Guppies.....

[Ludwig Venter]

Only since starting this thread, I realised just how much affection I really have for Guppies..... To me, they've always just been a beginners' fish, but considering the available variety,.... Guppies are actually a classical fish.... I am now really interested in seeing pics!!... Show me yours....

(I'll make a point of it to flash some of mine tomorrow.... (currently 00H30 here in SA, & way past me bedtime)... I work again in the morn at 06h00.....

Sorry three-fingers the first one is a molly not a guppy, still he's a nice colour

Was going to say the same thing, But chances are that it is a Guppy just caught up in bad lighting.....Right 3 fingers

 

[three-fingers]

Sorry three-fingers the first one is a molly not a guppy, still he's a nice colour

Interesting, only once had one male molly, and it died months before these were born.

edit: edited to say one male molly instead of guppy.

I watched these fry come out of my female guppy, and then caught ~20 of them and put them in a fry tank, where they all grew up (had females and males, most were only half black). I saved the two blackest males.

My water is around pH 6.5 and very soft, I never had any luck in the past with mollies either.

It would be cool if they were mollies, and I'd be thrilled to have ones that are thriving so much in my water, but I don't see how they could be.

Was going to say the same thing, But chances are that it is a Guppy just caught up in bad lighting.....Right 3 fingers

The lighting in the pic isnt great, but it is a solid black colour at the back, and very slightly mottled silver at the front.

 

[helterskelter]

do u have pic's of any of the others?
and have u every kept any mollies?

 

[three-fingers]

Afraid no pics of the others (all went the the lfs), I can take more pics of mum, dad (supposed dad anyway) and the two brothers though.

I just went through pics of my tanks an checked the dates they were taken to get a timeline.

I got the male guppy in May 2008 (that pic was taken not long after I got him).

Then I got both the female guppy and male molly in October 2008.

The male molly died (was small and wasted away) by November 2008, and the female guppy have birth to the fry around December 22nd 2008 (I have a picture with that date where I am keeping them in a net in the fry tank, because the platy fry were about big enough to give them trouble, and they could be sucked into the filter).

I never had any other guppies or mollies in the tank before those dates.
A few years before I had tried a few times to keep mollies and guppies alive in a different tank, but failed, and I always put it down to the very soft acidic water.

 

[three-fingers]

Well, I've just spent 10 mins taking some quick pics and comparing them to others on the net before I go out, and these two fish are a complete mystery to me.

I'm sure my female guppy gave birth to these guys, she was the only female guppy in the tank at the time, and the only other livebearer I had were the two makes guppies and some platies. I saw her give birth to them at the time, and remember distinctly removing the fry as teeny tiny little things and putting them in a net the fry tank, and then I watched them all grow up, and saved the two males with the most black in them as I dont like the idea of inbreeding lol, most of them were silver at the front.

But they do look identical to black mollies...I'm embarrassed to admit I never even checked them before.

I'd never even given this a second thought before, having watched them being born and grow up.

The male molly I had was very small and sickly and died before these were born, and weeks before he died he was put in a different tank with tufa rocks, lessening the chance that somehow he was a weird mutated female that actually gave birth to these. He was also yellow.

Whatever has happened here is very odd. How the hell did black mollies get in my tank?

Here's some bad pics I took of one of them, and the mother (with the bent back). I can only see one of the mollies/weird guppies so I only have pics of one.

As a side note, how long should I isolate a female guppy to make sure it doesn't have any sperm left in it?

 

[helterskelter]

Nice photo's i have to say.

He's defo a molly, must of had a female at some point and not realise, thinking it was a guppy

Females of most livebearers carry sperm for up to 6 moths

 

[nosoup4you]

Is it possible that this is a hybrid? I think I might even see a bit of guppy in him.

 

[three-fingers]

Nice photo's i have to say.

He's defo a molly, must of had a female at some point and not realise, thinking it was a guppy

Females of most livebearers carry sperm for up to 6 moths

Thanks .

I only ever had that one yellow male molly and it died, the female guppy is only other guppy/molly I had when these were born. I've not had another molly since, I'm sure I had no molly in the tank at that time.

These were 100% certainly born in my tank...very, very odd.

6 months is a long time. May try it though. I'll keep a couple of females alone in a small tank, then put one of the mysterious black mollies in and see what happens.

I always just thought they were very robust male guppies. They are smaller than their mother (guppy).

