Breeding Fancy Guppies: Fry Color and Culling Baby Guppies
Breeding Fancy Guppies - Selective Breeding
Breeding fancy guppies selectively to maintain purity of color strains, or to try to create your own new strains, must be done in a controlled tank environment. Put male and female guppies together that you want to breed and take out all other guppies. This is the only way to achieve the expected fry color.
Even with this practice, the first fry drop (birth) may not be a pure strain. Female fancy guppies can hold sperm from previous matings and have fry months later. Some breeders of fancy guppies cull the entire first drop of baby guppies.
Breeding Fancy Guppies - Fry Color
Fancy guppy breeders must be patient if they want the best color and pattern on their fancy guppies. Fry usually start showing color around three to four weeks old, and do not achieve full color until several months have passed. Still, a good breeder can tell in the first month or two if the fry is a keeper. Vibrant colors and the first signs of patterning, such as snakeskin or marble, will show up.
Breeding Fancy Guppies - Culling Baby Guppies or Fry
There are several reasons why you should cull baby fancy guppies. Culling means to kill the undesireable fancy guppies: those with genetics you are not interested in or that are detrimental to fish health. Guppy breeders usually cull the fry three or four times before they are grown, depending on the reason for breeding.
The first cull is at birth. This gets rid of any deformed or incompletely developed baby fancy guppies. Over the course of the next few months, dedicated fancy guppy breeders may cull two or three more times. They get rid of fish with deformities, lack of color or unwanted color, and other reasons. Die hard fancy guppy breeders may cull all but the best fry from one drop.
Published by Melanie L. Marten
Melanie Marten is self-taught and self-employed. Besides freelance writing, she dabbles in website design and owns dozens of websites and blogs. Work is squeezed in between parenting two boys, homeschoolin... View profile
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- Put male and female guppies together that you want to breed and take out all other guppies.
- Fancy guppy breeders must be patient if they want the best color and pattern on their fancy guppies.
10 Comments
Post a Commentfancy guppies are livebearers. they give birth to live young.
Why don't you just call it Killing Baby Guppies cause saying Culling Baby Guppies is like justifying that there is a reason to kill innocent Baby animals?
I had my baby guppies since oct. 13 and my baby guppies show little to no color. The female was pale with an orange tail the father guppy is unknown. Are my guppies not showing color because i don't have a light on them.
I had my guppies since oct. 13 and my baby guppies show little to no color. The female was pale with an orange tail the father guppy is unknown. Are my guppies not showing color because i don't have a light on them.
A friend gave me several selectively bred fancy guppies last summer that have turned into many! I've tried culling them but have only found a few that didn't measure up. I've started swapping the young adults for merchandise credit at a local pet store.
A friend gave me several selectively bred fancy guppies last summer that have turned into many! I've tried culling them but have only found a few that didn't measure up. I've started swapping the young adults for merchandise credit at a local pet store.
my male guppy is bright yellow he is beautiful,but my female guppy is butt ugly she is gary with a black tail and thats what the fry look like some look like they might have a green or pink tint..will ther change or should i get another female.
do fancy guppies give birth to live young or are they eggs at the bottom of the tank
I totally love Guppies. When I was a child I would spend hours just watching them swim. I love the fact they have live babies. This information is GREAT....just like all your articles. Keep it up girl.
Great to know!