Hmmm... planning on getting a new female guppy.

[aquagirl]

I want to know what color I should get. I have a clear one with a red and black spotted tail and a grey-blue one with a clear and black spotted tail. The male is yellow. What would look good with the rest that would be easy to find at a local store? A black one?

 

[aquagirl]

If asking what color seems a dumb question to ask... oh well.

 

[Annastasia]

If you want to improve the Guppy hardiness, get the dullest female you can find. The duller the female, the less inbred and weak it will be. This will give it a longer lifespan, and help the fry be a little less inbred. This will be better for them overall, and also for their fry, if they are not bred within the family. I know a few people on here, including myself, are breeding to get the Guppy closer to it's original state.

If you don't want to do that...I don't know what color. Maybe blue?

 

[aquagirl]

Yeah I already have light colored, and my other guppies are not breeding anymore at all. (Can anyone tell me why?) So I think I'll look for blue.

 

[Annastasia]

Not light colored. Dull. We are talking brown, maybe gray.

They may not be breeding anymore because the females are pregnant?

 

[aquagirl]

They are so not pregnant. They are really skinny (not starved though ) And the male doesn't seem interested in either of them. Oh. Dull. Well yeah... I have that as well. Grey-ish.

 

[Annastasia]

Do they have a disease then? Any signs or symptoms? Sounds internal though.... What are the water params?

It's really quite odd for Guppies not to be breeding...I'd be a little worried. Unless the male just doesn't find the females interesting anymore...but since they have such high sex drives...it just seems a little odd.

 

[3fsh]

Get some "feeder" type females to breed with the males. They are extremely hardy and they have lots of personality! (I crossed "feeder" females with a fancy yellow male and I have the most gorgeous fry. )

Sounds like your guppies have an internal problem going on if they aren't nice and fat. What are your water parameters and tank specs?

 

[Annastasia]

Get some "feeder" type females to breed with the males. They are extremely hardy and they have lots of personality! (I crossed "feeder" females with a fancy yellow male and I have the most gorgeous fry. )

Just be careful with Feeder Guppies. They are usually crammed into tanks, and can get diseases quite easily when they are in there. Make sure to quarantine them, to make sure they do not spread a disease, if they have one, into your tank.

And the reason they are hardy, is because they are not inbred much. You don't need Fancy colored Guppies to feed to your fish. Don't inbreed these fish too much, as they are probably one of the hardier Guppies out there, and we need more of those in the World. However, some breeding will be fine. In fact, it will probably be good for them to toughen up the very inbred strains a little.

 

[3fsh]

You don't need Fancy colored Guppies to feed to your fish

I bought the feeder guppies as pets... not as food. I just decided to cross them with the fancy male to produce a hardier strain of beautiful guppies. It worked well, but I would have to breed the feeder/fancy crosses to some fancies in order to bring back their "fancy" looks.

And yes... it is definitely a good idea to quarantine feeder guppies for at least a week before introducing them to a tank. The pet stores treat them so terribly it makes me sick.

 

[Annastasia]

You don't need Fancy colored Guppies to feed to your fish

I bought the feeder guppies as pets... not as food. I just decided to cross them with the fancy male to produce a hardier strain of beautiful guppies. It worked well, but I would have to breed the feeder/fancy crosses to some fancies in order to bring back their "fancy" looks.

And yes... it is definitely a good idea to quarantine feeder guppies for at least a week before introducing them to a tank. The pet stores treat them so terribly it makes me sick.

Yeah, I know you bought them as pets, not food. I figured that, but I just threw that sentence in because it is late, and I'm tired, and a little nuts.

It's great you are bringing more hardiness into Guppies. I very much respect you for that. I know Toxis and I are trying to do the same thing, and I'm sure a few other people on here are too. (Maybe). Anyhoo, I personally find the "wilder" looking types prettier anyway. They look more natural, and they have a simple kind of beauty.

Anyhoo, I'll try to get back on topic.

 

[paige]

BLUE a darky blue i'v got a female guppy cauld Dory and her fry are very strong and i meen once when Dory was pregnant and she jumped out of the tank she must of been out for at least 1 hour luckly i found her (even though i nearly sat on her ) i put her into a small 5 gallon on her own (she had nearlly no tail left ) she had all carpet fluff stuck to her aswell, some of her scales had came off it wasnt looking very good but within a week she was back to her normal self bit of a short tale but it never seemed to bother her so i put her back into my big tank (her home ) and a couple of days later she gave birth to some fry well i only cought 1 but she was the strongest beutifulest fry you could ever have she's in the big tank with her mother now and she's a spitting image of her

so maybe a blue female guppy

 

[aquagirl]

Mmm... no no one is sick or acting in that way, and the water is just about perfect. I don't know what to do, you guys!

 

[Annastasia]

Acting in what way?

Skinnyness is a sign of internal parasites. Since you say they are not starved, they should not be skinny. They should be plump little guys and gals. Have they always been skinny, or is this more recent?

 

[aquagirl]

Recent development.
What can I do if they have parasites?
eh... I'm eleven you might want to explain what EXACTLY a parasite is and does in a language that the average say 14 year old can understand at maximum.