But they do look almost identical to black mollies, just smaller, and most of them had guppy-style colouring (silver at the front, black at the back).

 

[love4aquatic]

that Guppies indeed are the most popular fish? ?

what about bettas?

Go on!!!.... You're not serious......(even Angels are more popular than Bettas)!!!!

i cant stand bettas tbh, but i think theyre even

i love bettas!!!!! but am slowly falling in love with guppies again!

 

[love4aquatic]

Well, I've just spent 10 mins taking some quick pics and comparing them to others on the net before I go out, and these two fish are a complete mystery to me.

I'm sure my female guppy gave birth to these guys, she was the only female guppy in the tank at the time, and the only other livebearer I had were the two makes guppies and some platies. I saw her give birth to them at the time, and remember distinctly removing the fry as teeny tiny little things and putting them in a net the fry tank, and then I watched them all grow up, and saved the two males with the most black in them as I dont like the idea of inbreeding lol, most of them were silver at the front.

But they do look identical to black mollies...I'm embarrassed to admit I never even checked them before.

I'd never even given this a second thought before, having watched them being born and grow up.

The male molly I had was very small and sickly and died before these were born, and weeks before he died he was put in a different tank with tufa rocks, lessening the chance that somehow he was a weird mutated female that actually gave birth to these. He was also yellow.

Whatever has happened here is very odd. How the hell did black mollies get in my tank?

Here's some bad pics I took of one of them, and the mother (with the bent back). I can only see one of the mollies/weird guppies so I only have pics of one.

As a side note, how long should I isolate a female guppy to make sure it doesn't have any sperm left in it?

looks like a molly guppy hybrid to me! or a pure beautiful ugly duckling guppy!

this is a guppy/molly hybrid

 

[nosoup4you]

I m plotting the coordinates to your house right now Helter...so I can steal your fish. Better keep your doors locked. lol

 

[three-fingers]

The tail of mine is kinda thicker and more molly like, but the dorsal fin is more guppy-like. They are also smaller than I thought male mollies should be.

I never really thought hybrid (since I had make guppies in the tank that I saw mate with her, and the male molly tried but I'm not sure it happened)...I like the sound of the ugly-duckling hypothesis though, makes more sense to me.

I can accept that they may be mollies, and I'm thrilled to have them (though one seems to have gone missing ) , but I really cant see how they got in my tank, and it would mean the female guppy was giving birth to identical sized and coloured fry at the same time as I too these out the tank .

So I'm still thinking they are odd guppies (and think that's more likely than hybrids).

Is that picture of the hybrid authentic? What sites it from? Interestingly, the colours are the same as my guys (though I chose the two out of about 20 of them that had the most black).

 

[helterskelter]

3-fingers, your fish is 100% molly, i cant see anything that would make me think it's a cross what so ever.
It's possible for then to cross but it's difficualt, as the females can reject sperm packets from males fir males of their preference or species.

I m plotting the coordinates to your house right now Helter...so I can steal your fish. Better keep your doors locked. lol

Your more than welcome to try!!!!

 

[three-fingers]

3-fingers, your fish is 100% molly, i cant see anything that would make me think it's a cross what so ever.
It's possible for then to cross but it's difficualt, as the females can reject sperm packets from males fir males of their preference or species.

Yeah I know, which is why I don't think they are hybrids.

I can see they look nearly identical to black mollie pics on the web, and if I was IDing them from pics on the web, I would say the same thing. So I agree with you, but this has left me confused as hell as to how they are in my tank, unless they are something else.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

3-fingers, your fish is 100% molly, i cant see anything that would make me think it's a cross what so ever.
It's possible for then to cross but it's difficualt, as the females can reject sperm packets from males fir males of their preference or species.

Yeah I know, which is why I don't think they are hybrids.

I can see they look nearly identical to black mollie pics on the web, and if I was IDing them from pics on the web, I would say the same thing. So I agree with you, but this has left me confused as hell as to how they are in my tank, unless they are something else.

Right!!!... If I could have my thread back please...... ..... Just realised that you need quite a lot of tanks to do this..... (line breeding stuff)....

Now, I have to separate the "new blood" Fluorescent blue & blond red fry again, & then another tank for the Fluorescent blue & blond red fry breeding with the original batch of females..... and then again, 2 additional tanks for the Fluorescent blue throwbacks and another for the Blond red throwbacks.....

Geez!!.... Whatever comes out of that last batch,..... I insist that it is called "Guppie Ludwigia"!!!