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Creating a new Guppy Strain...


SpicyFin
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So I found what I thought was an an amazing looking juvenile male guppy in my "cull" tank this June. I call him Mr. Marble because he reminds me of a blue marble betta coloration. 

So I shared his photo on Facebook and  asked opinions on trying to create my own guppy strain from him... well I was talked down to by a guppy YouTube personality that I made a mutt and well I almost gave up the hobby.

A few weeks went and I said Self who cares what he says put him in a tank and try to make more. So 6 months later and I have a mini Mr Marble. I still have a long way to go but I  am excited that I am on the right track... I hope. I have a few more juveniles males that look like they will look at lot like dad and brother and in another week or two I should know for sure.

I believe Mr Marble came from a blue and white strain ive been developing for  just under 2 years now I call Blue Dreams but because he was in my cull tank I can't be sure.

I have no idea if anyone else would ever be interested in my blue marble guppies if in a few years I can claim it as a set strain because they are short tails but I love them. The females are starting to get some white coloration on their top lines. 

Anyways I will share some photos and you can let you me know your thoughts. I shared the long tail blue dreams  I think is where he popped up from.

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Looks great to me! Good job sticking with a line. I think it was Greg Sage who said he doesn’t ever sell down below 40 fish of a selectively bred line. In other words, make hundreds of these before selling them so that you’ll really be able to keep the line going. And even more importantly, if you’re able to make another line, it becomes important to “cross out” the lines so that they keep some genetic strength. 

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I love fish with blue coloration - there aren't a lot of blue choices, especially in smaller community fish. I saw a photo of a "blue variety" of harlequin rasboras online and they were beautiful in the (probably color-enhanced) photo, but in the store, not so much. The blue was more like muddy-orange-tinged-charcoal-gray, the color separation was muddled, and and their silvery shimmer was all but absent. It seems like breeding blue fish is not necessarily an easy undertaking, and I think you should be proud! I'm looking more and more at guppies to be dither fish in my 20L and I hope to find some like yours if I get them. Dad and son are gorgeous, and mom (?) is quite lovely as well. Congratulations and good luck!

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On 1/1/2021 at 9:08 AM, Fish Folk said:

Looks great to me! Good job sticking with a line. I think it was Greg Sage who said he doesn’t ever sell down below 40 fish of a selectively bred line. In other words, make hundreds of these before selling them so that you’ll really be able to keep the line going. And even more importantly, if you’re able to make another line, it becomes important to “cross out” the lines so that they keep some genetic strength. 

Yes this is great advise I  learned the hard way during a move when I almost lost one of my lines to have multiple  tanks of each line. 

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20 hours ago, Paul_Obermiller said:

I think they look great. I wouldn't mind having those in my tanks. Keep developing them, no matter what other people say. 

Thats the best compliment a breeder could ask for.... other wanting your fish in their tanks 🙂

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3 hours ago, Maggie said:

I love fish with blue coloration - there aren't a lot of blue choices, especially in smaller community fish. I saw a photo of a "blue variety" of harlequin rasboras online and they were beautiful in the (probably color-enhanced) photo, but in the store, not so much. The blue was more like muddy-orange-tinged-charcoal-gray, the color separation was muddled, and and their silvery shimmer was all but absent. It seems like breeding blue fish is not necessarily an easy undertaking, and I think you should be proud! I'm looking more and more at guppies to be dither fish in my 20L and I hope to find some like yours if I get them. Dad and son are gorgeous, and mom (?) is quite lovely as well. Congratulations and good luck!

Thank you for the kind words. Im going to do my best 

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4 hours ago, Maggie said:

I love fish with blue coloration - there aren't a lot of blue choices, especially in smaller community fish. I saw a photo of a "blue variety" of harlequin rasboras online and they were beautiful in the (probably color-enhanced) photo, but in the store, not so much. The blue was more like muddy-orange-tinged-charcoal-gray, the color separation was muddled, and and their silvery shimmer was all but absent. It seems like breeding blue fish is not necessarily an easy undertaking, and I think you should be proud! I'm looking more and more at guppies to be dither fish in my 20L and I hope to find some like yours if I get them. Dad and son are gorgeous, and mom (?) is quite lovely as well. Congratulations and good luck!

I don't know anything about that specific fish, but it's not uncommon for fish to not show much color when in stores, but then look much better when you get them home and they get comfortable in the new environment.  It's also not uncommon for fish to not show their full colors until they're nearer maturity.

I'll agree that finding blue, especially in small fish, is difficult.  Black neon tetras are one of my favorites though.  The lower band is a very dark blue, and the lighter stripe above it is a kind of fluorescent sky blue when the light hits it just right.

Edited by JettsPapa
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On 1/1/2021 at 10:48 AM, Daniel said:

That is a really cool looking strain. I look forward to seeing how you develop it!

 

On 1/2/2021 at 11:01 AM, H.K.Luterman said:

Really neat looking guppies! I'm really interested in how this process will go!

 

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Fun!! I am breeding mutts for fun. But I have a strong preference for certian traits and carefully choose who gets to breed. Over time the mutts can become a strain. I don't understand why people get cranky like this--particularly with something like guppies. How do they think strains arose in the first place? 

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2 hours ago, Jeeperscreepersmyth said:

I like your blue dream, would you be interested in sending some to Tennessee to go with my blue dream shrimp?

Thank you. I so wish I could I lost almost the entire line when I moved.  I got the numbers back up and things were going great that picture is just a few months old. And then I purchased some fish  plants and snails. New fish went into qt tank and were sick with something and only one male survived. I must have some how cross contaminated because my blue dreams tank all died accept one male in the picture and a juvenile female. To top it off I lost  my cull tank too.

 I am thinking it must have been when I was feeding bbs with a pipette somehow.

So im on a mission to bring these back a 2nd time.

 

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