Breeding guppies is
a very interesting adventure.
The first step is to set up an aquarium
with live plants and aquatic critters.
I prepared 2 aquariums, weeks in
advance, as shown in previous video
(check links in the description).
The next step is to get guppies.
It's better to get young guppies,
preferably newborn.
Ask for them from someone
who breeds guppies
People like to share.
It's important to know
the ages of fish for breeding.
Immature fish is the best
for a clean slate!
Transfer your fish to the aquarium
you prepared for them.
Pet stores sell adult fish.
Later in this video, you will see
how I start with adult guppies.
Here I have 5 day-old guppies,
born on March 23rd, 2018
All newborn guppies look like females.
June 13th, 2018
This one is a male.
Usually male guppies mature first.
Check my previous video
on guppy gender.
I transfer young males into
a separate aquarium as soon
as I can identify their gender.
It is necessary to separate all males
from females until a desirable
male (for breeding) is chosen.
Be aware that prolonged seclusion
of a single guppy is
harmful for the guppy.
June 15th, 2018
I identified and transferred
another male.
Here are the 2 males.
They spend most of the time
looking at young females.
Label aquariums indicating fish
birthday, generation, gender, etc.
Female guppies will mature
in the following months.
Here you can see both males
on July 11th, 2018
Variations in color, size, shape
and so on, can be passed on
through selective breeding
leading to a new strain.
I breed a dwarf size strain.
Therefore, I select
the smallest fish for breeding.
I put each male with 1-3 females.
Each male with females
gets a separate tank.
This large male is with 2 large females.
The small male is with 3 small females.
I don't know yet whether
the fish are fertile or not.
A higher number of females per male
increases the chances
of successful breeding.
Also, males can be infertile too.
Guppies are very adaptive fish.
And yet, guppies, like all other known
living organisms, breed only under
appropriate breeding conditions.
Check links in the description
about feeding and other parts of
aquarium fish care routines.
Guppies love homemade fish food.
My guppies breed
at a water temperature of 72-76 F.
Guppy males work very hard to get
the attention of females,
constantly chasing after them and
sporting tails at every occasion,
performing mating dance.
Guppy females are most attracted
to males with predominantly
orange or red tails.
Each male carries a rainbow of colors
in different amounts
(some can be seen only
through a magnifying glass).
August 19th, 2018
This female appears to be pregnant.
The pregnancy period is
about 1 month long.
It's time to set up
an aquarium for newborn guppies.
August 26th, 2018
2 newborn guppies are
hiding between plants.
Adult guppies may eat sick
or slowly moving fry.
I use a pipette to transfer newborn fry
into a new nursery.
1 or 2 babies in the first drop is
common for my strain of guppies.
Each following birth yields more babies
until it reach the highest number
for this stain.
Then the number of newborns
per drop declines.
Label the new aquarium.
The average lifespan of guppies is
2-5 years, and they are fertile
only for the first couple years.
Larger size fish tend to live longer
and yield more babies in each drop.
Guppies give birth every month or so.
Sooner or later it becomes
impossible to keep all of them.
I keep only fish
chosen for further breeding.
The rest of the fish has to be culled.
I prefer to give them away.
As in this example, I give away
a male and 3 females
(without babies yet) on September 10th
to one of my YouTube friends.
Here they go.
Now I can transfer the young fry
into the vacant aquarium,
where they are going to grow
to full maturity.
In this way, I manage to grow one
breeding line in just 3 aquariums.
Also, as you may notice,
I use small size aquariums
suitable only for small size fish.
I don't use man-made filters,
air pumps, or water heaters.
And I don't change water.
It's all explained in different videos
(links in the description).
One of the females from the parenting
aquarium can be moved now
to make more room in this small
aquarium for the breeding couple.
In this example, I move the female
to a larger aquarium where I keep
a different breeding line - mix 2.
At this point I have 5 breeding lines ;)
All my breeding lines originated
from one parenting couple.
Males of this line have
hot red tails and a thicker body.
Fish grow their entire lives.
I move my fish to larger
aquariums as necessary.
Guppies do not breed in aquariums
with the narrowest side less than
3 length of the fish size, as I explained
it in one of my previous videos.
Here I move the parents into
my oldest 1.6 liter aquarium,
that was vacant for a while.
I keep the smaller parenting aquarium
ready for the next newborns.
November 9th, 2018
Here you can see a newborn baby.
The baby seems to be healthy
and moving fast.
I can keep it with its parents.
Though, I prefer to move newborns
to a vacant nursery.
Also, there could be more than one
fry hiding somewhere.
Sometimes I find newborns
a couple days apart.
Here are a couple months old fry.
The larger one is most likely a male.
Males grow faster in the first months.
Okey. Let's move the newborn
into a vacant nursery.
Also, I add some seed shrimp from
the parenting aquarium to both nurseries.
Guppy fry eat seed shrimp.
Here the baby comes.
November 13th, 2018
I transfer the newborn to
the aquarium with older siblings.
Guppies feel better kept in schools.
Here you can see all 3 young.
December 20th, 2018
Here you can see the youngest fry
next to the older male sibling.
January 4th, 2019
The parenting couple has 2 newborns.
You can see them in the back.
I move newborns into
the vacant nursery.
As guppies grow, I will have to choose
which to keep for breeding.
And so it goes.
Breeding guppies with desirable traits
takes many generations of fish.
Often making it a lifetime hobby.
Have fun and happy hobby :)