Indestructible guppy breeding

[Guppysnail]

Having gone through all the heartache of new guppy ownership prior to finding ACO quarantine trio it just should not have to be so rough. Guppies used to be the 5 year olds indestructible pet. After I got on the right track I became serious about guppies...not to line breed or make profit but rather to try and retrieve some of the healthy indestructibility.  I don’t care what color they are or how their fins are shaped but rather that they are no longer delicate so folks I know and run across can begin the hobby without the tears and heartache I went through. 

So 2 questions...

i started with 4 unrelated different color guppy girls and one boy all from different sources to attempt to get as genetically diversified as possible.  I separate sexes as soon as I can tell with a magnifying glass what sex they are. My first batch was not successfully separated in time it was 4 weeks to the birth day I separated and half my sorority tank is pregnant to their brothers. So next several did great.  Goal is to never ever allow related guppies to mate using only my boy to father offspring. He is a tank I want that strength. 

So my question is am I kidding myself that the evolution of my guppies genetics down the line will strengthen as Mother Nature intended or has line breeding bred out all the strongest genes so far they are not coming back....am I on the right track?

second question is...seriously I have found no reference to guppies with no color at 4 weeks old getting pregnant.  I do not want inbred guppies how soon do I really need to separate to ensure virgin girls in my sorority tanks. 

Thanks for the help

[Guppysnail]

Sto clarify different male second gen different male third etc

[lefty o]

pretty much the fancier the guppy, the weaker it is. mutt guppy's tend to be a little more durable. if set on separating, do it as soon as you can tell them apart, but imo should be ok to get them done under 2 months old. as they near 3 months, they can be sexually mature.

[Goosedub]

If you really want to make these guppies indestructible, you need to breed them out and put them through the ringer. They need to be exposed to temperature extremes, nutrient extremes, neglect and let the weak ones die off and then keep breeding the strong ones. Do you want to subject your fish to that lifestyle? That’s up to you. I think it will take more than just diversifying the genetics as much as possible. Maybe throw in some endler crosses along the way to make them more robust. It will probably take several years until you have a bullet proof strain. 

[Goosedub]

Also on sexing livebearers, I have found with my endler and platt fry, that you can tell by the anal fin at a pretty young age and separate them out. The females have a fan-shaped anal fin and the males have a long pointy one.  My males don’t try to mate until they are close to colored up, so if you are paying attention, you can probably do it before they breed. 

[Guppysnail]

*sigh* nope can’t do that each of my pets is a family member to me. Will it at least make them a bit stronger and healthier? 

Had previously thought to go the Endler route but so much internet bashing to even ask those questions like it is mega taboo. ?..

l am a home hobbyist nothing more. I used a magnifying glass to sex them and separate at 4 weeks but 3 are pregnant I can’t see them any younger I looked everyday. My boy is in the community tank so it wasn’t him. They had no color at that point either sex. 

[Goosedub]

38 minutes ago, Guppysnail said:

*sigh* nope can’t do that each of my pets is a family member to me. Will it at least make them a bit stronger and healthier? 

Had previously thought to go the Endler route but so much internet bashing to even ask those questions like it is mega taboo. ?..

l am a home hobbyist nothing more. I used a magnifying glass to sex them and separate at 4 weeks but 3 are pregnant I can’t see them any younger I looked everyday. My boy is in the community tank so it wasn’t him. They had no color at that point either sex. 

I have not idea why it would be taboo. People cross guppies with endless all the time, its how a lot of the fancy endler’s we have came about. The same way people used to cross swordtails with platies to get color on their swordtails (natural swordtails are very bland)

That’s bonkers. I have heard they can be sexually mature at 3 weeks, but that is super early. 

Diversifying genetics will probably make them a little more robust, but these fish have been inbred for decades so teasing out those weaker traits is hard. 

[Guppysnail]

Thank you for your help. Yeah I got told never to downgrade endlers by cross breeding keep them pure etc.....it’s not like I’m mass producing them just for me and my friends but no one was helpful about cross breeding.