Guppy With Heart Shaped Tail

[DyArianna]

I will keep you in mind as well Creature!  Mind you I have never bred with intention before.. and I've already changed my mind on how I'm going to do it.  lol  We are getting ready for another LFS drop (positively not Mikey's fry).  So that puts us another drop closer!    I had mentioned that I was perplexed at a mollie baby being mixed in.  But upon closer inspection of this fry... it appears to be just a really light colored (possibly pink) guppy.  Atleast the dorsal fin is shaped exactly the same as the guppies and not a molly baby's.  So we'll see on that one.  I would still like to know if it's possible for Mikey to over-ride fertilization or if I should expect to wait a few months.  But will keep all updated as we go. 

 

[wbzorker]

Hi,
I too have a male guppy with this pretty tail.  He is a half-black AOC Leopard, or at least his parents are and his color is consistent.  Bred in my own tanks, so I know it's not fin damage.  What's really interesting is that the dip in his"heart" appears to be the same size and shape as yours.

He is still young but his tail color looks like the same light blue with black spots as his parents.
 
I have 12 tanks going right now and am trying to figure out how I can fit a new breeding project into my home.  I'm not sure I can, but in the meantime he is housed with 3 ladies.  Any of the 3 could be his mother.  I'll have something figured out by the time the first lady drops (I hope).
 
Seeing your guppy is very exciting!   If we both breed them, we will have an unrelated outcross line to tap into.

 
I'm never on forums, so I may not see a reply here for awhile, but I will check and feel free to e-mail me if you like.
 
 
Wendy  : - )
 

 

[ReiRei]

I want one. Thats all I'm saying here.
D:
 
They're so unique and pretty!

 

[DyArianna]

wbzorker - That is really awesome! Now I want to try even harder to make this work! Rei Rei - keeping you in mind too!!
The first fry I thought was a Molly is definitely a guppy....pink to boot. Appears female but so hard to tell. She is growing grandly and is enjoying general population in the tank. We had another drop of which I only found 2. Again, one is pink. The other is darker than normal so I will groww these two out as well. Ii have some females from prior drops that will be old enough to enter the game so to speak within the next couple of weeks. So the next coupe of monlthe should be interesrting! .

 

[wbzorker]

DyArianna, It's wonderful that we can do this togther.

   I'll have to come up with a name for my male.  He and his females don't seem too concerned about speeding things up.  I have no idea how old he is, so I may be asking for more than he is ...ahem... capable of.  Still, I'll keep them together for a month.  If they aren't preggers by then, I'll stick him with some younger females to see what will happen.
 
Dare we hope for a pink guppy with a heart shaped tail?
 
I'll post as things progress. 

 
Wendy : - )

 

[Ny82]

I just read this post and that guppy in the video is stunning DyArianna! When you come to visit Scotland you should bring some with you

 

[DyArianna]

Thanks Ny!  I would love to visit Scotland someday!  Definitely on my bucket list. 
 
Quick update, although not too much to update.  I dare not even say this as I feel I will jinx myself but I think I might have another heart shaped tail in the making!  I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed!  He is from the same mum but was her last drop before she passed.  It really makes me wonder if her larger than normal sized tail may play some part in this heart shaped business.  Her tail was very oblong and much larger than my other females.  My other juvenile females are all proudly in *the game* so I guess they are not juvenile anymore.  lol  So at this point, I am not strictly selectively breeding but the few males in the tank are possibly related.  So I'm hoping that they may still carry the gene and who knows.  Still trying to figure this all out.  Will update when I have anything more. 
 
Also, I'm pretty sure this should be considered a journal instead of just a topic in the other section.  But don't know if it is possible to move it?  Does it matter?  If it does.. and can be moved...  please do so?  Thanks!

 

[HAMBONE]

Hello everybody.. Went to the LFS on thursday and picked up a cobra endler with a heart shaped tail.. I put him in my guppy breeding tank i dubbed The Sex Farm..

Named that tank after a Spinal Tap song from 1981 called Sex Farm Woman..

FYI, Spinal Tap was one of the greatest bands ever to come from The UK..

 

[DyArianna]

Hey Hambone! Would love to see some pics if you had the time! Sounds like a very cooll find!

My second hopeful heart tail is still iffy. The bottom half of his tail almost seems a bit larger. So not so symmetrical. Also, different coloring in bottom half. Still waiting that one out. Have not had any more luck with drops. Some sort of lull going on. Guess we will just sit back and wait!

