Muppy Project

[summer_of_41]

Updates!

Updates!

Stage 6: Mating muppies!
Since 7/14, I have set up a 30gal tank for some of the muppies. I have place 15 muppies; 7 are male and 7 are female. After several days of observations, here are my findings:

- the males have developed color
- color shows up as blue, brown or a combinationof hues in tail & fins
- muppy labeled "spot" has developed brown/orange hues in the face, but would not go so far to call him calico...
- vertical stripes develop along sides
- some of the males have lost their "pot belly"
- a couple of the males *ARE* mating with the females!!!
- muppies have been seen doing the courtship dance...
- muppy mating is not as persistent as guppy mating...
- females do not show color, nor do they appear pregnant
- i've placed a male guppy in the tank to see what happens but he was only interested in the male muppies...
- muppy behavior is surprisingly friendly-since placing these guys into the 30gal, they have been very interactive with each other and constantly swim up & down the sides of the tank. I've not seen as much chasing or "fighting" as did when they were all together in the 55gal. They have calmed down since...

To end on a high note, I am very happy with my results. I have produced some pretty fish and the effort in doing so was well worth it. My only regret is that the camera I use to photograph them does NOT do a good job of showing you their true colors. For some reason, the blues do not show up on the camera. In addition, the fish appear to have a blue-ish gloss that reflects in the light.

1. "Spot" - entire tail is in fact BLUE (not showing up)

2. entire tail is in fact BLUE (not showing up)

3.Blue on top, brown on bottom

Although all of them resemble most of the guppy, some have inherited distinct characteristics of their father, such as the elongated fins and/or dark eyes. Only a couple of the females have inherited their father's eyes (not pictured).

 

[Lupin]

You lost me.

I have place 15 muppies; 7 are male and 7 are female.

 

[summer_of_41]

You lost me.

I don't understand your confusion. I started out with over 50 and have selected 15 of those to to be placed into another, smaller tank for further observation. 7 of them are males with gonopodiums while the other 7 are females (no gonopodiums).

 

[Lupin]

I mean you said you have 15 but you only stated 14 where 7 are males and 7 are females. Maybe you are saying the 15th fish hasn't been identified based on gender yet?

 

[summer_of_41]

I apologize for my error. Correction: 7male & 7female, 1 male guppy=15

 

[Lupin]

The wonders of being a bookworm. I just finished reading my new book, Angels and Demons in 5-6 hours.

Anyway, you certainly have very interesting observations. Glad you are compiling a database about this one. Thanks for sharing.:thumbsup:

 

[b.greene]

These look very much like mine did before very dark vertical line developed on the bodies. Aren't they cool??? Keep up the good work!

 

[knifegill]

So I've got two wild/feeder male guppies with tons of green and blue in them. Also, I have six female mollies. Five are of mixed origins and one (from the LFS) looks to be authentic p. verifera. Of the other five, one is at least part sphenops as she shows dalmation marks. The remaining four are hybrids as they show differing dorsal ray counts but are from the same lineage. These four have the most amazing neon blue color I've ever seen in fresh water. Since they appear to be most strongly comprised of verifera and latipinnis, is it unlikely I can get muppies out of them? I see you used black mollies. Was this based on genetic wisdom or were they just the fish at hand? Have muppies occured with latipinnis and verifera? Any and all help is fully appreciated. Thanks.

 

[summer_of_41]

Hello! I apologize for responding to your question so late!

I've read some of your comments from another board and am under the impression that you have scrapped your project?

The answer to your first question is 'yes' and 'no.' Since I've only raised black mollies, they were the only mollies to choose from. In addition, my motivation came from online documentation of successful hybridization using black molly. Although I am not familiar with the different scientific classifications of mollies, I do know that the hybridization has been success with dalmatian molly as well.

UPDATE:

My muppies turn 1 year old today. The fish I have kept in a 30 gal. are fully grown and doing quite well. Only 1 has jumped out of the tank and 1 has lost an eye (source of injury unknown). Some are larger in size than others. They range between 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" long. All have the guppy-dominated physical traits, meaning they look more like guppies than the black molly, coloration wise. They have molly tails though. It is interesting because you can actually tell (for most part) which mother gave birth to them, based on their coloration in the tail. There is the one exception where I've the plain colored muppy with random black dots/blotches. Whomever mothered those fry will never be known. The yellow guppy has produced a very interesting looking offspring...

It is a goal of mine to produce a black muppy.

The muppies are for the most part peaceful. When they mate with each other, they have orgies. I've counted upwards to 5 fish at a time, going at it in a circle. Wild stuff. The muppies I had suspected to be female were actually males (late bloomers). There is no female muppy to come out of this project.

I have not attempted to mate them with a female (guppy or molly).

Going back to the issue regarding male molly + female guppy will kill the guppy. This project revealed that this does not happen. The factor that had been inadvertently left out was that the molly I used was relatively small in size compared to some of the mollies at the LFS. Perhaps had I used a larger molly, then maybe some complications would have occurred with the guppies. I had not considered this factor until now.

I will try to post updated photos very soon. My technology in this project sucks...

 

[ConnerFish]

Can you cross platies with guppies? Would you get puppies?! What about mollys and platys? Just curious as found this thread quite interesting and do have a sort of favoritism towards platys.