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Guppy Breeding Advice


Cinnebuns
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Hey all,

I'm wanting to dive into the world of guppy breeding but wanting as much information as possible before I do so. I have done a TON of research so far but I know questions always come up. I know guppies are probably one of the easiest species to breed, but I'm hoping to make, what for me, is a large investment. I'm low income so doing fish as a hobby is kinda difficult funds wise for fish that cost $3 but I'm hoping to invest in some more expensive fish for breeding purposes. For the record, I do have a couple of sources to home fry. 

 

I guess the first thing I would like to know is if you even recommend me diving into buying a fancy trio or practicing on some cheap ones from my LFS. I see benefits both ways. The one concern I have for practicing on cheap ones is I would feel bad rehoming them once I decide to make the switch.

 

Either way I'm finding I feel uneasy about pinning down a sure plan for the method I will do this. At first I thought about just letting them do their thing their own way, but I would like more control. I don't want a huge operation with a huge amount of tanks and getting into making my own strains or anything like that. Just breed some for my own enjoyment and a small side hussle. Currently I have 29, 10, and 5 gallon tanks as long as a breeder box I just ordered. I regularly check fb marketplace for possible good deals on tanks but I have limited space and funds. 

 

I guess ultimately what I would like is someone to bounce questions off regularly to guide me a little. At least in the beginning. Maybe I'm over thinking this. Maybe I'm under thinking it. Idk. But I wanna do it right. 

 

What would you recommend I do going forward?  Start cheap or dive right in?  How would you organize breeding and fry with the resources I have?  Would you do it at all with the resources I have? 

 

I'm new to the forums but I think i saw a place for private messages. Anyone willing to help guide me a bit feel free to private message me. 

 

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I'm pretty new to it also, but I'd recommend keeping it simple to start with, with less expensive fish.  You said you'd have to rehome them, but I don't understand why that's a problem.  Maybe your LFS would buy them from you.  Even if it's just for store credit, it's something.  If you like doing it, and have nicer fish later, once you establish a relationship bringing in the mutts they may pay cash later.

Speaking of keeping it simple, I'd just set up a tank with a couple males and a half dozen or so females, and plenty of live plants, especially some dense floating plants, and let them do their thing.  A few of the fry may get eaten, but most should be fine.

If it goes well and you enjoy it, you can invest in some more expensive fish and more labor intensive practices later.

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Cheap guppies aren't necessarily bad. They're often culls from better lines. That means their genes may still produce superior fry. Some careful breeding and culling and you can end up with some really nice fish down the line. They may have been culled out due to the wrong color, pattern, fin shape, etc. but they could still have the genetic material necessary to make a great guppy. Traits often skip a generation or two and then reemerge. The fry from a pair of culled guppies could just give you a show quality guppy down the road. You never know.

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On 12/17/2021 at 1:47 AM, Cinnebuns said:

a fancy trio

Hi, I picked up a fancy trio a while back and they are doing fine.

Last Monday I went to my LFS, he had no trios but had a couple of fancy females (no males of that type) the one female was expecting, lo and behold Tuesday am she had like 25 babies. (I put the babies in a 20L, and they seem like they are doing fine.)

That same day an order from co-op showed up with some Easy Fry Food, that really helped with feeding the little guys.

What I did seem to learn was when the female gets that back bend, that might be a sign of getting ready to birth??

I hope I said that right.

I think you might want to go with a fancy trio. 

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if i was to start again as a first time, i would look to find females in their own separate tank at the lfs. pick a few that look good to you, and then pick out a male that catches your eye. females in a mixed tank have most likely already been bred, so that makes your choice in males unimportant.

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I recently started breeding guppies just for fun. I would say that if you don't already have guppies and good luck keeping them alive, you probably will want to not start with fish that represent a big investment for you.

You may be happiest if you source your guppies from a local hobbyist, fish club member or a reputable Aquabid seller, and not from a big box store. This will offer you the most protection from getting sick fish that will die from illness, neglect, or who don't thrive in your local water.

Others here on the forum have told me that their LFS is happiest to buy solid-color guppies because they always sell well. I have not tried to sell any of my fish so IDK first hand.