 

[HAMBONE]

Hey Hambone! Would love to see some pics if you had the time! Sounds like a very cooll find!

My second hopeful heart tail is still iffy. The bottom half of his tail almost seems a bit larger. So not so symmetrical. Also, different coloring in bottom half. Still waiting that one out. Have not had any more luck with drops. Some sort of lull going on. Guess we will just sit back and wait!

Hi DyArianna...
 
 
Axe and you shall receive.. This is aboot as good as a pic that I can get.. You know how fast these lil boogers are..
 
 

 

[wbzorker]

Hambone, that fish looks awesome!  Lovely color and shape. : - )
 
DyArianna, cool you've got another potential.  My guy is not as pretty as he was.  The lower lobe has grown slightly larger than the other so it's shaped more like a butterfly than a heart.  He is still growing though, so we'll see how it all turns out.  His tail color has changed some too.  I thought that it was a pale blue with lots of dark spots, but now the background almost looks clear. 
 
No preggies on this end either.  I'm sorting some "virgins" tomorrow.  At least I hope they are still virgins.  lol  Some will go to this fellow.

 

[DyArianna]

Hambone, very cool looking fish!    Interesting that his coloring and my guppy's coloring are very similar in that the background of the tail is yellow with dark/black spots. 
 
Wbzorker....Oddly enough, I am experiencing the exact same thing with "Mikey"!  His tail also show signs of the lower lobe a bit larger AND his coloring in his tail is changing exactly as yours!  Hmmmmm.....   I think this is great that we get to share/compare and hopefully progress with this.    My eyes play tricks on me with the second hopeful.  One time I will look and be like, YES!  Definite Heart shape!  Then go back a couple hours later and be...  Nehhhh... not so much. 
 
I have another guppy gal ready to explode!  Just not sure if the batch she's getting ready to drop is "home grown" or LFS still.  The waiting game continues. 

 

[DyArianna]

I put my female ready to drop in a breeding box as she was getting harrassed and a few hours later she had dropped 5. Headed to work all excited only to come home and find she ate all but 2! I have 1 more pink one (now 3) and another regular fry. I did not have the V trap in it but thought I had plenty of floating cover. Guess not! Arggh! Anyway, with 1 pink fry in the drop I am pretty confident it was not a Mikey drop. Still in the waiting game. I did remove 2 males as the male to female ratio was getting too much and quite honestly was poisoning my selective breeding goal. Perhaps the gals won't feel as stressed and we will have some really good drops soon.

I really am not that good at the whole culling aspect of breeding. I am hoping to get better or at the least for it to get easier. My goal is to not have any other males in the tank except for Mikey and this other one who shows possibility with his tail. How do you guys handle culling?

 

[wbzorker]

Congrats on pink guppies!!!  I've heard they can be harder to breed.
 
Culling is a personal decision that can cause flaming on forums, but I'm pretty sure I'm flame proof in this area so here goes:
 
Currently, I do the following -Small fry are fed to my loach and tetra tanks.  Somewhat bigger are fed to the Angelfish tank.  Almost adult are fed to my African Rift Lake cichlids.  Adults are placed in Ziploc bags of tank water and put in the freezer, where I choose to believe they go to sleep as they freeze.
 
I'm a critter person, with 3 German Shepherds and 3 cats as well as the many fish tanks.  I feel completely different about my mammals than with the fish.  Not at first of course, but eventually the fact that I eat fish made a big difference to me. 
 
You just need to find your own comfort level.
 
Wendy

 

[DyArianna]

Thanks for the honesty Wendy! I too had a hard time with it at first and I have a few people who are willing to take some but this will not last long. And quite frankly, those who leave the fry in the tank to completely fend for themselves are also culling. Just not doing it directly.

I am at the phase where I am willing to do it when I see an issue in my goal but yet the ones who are not yet showing their true colors/shapes ....I can't do yet. Just not sure how to determine if they are a good keeping stock at such a young age.

My Pinkies are all at different stages. My oldest is definitely a girl and about 2 months I think now. I have one just over a 1 month and still uncertain of gender and then this last pipsqueak about a week now. We will have to see how these guys do. If they are difficult to breed I may have another project! lol But I have enough on my plate right now. I will hopefully get this going.