Which Guppy to breed

[Coof]

Ok so I’m now several tanks deep and starting to have fun figuring out how to breed some blue velvet shrimp and albino red head koi guppy. Also growing out some angels as well. I enjoy the red head koi but I can’t decide on which other guppy to breed! I need some insight from you on other types. 
 

I can’t decide if I’m going with a strong line of either purple or green Moscow’s off of aquabid. I also like the dumbo mosaic dragon.

I went down the rabbit hole and came across big dorsal red dragon ribbon. These look awesome. 
 

I have two young sons and we enjoy this together. I want only ONE more guppy line due to space and trying not to get more tanks. I want a beautiful show stopper. A unique guppy line! Which should I chose and from where?

 

thanks I can’t wait to hear your ideas!!!

[Taco Playz]

I really like my male blonde cobra that I have raised from a fry. He’s super pretty. I’ll try to get pics later.

[Coof]

On 8/22/2021 at 8:36 AM, Taco Playz said:

I really like my male blonde cobra that I have raised from a fry. He’s super pretty. I’ll try to get pics later.

Can’t wait for the pic thanks

[gardenman]

What I'd recommend is looking for a line that you love, but that has room for improvement. Maybe they need a stronger caudal peduncle, a wider body, a larger fin, more colorful females, or something else that's doable but missing in the line now. Then work to add that whatever it is to your line and make it your own line. You really want that vision of the perfect guppy and to work to achieve it. Maybe you want to add dumbo ears to a line that doesn't have them. Buy a dumbo eared male/female and pair them off with a fish in the line that you love. Then sort out their fry into dumbo eared versions of the ones you love and over time you can create a new line that's uniquely your own.

I've always thought that if I opened a fish farm and bred livebearers I'd go for two extremes, giant and dwarf. (In addition to color, conformity, health, etc.) Livebearers tend to vary a bit in size naturally, so I'd try to create giant and dwarf mollies, swordtails, platies, guppies, etc. Breed the large ones to other large ones. Breed the little ones to the littlest ones. I suspect you could create giant and dwarf lines of livebearers pretty easily. I've seen pond-raised sailfin mollies that were about eight inches long and they were awesome! Nano tanks are pretty popular these days. If you could create dwarf livebearers that were the size of the small fish used for nano tanks, you could find yourself with a large market. (Live births might be tricky if the fish got too small though.) Imagine a school of ten to twelve inch long swordtails swimming in a large tank. Pretty neat, huh? I think such a project could be doable. It would take time and lots of culling but it just might work. Getting larger livebearers might be easier than getting smaller ones due to live birth issues, but I think both would be doable. 

A fish farm that came out with dwarf and giant livebearers could make a lot of money. (Until others bought breeding pairs and started selling their fry.) For a while though you'd be in good shape.

[lefty o]

my own preference is for any color dragon guppy. most important thing if you are going to breed a line, is to pick something you like, and enjoy.

[JoshStover]

I always go for something I’m really attracted to and if trying to breed for profit I look for something not raised by the majority. I also have 2 kids really getting into the hobby and it has been a phenomenal learning tool for both of them. I wish y’all luck with whatever poecilia path you choose. 

[Coof]

On 8/22/2021 at 9:35 AM, gardenman said:

What I'd recommend is looking for a line that you love, but that has room for improvement. Maybe they need a stronger caudal peduncle, a wider body, a larger fin, more colorful females, or something else that's doable but missing in the line now. Then work to add that whatever it is to your line and make it your own line. You really want that vision of the perfect guppy and to work to achieve it. Maybe you want to add dumbo ears to a line that doesn't have them. Buy a dumbo eared male/female and pair them off with a fish in the line that you love. Then sort out their fry into dumbo eared versions of the ones you love and over time you can create a new line that's uniquely your own.

I've always thought that if I opened a fish farm and bred livebearers I'd go for two extremes, giant and dwarf. (In addition to color, conformity, health, etc.) Livebearers tend to vary a bit in size naturally, so I'd try to create giant and dwarf mollies, swordtails, platies, guppies, etc. Breed the large ones to other large ones. Breed the little ones to the littlest ones. I suspect you could create giant and dwarf lines of livebearers pretty easily. I've seen pond-raised sailfin mollies that were about eight inches long and they were awesome! Nano tanks are pretty popular these days. If you could create dwarf livebearers that were the size of the small fish used for nano tanks, you could find yourself with a large market. (Live births might be tricky if the fish got too small though.) Imagine a school of ten to twelve inch long swordtails swimming in a large tank. Pretty neat, huh? I think such a project could be doable. It would take time and lots of culling but it just might work. Getting larger livebearers might be easier than getting smaller ones due to live birth issues, but I think both would be doable. 

A fish farm that came out with dwarf and giant livebearers could make a lot of money. (Until others bought breeding pairs and started selling their fry.) For a while though you'd be in good shape.

Wow great post thanks! You bring up some great points. I’m trying to find the type that gets me the most excited and it would be cool to try to improve upon it as well. The problem is that when I think we’ve found it we see another that is equally awesome. I’m leaning towards the big dorsal red dragon ribbon due to the beautiful markings and elongated fins. They look so different. But I can be swayed with some others experience and suggestions. 

[Taco Playz]

I had to catch him to take photos because he wouldn’t stop swimming when I was going to take the photo.

[Coof]

On 8/22/2021 at 3:20 PM, Taco Playz said:

I had to catch him to take photos because he wouldn’t stop swimming when I was going to take the photo.

I can see why you like him! Awesome!