How should I go about getting a pure strain of guppies?

Question

I want to practice starting a pure (or getting the purest possible) strain using store bought guppies. I want to match to females with two males? How many tanks do you recommend and what should they be used for? Also is there an way to really know when the female guppy is more than likely not holding any more sperm from previous males? Should her first couple batches be culled?

Actually some guppies have been known to hold sperm almost all their lives; but some say after two batches the likely hood of most offspring being the new males; I guess thats really my question; with experience how many batches have you know where things will turn in your favor. It is absolutely ridiculous to wait over a year considering a guppies life span is about 2 yrs. This is just practice.I'm also not worried about contorlling how many babies they have; that why I was wondering how many tanks other people use and how they use them . TY

Culling doesn't mean kiiling

Some recommend culling the whole batch since the father is an unknown male; some say to keep just a couple females. If I don't cull the whole batch I should only keep a few; how do I know which few to keep?

Answer 1

About the only way to get good quality is to buy directly from a breeder. They will separate males and females as soon as gender can be determined so you won't end up with fry of "unknown parentage" so to speak. Don't be surprised at the price you'd need to pay for these as a good quality pair will run about $25. Look at Aquabid.com for some examples or to buy.

If you want to go with store-bought, I would suggest buying at Petsmart or a privately owned store. The main thing to look for here is that the males and females are kept in separate tanks - Petsmart is the only major chain in my area that keeps them this way. Then try to match coloration as best you can. This isn't any guarantee that the traits you see will be passed on by the genetics if the parents are mixed crosses themselves.

For tanks, you should have one smaller tank for each breeding pair (or trio) and at least two larger growout tanks. You can put all the fish in one, then separate out the males into the second as soon as you notice gonopodium development. Of course, there's no limit on the number of tanks you potentially could have.

For culling, it shouldn't be necessary to cull all of a batch - just any with obvious deformities or those showing traits other than those you're trying to develop. (Note, just because the fry don't meet your breeding standards, doesn't mean they may not be suitable for "pets". Consider giving any fish you don't care to breed to a store or "public" tank [hospital, nursing home, school, day care] where the fish can still be enjoyed if healthy. Substandard breeders are often still better quality than typical "petstore" fish!)


EDIT: In response to your added comments:

1) I know culling doesn't (necessarily) mean killing, although that's what some breeder will do. It just means to remove those which you don't intend to use for breeding.

2) If you buy from a breeder or where the genders are separated, ther shouln't be any way for the females to have been impregnated - they should be virgin females. If there's any doubt, or if you buy from a tank where the genders are mixed, I'd keep her with the male I wanted her to bred with, and cull the first batch of fry. Otherwise, you may have to wait another month to reduce the chances of fry being from an "unknown" male.

As far as culling the fry, first get rid of any with obvious deformities (crooked spine, underdeveloped fins). From there, the choice is mainly one of preference and genetic abnormalities - "off" colors, solids/spots (depending on the color/variety of the strain), undersized fish, less colorful, etc. See the articles below:

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Homrich_Breeding_Guppy.html
http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Breeding.html
http://www.ifga.org/

Answer 2

The way guppies breed, I say good luck. You will never be able to control them, but, if you really think you want to try, you need to isolate your favorite female in a tank all by herself for six months. This is how long they can continue to carry sperm. Remove all fry that she may have immediately so that she does not breed with any of her offspring because she can and will. Once she has passed six months, allow 2-3 more months of isolation just to assure yourself that she will not have any more fry. If she does, you need to continue to isolate 2-3 months after each batch. Once you are certain that she is no longer carrying sperm, put your favorite male in with her. The rest is easy.

Answer 3

Wild guppies from Singapore are the beauties. Every generation down they get a little plainer until finally are just common guppies. Outside breeding helps a little.

Answer 4

mate her with the males u have.