Guppy Coming of Age

[Cinnebuns]

My first round of guppies (Finally) are coming up on 4 and 3.5 weeks old. I have 2 questions regarding this. 

Does their color change while they are developing?  The reason I ask is both mothers are blue dragons. I got then from a breeder on ebay so idk the father but I would assume they would breed them with blue dragons or at least red dragons. Some have a pretty blue dorsal fin but some yellow on the tail. Is there a chance this will change?  

What is the OMG SEPERATE THEM NOW time. When will they sexually mature? I get so much conflicting info on this. I thought it was roughly 2 months so it was safe to seperate around 6 weeks but I'm hearing some crazy numbers on both sides. Like some people saying 5 months?  OK yall on crack. I know its not that long. Or am I on crack? It's possible both let's be honest. ANYWAY. I was also told to seperate as soon as you can sex them aka NOW!!! That friend kinda put the fear of God in me like if i don't seperste tonight Jesus gonna visit us tomorrow. Where is the middle line?

Edited April 1, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[Widgets]

Is that the intake for a Fluval Multi-Chamber Holding & Breeding Box? How do you like it?

[Cinnebuns]

It is and I love it!  I have the multi chamber one on its way now lol. I use it for panda cory eggs and first week of life

[lefty o]

once you start seeing color on them, it wont really change much.

[Cinnebuns]

That's strange. I didn't expect yellow at all and the more I look at it they all have blue dorsal and yellow tail. Interesting. 

I was expecting blue or red. Although I don't know the father plus I'm no guppy genetics scholar 

[lefty o]

guppies are like a box of chocolates. you never know whats gonna pop out.

[Cinnebuns]

Bur ALL of them even though there are 2 different mothers?  Odd

[PineSong]

I have found my fry do change quite a bit as they develop. My “mutts” start out silver with black spots on the side, then blue starts showing on their torsos. They often have a full gonopodium before any color at all is visible. The ones who have orange on their torsos and dorsal and tail get the orange color last and it continues to get darker for a couple of months. Oddly, in my blue star Endlers, the orange on the peduncle is the first color I see, and I see it before a gonopodium starts developing. The blue comes in last on these guys.

My ‘pure’ ginga strain start out solid yellow, the males start to show white specks on the tail first, then pink and orange patches on torso, and last are white specks on top of the pink and orange. They continue to color up until at least six months. 
 

as for when to separate; I separate as soon as I can tell a boy from a girl. With my Endler‘s, as soon as I see that orange on the peduncle I know it’s a boy and I remove it even though it has no gonopodium. On my mutts, they are often still completely silver but do have a gonopodium so I remove them as soon as I see the front ray of the anal fin extending and thickening into a gonopodium. 
 

Edited April 4, 2022 by PineSong
typo

[sumplkrum]

Their color 'developes' over time. Kinda fills out as they get older. The patterns won't be different, but the color will fill in or adjust over time.

If you're trying to separate the sexes, you want the males apart from the females before they form gonopodiums. If they're starting to show color, watch the anal fins. If it's starting to look like a tube, you gotta get them separated.

When sexing it can be difficult to tell sometimes at an early age. I err on the side of caution. I see a nice dark gravid spot, it's a female. Otherwise I assume it's a male still developing.

I'd rather have one female in with the males than one male in with all the females.

[Guppysnail]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:00 PM, Widgets said:

Is that the intake for a Fluval Multi-Chamber Holding & Breeding Box? How do you like it?

I have tried 4 other styles nets and boxes. Now that I have this one the others were packed away in storage. It is to easy and useful.  Almost no setup just hang it.  I also use it for fry separation now and as a lower stress specimen container and just everything. I got the multi but you do not need to use the separators if you want just a single larger separator. I did use a tiny piece of sponge to block the outflow as tiny egg fry can slide through the grate. I liked my ziss breeder but for viewing, ease and solid floor to catch fry food for bottom feeders to eat this is the perfect breeder box. 

[Widgets]

On 4/8/2022 at 7:17 AM, Guppysnail said:

I have tried 4 other styles nets and boxes. Now that I have this one the others were packed away in storage. It is to easy and useful.  Almost no setup just hang it.  I also use it for fry separation now and as a lower stress specimen container and just everything. I got the multi but you do not need to use the separators if you want just a single larger separator. I did use a tiny piece of sponge to block the outflow as tiny egg fry can slide through the grate. I liked my ziss breeder but for viewing, ease and solid floor to catch fry food for bottom feeders to eat this is the perfect breeder box. 

I picked one up for my Least Killifish and fry. I needed a place to temporarily house them while I reset and move my QT. I picked the large and am using it without the dividers. I had to find 5 fry that slipped through the outflow grate before I noticed. Hunting them down in the mixed fry in the tank was like playing "Where's Waldo", and I didn't know how many had escaped.

I only have coarse sponge, so I used a spare filter media bag. I inserted the grate into the bag, then slid it into place. It is ugly with the majority of the bag sticking up, but it works. I'll have to get a small piece of fine sponge to fix it up right.

[Guppysnail]

On 4/8/2022 at 8:52 AM, Widgets said:

I picked one up for my Least Killifish and fry. I needed a place to temporarily house them while I reset and move my QT. I picked the large and am using it without the dividers. I had to find 5 fry that slipped through the outflow grate before I noticed. Hunting them down in the mixed fry in the tank was like playing "Where's Waldo", and I didn't know how many had escaped.

I only have coarse sponge, so I used a spare filter media bag. I inserted the grate into the bag, then slid it into place. It is ugly with the majority of the bag sticking up, but it works. I'll have to get a small piece of fine sponge to fix it up right.

The first time I used it I used knee high pantyhose 🤣 upgraded to the sponge because I ran out of nylons. 

[Minanora]

I separate my fry as early as I can. Just for peace of mind. I don't want more babies right now. Lol.

Yellow is the first color to usually show on dragon strains. More color will come as they mature.

I will say, if your females were/are in contact with males: The fry they produce will be from those males. Not fry from the males they were kept with by the breeder. Unless they were already close to gestation with a brood when you got them.

Looking forward to more pictures! Looks to me like you're going to have some stunners!