigger guppies are sometimes the most voracious but they give up hunting the young after a couple of days, I don't want big fish so I'm trying to avoid most cichlids. Angels will probably work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Angelfish are effective baby predators, but when they get bigger, they may decide to nibble on the occasional adult endler and ignore the fry. Angelfish can get quite large especially with unlimited live food to nibble on. As to swordtails, they tend to breed so much that their offspring become a bigger problem than the guppy/endler fry. I've got well over a hundred swordtails now after starting out with eleven three years ago and there are swordtail fry in my tanks all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 I hear gouramis and rainbow fish may also be good for population control if you have a larger tank. General rule is that big fish eat little fish, so any sufficiently large fish that fits in the tank and likes your water will probably work. There are some critters like puffers and crayfish that are dedicated, relentless hunters that would be happy to eat everything that fits in their mouths, but that's sort of the nuclear option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Maybe I'm a crazy person, but I just let my live bearer tank do its thing. It is full of plants which helps, but also I don't increase feeding when I notice new fry. It looks like an overstocked nightmare, but it's actually a pretty healthy ecosystem, and I can go months without changing water. 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 7 minutes ago, StephenP2003 said: Maybe I'm a crazy person, but I just let my live bearer tank do its thing. It is full of plants which helps, but also I don't increase feeding when I notice new fry. It looks like an overstocked nightmare, but it's actually a pretty healthy ecosystem, and I can go months without changing water. Wow! I'm jealous. My tanks are also full of plants and look like an overstocked nightmare, but I also get fungus problems and some fish stress. So I guess I'm stuck doing weekly water changes til the plants really take over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenP2003 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 11 minutes ago, Kirsten said: Wow! I'm jealous. My tanks are also full of plants and look like an overstocked nightmare, but I also get fungus problems and some fish stress. So I guess I'm stuck doing weekly water changes til the plants really take over. Yeah, this tank wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in the beginning either. I got a hard lesson in why people quarantine, and that fancy guppies from my LFS are garbage, or at least not ready to be sold to the average person. Had a decent colony going, and introduction of new guppies caused fungus, bacteria, and/or other mysterious illnesses that wiped out more than half of the guppy population -- strangely didn't touch any other species in the tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiapeach88 Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 @StephenP2003tbat is quite the guppy tank for sure. I’m a new keeper hobby and gallon in love with guppies. Not a lot of pretty strains in my lfs. So hope to get some cool ones and maybe sell back into the area. But mainly just want a beautiful community tank. Any tips tricks you would like to share for fellow guppy lover and new fish keeper? All info much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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