One thing I will say, is find a kind of guppy YOU really like for its own sake and raise that. I've learned from my first few varieties that I just don't care for the big Moscow/Delta tail style and prefer the smaller tails. I'm glad I figured that out before I spent a lot of time and money producing Moscows.

If you don't want to get into line breeding, spare yourself some headaches and save yourself tank space and money and just cram tanks full of plants and let your fish colony breed, would be my advice. If you have 3 tanks, you can have 3 colors/varieties doing it that way.

 

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I'm trying my hand at it too, and the route we've decided to go with was buying some mutts from breeders.   We tried some box store guppies and they all died fairly quickly. 
Once I'm comfortable with what Im doing, we may buy a pair/trio and line breed but if you're like me you'll get attached to the mutts. 🙂

 

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So about a year and a half ago I got into breeding guppies.  I've learned a few tips and tricks from my mistakes, but the biggest thing is to have fun with it and go with the flow. If you're not having fun, you're much less likely to do the daily tasks necessary for something like guppy breeding. Don't overthink things. Guppies are one of the easiest fish I've kept both in terms of lifestyle and breeding. 

A couple of tips to make your life easier (Which you may or may not already know):

- Getting guppies from someone locally is going to make your life easier because those fish have already been accustomed to your water supply. The only guppies I've had trouble with are ones that were shipped from a completely different part of the country. It is doable, but I think Cory/Dean were saying on a livestream that it takes around two generations for guppies to thrive in different water supplies. 

- Have a lot of cover. At first when I was colony breeding, I would do my daily checks and find that a female had dropped (birthed) only a handful of fry. Turns out that the liter was much bigger but the adult guppies in the tank were preying on the fry. This cover helps give the fry the best chance at maturing. 

- Get ready to have a lot of guppies. While it may seem like a slow process initially, your tanks will soon be overwhelmed by guppies. Have a plan as to where these guppies are going to be housed. If you are planning on selling guppies, talk to your LFS ahead of time of what they are willing to take. I've found it very useful to ask them what they need rather than are they willing to take this or that. You might find a guppy that the store can't seem to keep in stock and you enjoy breeding. 

Always happy to help answer any questions along the way!

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On 12/20/2021 at 2:21 PM, Gigrantor said:

Have a lot of cover. At first when I was colony breeding, I would do my daily checks and find that a female had dropped (birthed) only a handful of fry. Turns out that the liter was much bigger but the adult guppies in the tank were preying on the fry. This cover helps give the fry the best chance at maturing. 

I am planning on picking up water lettuce on Wed. Do you think this, in addition to other decor, will be enough for enough of the fry to survive. I have decided initially to colony breed with mutts to make sure it's something i want to make a larger investment on. 

 

On 12/20/2021 at 2:21 PM, Gigrantor said:

Get ready to have a lot of guppies. While it may seem like a slow process initially, your tanks will soon be overwhelmed by guppies. Have a plan as to where these guppies are going to be housed. If you are planning on selling guppies, talk to your LFS ahead of time of what they are willing to take. I've found it very useful to ask them what they need rather than are they willing to take this or that. You might find a guppy that the store can't seem to keep in stock and you enjoy breeding. 

That's a great tip to ask them what they want/need vs just picking at random. There are multiple types i would be happy with myself and I would be even happier if its one that sells well. I have already secured a plan with my LFS to take fry. 

 

One question I have is at what age I should plan to keep fry before taking them to the store. I think I read something like 2-3 months which would mean they would have younger siblings by then. 

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On 12/20/2021 at 2:37 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Do you think this, in addition to other decor, will be enough for enough of the fry to survive.

This will definitely be a good start. The plant may come in a little small, but it will grow to be good cover. With how many guppies you will produce, as ugly as it sounds, sometimes survival of the fittest isn't the worst. 

On 12/20/2021 at 2:37 PM, Cinnebuns said:

One question I have is at what age I should plan to keep fry before taking them to the store. I think I read something like 2-3 months which would mean they would have younger siblings by then. 

Yeah, my LFS asks for them around 3-4 months old so they have some good size and to maximize the amount of time the customer gets with their fish. Since you will be colony breeding like I do, you will find that selecting/netting is harder than it looks! I usually let the store owner know that there may be a couple that snuck in younger or older than what he was looking for, but I don't include those in my counts. 

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