PineSong Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 So, the very large female guppies that I brought home in October came preloaded with fry who started arriving the first of November. At 2+ months old, the males are larger than most of my adult guppies but have no noticeable color other than very slight yellow or white shading on the top and bottom of the caudal fin. This made me wonder whether they are just going to be very plain guppies. Doesn't matter as I'm not trying to sell them and they're in an all-male tank, but it made me consider that stores and videos feature the most colorful and appealing variations in guppy colors. Are there lots like this that people just usually don't show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 (edited) Some of my favorite fish are the least fancy ones. In fact on my days off I got some male Guppies to add to my Flex tank Endler/Ember population. I asked the gal at the LFS to just pick some of the ones with the least color, part of it is that I realize they are often picked last- some of the best animals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing were the plainest. They are mostly silver and black, a couple have a little color but I'm already loving them (no good pics yet they are in QT and not enough light). 2 of my favorite Endler (I know, not Guppies) boys are the plainest. NEL and Flare, they are cute, interactive little guys. Edited December 31, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 On 12/31/2021 at 8:52 AM, PineSong said: At 2+ months old, the males are larger than most of my adult guppies but have no noticeable color other than very slight yellow or white shading on the top and bottom of the caudal fin. To be honest, those on the photo look a lot like female guppies to me, especially the one in the middle...can be just me though. Here is my plainest strain, male and female. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 On 12/31/2021 at 10:22 AM, Fonske said: To be honest, those on the photo look a lot like female guppies to me, especially the one in the middle...can be just me though. Here is my plainest strain, male and female. Your plain fish are not so plain at all! The fry I posted DO look like females, don't they? It's not just you. I do not understand why they have such deep round bodies if they are male, and it has made it very hard for me to divide them into my male and female tanks--I could totally be screwing it up. The mother fish had no dark gravid spot, so I cannot trust the absence of a gravid spot when dividing these fry. I waited for the changes to the anal fin to show up. And I could still be wrong. Since there are about ten male guppies and endlers in the tank these juveniles are in, if one of them is female, I will be sure to find out the hard way! On 12/30/2021 at 8:02 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Some of my favorite fish are the least fancy ones. In fact on my days off I got some male Guppies to add to my Flex tank Endler/Ember population. I asked the gal at the LFS to just pick some of the ones with the least color, part of it is that I realize they are often picked last- some of the best animals I've ever had the pleasure of knowing were the plainest. They are mostly silver and black, a couple have a little color but I'm already loving them (no good pics yet they are in QT and not enough light). 2 of my favorite Endler (I know, not Guppies) boys are the plainest. NEL and Flare, they are cute, interactive little guys. I also have a guppy named Flare! I agree that some of the plainest fish can be the best. I really like one of my big plain females, Opal. She is very brave and curious and has a lot of presence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 (edited) I rehomed this one. Was sold to me as a female from petsmart. Realized it was a male when I got a closer look to it at home. He also had a deep round body but a gonopodium. Edited December 31, 2021 by Cinnebuns 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 @Cinnebuns, that's a pretty guppy, I don't find him plain at all. Maybe you like the ones with longer tails more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) I kind of agree - at least in the picture they do look a lot like females. My favorite guppies have always been strains closest to wild guppies. They just seem to have less issues. Once you get huge tails, long fins, and thin beduncles (spelling?), I start getting disinterested due to health issues. Nobody sells feeder guppies here anymore, but if they did, I would probably have a strain of mutt feeders. I don't have any guppies to share, unfortunately! I used to have some Limia Nigrofasciata that were pretty plain, though, and they've probably been one of my favorite livebearers to date. Edited January 1, 2022 by Chris 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) @PineSong yeah I tend to like longer tails and patterns. But especially more color. Edited January 1, 2022 by Cinnebuns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 7:15 AM, PineSong said: I do not understand why they have such deep round bodies if they are male, and it has made it very hard for me to divide them into my male and female tanks The body shape is not that important, the shape of the anal fin is what matters. Some of my guppies developed gonopodiums very late, ~3 months old, and before that it was very hard to sex them. Your fishies on the photo can be so called "chesty" males (if their anal fins are gonopodiums). Guppies have no concept of eating too much and when young guppies are fed a LOT of fatty foods, males can develop this type of plump-ish body shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 12/31/2021 at 9:59 PM, Fonske said: Your fishies on the photo can be so called "chesty" males (if their anal fins are gonopodiums). Guppies have no concept of eating too much and when young guppies are fed a LOT of fatty foods, males can develop this type of plump-ish body shape. Aw, shucks. I need to feed even less? I felt like I had cut back a lot already when they got older . They eat Extreme Krill Flakes, a bunch of Hikari---micro pellets, freeze dried daphnia, dried bloodworms, fancy guppy food, once in a while Sera O-nip tabs. Do those count as fatty or do I just need to feed less of them in order to get fry to grow up less round? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 12:07 PM, PineSong said: Aw, shucks. I need to feed even less? If you don't like the way your males look, yes, reduce the amount of food somewhat. I personally don't worry about it too much, plump is better than skinny to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I keep all my least colorful guppies. Im afraid they wont get adopted or loved. I have found they eventually color after a few months and often become my most beautiful 🥰 also the lighter colored ones take longer. Those look young. Give it time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 FWIW, I much prefer a well-rounded fish over a lithe one, especially with livebearers. If those are males in the picture, and I saw them in a store, I'd probably buy them simply for the fact that they're huge!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) On 1/1/2022 at 10:31 AM, Chris said: FWIW, I much prefer a well-rounded fish over a lithe one, especially with livebearers. If those are males in the picture, and I saw them in a store, I'd probably buy them simply for the fact that they're huge!!! They are in fact huge. I call their mother/s The Whale Guppies because they are so much larger than all my others. You can see one of the mothers in this photo; she is every bit as large as the molly. The male swimming above her is my largest and thickest male guppy. Edited January 2, 2022 by PineSong 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 So, I have many males that have very little color from my mutt guppies. They are almost 13 weeks old, and some just have touches of black at the edges of their tails, or bands of yellow. I'm not sure if they'll color up much more but I will hold onto them for longer. I feed them a ton of variety. I don't want to take them to my lfs without giving them their best shot. I don't want my babies to be feeder fish if possible. I know some will be, but, mom mode... These photos are not great to see the males with little color, because everyone moves so much. Near impossible with 130+/- in there. But you can kinda see a few! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 @Minanora, yes I can see that some of those guys are pretty plain. I hope I will be able to keep any plain Janes that happen, but I also recognize I only have 75 gallons total to work with over here among all my tanks. As much as I love StephenP2003's Livebearer Mosh Pit, I don't have big tanks to turn into one. So it will depend on how many turn out that way, and how successful I am at separating fry before more breeding takes place. Insert scared face emoji here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 I'm not sure about how common the plain Jane ones are. I have about 30 at 3 months old. I'll update you on batch 2 in three weeks if I remember. I'm not allowed to keep many of mine. I started single strains last month so I feel like I'll need the space for selecting breeders for those projects. I retired my last mutt guppy female. Hopefully she only drops one or two more batches. Her last drop was 90+ fry! My single strain girls all came pregnant but they're young so I'm hoping they only have 2 more batches as well. They're just dropping their second. I'm curious to see the results of these strains fry. I'm hoping I don't have a lot of plain come from these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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