Hi,

Just thought I'd start a thread on this topic. I've been thinking of getting myself a few guppies soon and have heard that it's very easy to breed. But then again, I have no experience in any of this. As such any suggestions and/or comments are mostly welcomed!

They're easy to breed alright, but u must breed true strains or you'll get a whole lot of crap coming out....

True strains meaning the male and female would have to be of the same strain and all the fish you keep in the tank should be of the same colour. Trying to be 'creative' will only end up undoing years of line breeding for a particular colour and u'll end up with fish that will be all sorts and not saleable.

It's hard to find any true strains in shops simply because they mix the male and females together and many of the females are already pregnant and can store sperm for a long time.

If it's just for the spectacle of breeding lifebearers, yes they are among the easiest fish to breed. Swordtails, platties and mollies are also easy.

Good luck

If I keep them to the same strain won't that cause too much of inbreeding. Won't that be a problem in itself???

U may get into trouble 6-7generations down the line with inbreeding, but essentially it is line breeding that pure strains are after. It's like you would breed a dalmation dog with another dalmation dog to get a dalmation puppies. U would not cross a dalmation with a duschund for instance and if you keep crossing eventually u'll end up with mutts on the street....

A lot of work has been put to create pure strains of guppies... just like pure breed of dogs.

I see, things are much clearer now with your dog example. :P Anyway, have you had any experience in breeding this livebearer??? Do you keep any guppies currently???

No, I don't keep guppies for line breeding at the moment. Takes too much tank space and not very good returns..... I breed pure bred Malawi cichlids (here in Sydney), keep discus and planted tanks. Have a 45ton Koi pond and a 10ton goldfish pond at my parents place in KL as well.

Hmm.......you are right! Really do take up too many tanks and space. But I'm thinking of starting with guppies as it is easier to breed...then perhaps down the line I'll try other more challenging fish.

Btw, just out of curiosity...anyone has bred neon tetras???

How's your experience with the cichlid? Any useful experience to share???

How can anyone tell if a guppy is about to make a drop??? any particular behaviour to look for? cos i got 3 female guppies and they really look as if they're gonna explode soon....but then again, they've looked like that for a few weeks already....and still no baby guppies.......

They drop the fry when they drop the fry. Usually I think there's a set gestation period (can't remember), but then again, u never know when the babies were 'made'.

U'll know after the deed is done. The belly will shrink.

How can anyone tell if a guppy is about to make a drop???

u wil c the guppy stay away from the male and some wil submerse in the bottom tank or their movement quite slow seemed like carrying heavily while swiming.