Guppy Selection

[CJs Aquatics]

Hey all, was wondering what your process is with regards to guppy breeding and selection specifically with regards to females. A bit of backstory I’m currently working with 4 strains of guppies. They are strains that are pretty set up but sometimes throw something that’s not like the parents which I have been adding to a mutt guppy colony. It’s easy to tell desirable males, but how do you tell which females should remain in the program and which ones should be moved to the mutts? 

[Scapexghost]

Only cull males and keep all the females. 1 male and ten females will make the same amount of guppies as ten males and ten females. So, keep all females to maximize output

[lewk]

I agree with @Scapexghostthat you should be less concerned with females than males, but I do think culling some females is correct. Basically, I'm looking for defects - bad tail shape, bad conformation, color where it shouldn't be, etc. Those would be culls. 

[gardenman]

I think it was one of Cory's videos on Israeli fish farms where one of the breeders went into detail on how they select female guppies. In short, ask yourself what a perfect female guppy of the type you're breeding should look like, and then select for that quality. Do you want more color? A longer body? A stockier body? Longer fins? Figure out what your "perfect" female guppy should look like and select those females that come closest as your breeding stock.

[Theplatymaster]

i dont run into this with my platy selection process, but the females are colorful too.

i just choose the female that shows the best traits i like, and cross it with the male with the best traits, the "culls" go to the LFS.

[Cinnebuns]

My female guppy selection is largely based on their dorsal fin. A lot of people think the female doesn't matter and only breed based on the male but that's not true. I have a few examples of where a subpar male with an extraordinary female made pretty babies. Since females tend to not show much color, you are limited to looking at the dorsal. That's where their color will show the most. 

[CJs Aquatics]

These are all great ideas, I’ve started implementing them already. I guess a sub question would be as follows:

I culled males into a mutt guppy tank, it’s quite male heavy. How would you go about adding females to it? Random selection? A number perhaps like 2 for every male? Female culls based on appearance like male culls? Buy females for them from the store? Other perhaps? 

[Dtolb15]

@CJs Aquatics I've been basically rotating random females between a few tanks. I am not completed committed to line breeding just because the sheer number of guppies I have versus tanks. But regarding the males, I am keeping basically a color range together vs a special detail or exact color. and what feels like at random or when a single tank is too crowded I will sell what I can and move around females if needed. Again, not overly specific or scientific. but as someone just having fun with the process, this method has been giving my great results and a large variety of the mutts that I have been shorting down to little groups. 

[mynameisnobody]

Personally, I cull deformities by way of feeding to larger fish. I don’t want to breed my culls because I don’t see it going very well nor worth the effort. I cull any deformities, other than that they all remain. If you’re going for particular traits then that’s a different ball game. From the research I’ve done, it’s basically up to you. Its all in what you’re trying to achieve. 

[WhitecloudDynasty]

Same goes for female, some female will breed better quality fish or more quality you are looking for, but since female guppies are harder to tell. I would judge them base on conformation and color last. 

I use to breed gold body red grass and I kept 2 male and 6 female. Each female get their own tank and spend about 2 days with the males. Long story short even sister won't breed the same quality. 

Pick the female you like and get rid of the rest.

[sumplkrum]

For females, you look for good body shape and fins. Those aspects will effect children and future males.

Specifically, you want a thick peduncle - the body from the end of the dorsal fin to the tail.
A thicker peducle will allow males to support a bigger tail and stay strong.

The shape of the female's tail fin will effect children.
If you want delta-shape males, you look for a specific angle on the tail of the females.

This video from Bryan Chin goes into much more detail:

 

[PineSong]

On 5/4/2023 at 2:06 PM, sumplkrum said:

This video from Bryan Chin goes into much more detail:

 

Neat video. I admire the patience of all the breeders who keep track of each generation and selectively breed so carefully.