Is Inbreeding Bad For Guppies?

[Jammyjames59]

hi i have some guppies,
all of them are related (brother & sister) (mother & son) (cousin & cousin)
i have had lots of fry being born deformed but the majority are ok...
- should i inbreed?
- otherwise where shalli get some guppies that won't bring disease into my aquaruim!!

 

[rdp50734]

inbreeding fish is bad it weakens their immune systems cause deformities esp in the spine and can lead to early death try introducing some fresh bloodlines to keep fry/new fish healthy

 

[Duck and Dive]

It isn't too bad in the first and second generations. But when they have been inbred for more than 3 generations it can be problamatic as deformities will occur.

 

[tropic_john]

It isn't too bad in the first and second generations. But when they have been inbred for more than 3 generations it can be problamatic as deformities will occur.

Agreed ^^^

 

[helterskelter]

With good breeding this is not a problem.

We have been working with one line of endlers that was the first collection by Dr John Endler in 1975 this line has had on introduction's only the best of the best have breed and they have been well cared for and their are still no deformities other then the usual expected.

The problem is when poor fish are used for breeding, and a more common problem is when people feed the fish incorrectly and get problem of deformities in adult fish as a resualt.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Have to agree with Helter here..... My current community originated from max 2 males and 5 or 7 females...... today, I have many, many thousands extremely good quality and very hardy guppies (confirmed by anyone who gets stock from me)....

How many generations can one get with a community after about 10 to 12 years.... all stemming from the original stock....... (same with my Platies and Mollies).....

It is only recently.... about 6 or 7 months ago that I introduced new blood.... mainly to add a new colour strain to the batch......

 

[fish48]

With good breeding this is not a problem.

The problem is when poor fish are used for breeding, and a more common problem is when people feed the fish incorrectly and get problem of deformities in adult fish as a resualt.

View attachment 57204
i agree with Helter and Ludwig venter
i have Kept ilyodon xantusi for more than 10 years with out any problem.

 

[mattbond]

most guppies in shops are now really inbred for colour anyway, id personally reccomend injecting some new bloods in every now and then

 

[BlueGuppy]

It is very good to introduce new colors. I started with 1 male and 2 females. Pick out my favorite from the lines and breed them to a new female each (from a breeder). I love the diffrent colors that come out. Also I still get the father's color again every once in awhile.
I also noticed that the males are broader and healthier than the first batch I had. Like Ringo looks bigger, brighter, and healthier than his father Cobra.

Though it is fine to inbreed like every now then. Also I do agree with Helter

 

[fish48]

Guppies can be inbreed for many years with no problem

 

[OldMan47]

Inbreeding is a travesty when you do it with people because you cannot practice genetic hygiene and cull the defectives. Ask the royalty in the UK what happens when a small population is allowed to breed and nobody removes the defectives. On the other hand, there is almost no faster way to cleanse a gene pool than to allow and even prefer inbreeding and then remove the defective genes as soon as they show themselves in a phenotype. By doing that you constantly improve the genetic pool albeit artificially. Most breeders embarking on intentional line breeding will start with at least 2 populations of their fish and allow them to inbreed constantly. Once in a while they will recombine these closely related lines before again separating them. It provides insurance against having a line get completely damaged by reinforcing a problem before it gets noticed and it remixes the gene pool once in a while although it is really only mixing in genes that started out in brothers and sisters generations before.
Unfortunately, farming fish on a large commercial scale does not allow the degree of genetic care that a line breeder might take with his fish. That means that the initial breeders on your fish farm need to be carefully selected from available stocks and need refreshing once in a while to prevent problems from running amok in the large ponds. We hobbyists rarely have the potential for a fish farmers problems and we all pay more attention to each individual fish than a very large commercial breeder ever could. What that means to us is that we can safely carry out line breeding attempts with little risk of defectives going undetected for long.

 

[Platygirl11]

Well said Oldman47. Make sure your fish are not deformed, and also introduce new DNA every once in a while.