For you Guppy Experts

dbosman,

I'm glad to hear what you had to say. I currently have (108) babies in a rearing tank free from any adults. They seem to be growing at a fast rate and all are healthy. I removed three (same birth clutch) FM babies after one month due to their size. To my astonishment, I found them to be pregnant. I wondered if maybe I was wrong, but after hearing what you had to say about virgins, I know for certain they are truly pregnant. Unbelievable, that they can get pregnant so fast.
Now that you have confirmed that for me, I am watching the main batches of babies very closely. They are from (6 to 11) days old now. After reading your response, I've readied another small tank to divide the oldest FM babies into. That must be the only way to be certain they are truly virgin FM's.
As for my older guppies, I knew that these first batches of babies probably belonged to some unkown males. Right or wrong, just a few hours after the females gave birth last week, I divided them into small breeding units, according to size and color. Two males to five females for three days. Do you possibly think their upcoming babies would still belong to other males than the ones I bred them to? Would "new" sperm be more potent than "old" sperm, or does it make any difference? In other words, would the new sperm coming in now from my males supercede the old sperm from other unkown males, causing the next babies to be my breedings? That may be a hard question to answer...........
Anyway, thanks for the info. I definitely have a new way to strategize my breeding plans.

dchild
www.riverbarktreasures.com
 
For your virgin female tank, select out only those females that there is no question about. If there is any question in your mind, leave that one out of your program. There have been studies that show newer sperm to be used before stored sperm, but you won't know the results for a couple of months and you'll still need to cross back to the male with the trait you're looking for. Guppy breeding is faster to show results than many other fish, but it still takes time, a good eye, and patience.

There are hundreds of sites and forums dedicated to guppies. Join the national / international groups and use them as a starting place for research.
Good luck.
 
I've joined several organizations already and belong to several forums devoted to guppies. I'm learning more and more every day.

Also, it appears my guppies will have to age a little more before being able to sex them. The oldest females (about one month) can be identified by the black gravid spot on their abdomen, but other than that they all appear to be females at this stage. I've read some interesting bulletins from guppy.com stating guppies are not sexually mature until three months and the male gono does not develop for a few weeks after birth. A guppy breeder suggested that at one month about the only way to tell male from female will be by seeing the gravid spot on the abdomen.

Today, I sectioned out all those that I know are female into another tank, while I''m sure they are still virgin. Certain of these will be used in my breeding plan. I will wait and see when the males begin to develop their gono's. I have plenty of time to set my breeding project in motion.

dchild
www.riverbarktreasures.com
 
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