*** Entries are read from the Bottom Up ***
LAST UPDATE: December 29, 2012 - 03:00pm. (One year later)
Guppies are now one year old. There has been many more drops from "daughter" females. Inbreeding faded colors and shapes. "Plain" fry is now adult (Fig. 9) and the more 'aggressive' specimen. Females have proved more difficult to keep as they are constantly harassed by the males as soon as they reach sexual maturity. Below are shown some of the adults.
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| Fig. 9.: This guppy started off without any color or pattern. It was a dull green. It developed a "Snake" or "Cobra" pattern. It's tail fin is shorter. |
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| Fig 10.: Young female from the latest drop. (See Recommissioning Hospital Tank entry.) |
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Tank: 10 gallon freshwater, planted (with lots of hair algae which proved to be more of a blessing than a curse.)
Population:
Yellow Female 1 - deceased
Leopard Male 1
Sunburst Male 1 - deceased
(2 adult Male Fancy Guppy mutts and 1 adult Yellow female.)
1 Threadfin Rainbowfish (most passive fish in town) and one Golden Pencilfish.
Parameters:
pH stable at about 7.8. (not ideal, but stable)
Temperature: Stable at 27-28 Celsius.
Nh4: Nil
Nitrite: Nil
Nitrate: 0 ≦ 5 ppm. (closer to zero thanks to the plants )
Drop 1: Day 1: November 19, 2011 - Total discovered : 2 : Female: Yellow Female 1 + Male: unknown (LFS male)
Drop 2: Day 1: December 10, 2011 - Total discovered: 7 total recovered 5 : Female: Yellow Female 1 + Male (unknown)
Drop 3: Day 1: January 7, 2012 - Total discovered: 9. total recovered 9: Yellow female 1 + Male (probably Leopard Tuxedo)
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UPDATE: April 28, 2012 - 07:45pm:
Many months later, I cant really tell which individual came from which drop.
My most prized specimen are now twin young males which developed fiery red and yellow tails, sons of the "Sunburst" male (deceased) and a yellow female. They have half black bodies and a shimmering golden collar. The pictures below do not begin to do them justice. I am now seeking suitable mates for them. Some young males, at least 2 others, are still developing their adult coloration. They have been fed Hikari specialty food for fancy guppy fry and results have been extremely satisfying.
One female seemingly the daughter of the "Leopard" male has had one drop of about 3 small fry. They were culled as to avoid weakening the gene pool with second and third generation inbreeding.
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Fig. 7: Young adult male "Sunburst/Yellow" cross (left). Young adult female "Leopard/Yellow" cross (right foreground) |
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January 14, 2012 - 02:30pm: Drop 3: Day 8. Growing steadily. They seem to be growing at a faster rate than the previous drops. I can only count 6 at the time now. 3 could be missing. Some specimen already show a dark area on the caudal peduncle and some, at least 1, could have a half dark pattern already. They seem more "confident" than the previous drops at the same age. Perhaps due to the presence of numerous other small fish and complete lack of interest from the adults.
Drop 2 : (35 days) : Head count is still 5. Sizes vary. All have various hues of yellow. Some have a more streamline, elongated body and some have bulkier bellies, but it could be from feeding.
Drop 1: (1 month and 26 days): "Plain" female is missing. No probable COD and no body found. Second specimen is about 2 cm in length. Behavior is normal. No significant change. Whole body yellow greenish color with a lighter belly. Could have "Sunburst" spot pattern on caudal fin: black spots on brighter yellow. (Reds can take longer to come out.).
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January 7, 2012 - 11:00am: Drop 3!: Day 1. (28 days after previous drop) (Discovered (so far) 9 tiny fry swimming at the top of the 30 gal tank. Some have a small round yoke sack. The fry avoided predation by hiding amongst the thick cover of floating duckweed. Recovered them and transferred them to the 10 gallon tank with the other guppies from fry 1 and 2 as well as the adult males. There appears to be no transfer shock. Yellow generating female appears thinner and "squared".
Drop 2 : (28 days) Growing steadily. Colors developing. Yellows are brighter and some specimen show distinctive half-black "tuxedo" patterns. Average size 1.5cm or more.
**Note: a couple of days ago, one fry went missing and was found alive in the filter. He was rescued and put back into the tank. It is important to keep the filter safety net as long as the fry are under 2 cm long.
Drop 1: (50 days: 1 month and 19 days): Both fry healthy. No considerable change. Size approx. 2 cm. The "Plain" specimen has a large, round fan. I cannot sex them for sure as of yet due to lack of experience.
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December 31, 2011 - 02:00pm: Drop 1: 43 days after discovery: Still not at adult size. Both specimen might be female? Still no sign of elongated fins or gonopodium. I am unsure at which stage of development those traits usually appear. Fish are healthy. No significant change.
Drop 2 : 22 days: All fry healthy and growing steadily. 2 specimen display very interesting yellow color and patterns. Some appear to be growing a bit slower, mainly the ones with a half black pattern. Males might grow at a slower rate? Or they might not grow as large. No visible sexual dimorphism as of yet.
Also noting that the previous drops were 22 days apart last time. Yellow generating female appears enlarged again. She will be housed separately in a 2.5 gallon tank in order to keep this drop. She should no longer be pregnant after this since she will no longer be in contact with males. She will continue to be housed in the community tank away from male guppies for another 20 days to make sure.
December 23, 2011 - 04:00pm: Drop 1: 35 days after discovery:Specimen are now about half the size of the adults, but with no distinctive sexual dimorphism as of yet. "Plain" specimen displays very faint yellow hue, but no color pattern. "Yellow and black" specimen started displaying distinct black spot pattern on caudal fin. Caudal fin also displays brighter yellow color. Body is yellow. Both are active and behaving normally. Drop 2 : 14 days. (2 smallest fry without any specific color or pattern were transferred to the 30 gallon tank after about 5 days.)
5 remaining specimen vary in size and color pattern. They are on average 1 cm long.
Most fry display a dark area on the base of the caudal fin and black spots on the dorsal fin, and various degrees of yellow color. One specimen seems to be displaying darker "half black" pattern and some shine on the tip of the pectoral fins.
One specimen displays an interesting brighter yellow pattern on the caudal fin and a stronger yellow hue on the body. All fry behaving normally.
I have tried to get pictures, but this prove more difficult than anticipated.
Fig. 3: Picture quality is terrible, but dark half of the body can be seen. 14 day-old fry from drop 2.
Fig. 4: Yellow specimen from drop 1 with spots on caudal fin.
Fig. 5: Same individual from drop 1, 35 days old, seen with Pencilfish.
Fig. 6: Plain specimen from drop 1, 35 days old. No color or pattern seen.
December 17, 2011 - 05:00pm: Drop 1: They might both be female, I'm still unsure, mainly due to my lack of experience with breeding Fancy Guppies. They are about 2 centimeters by now and pretty much behaving like the adults, minus the sexual behavior. One is pretty much colorless and resembles a wild type, and the second one, the one which started with a black spot is now yellowish with some black areas around the fins and caudal fin.
Drop 2 : The yellow female was being harassed way too much by the 2 adult males. Also, the male with the most aggressive breeding behavior is not the one with the best color pattern. I have transferred the female to the 30 gallon community tank for the moment. She is being ignored by the local residents. I'm hoping this will also take care of eliminating her next drop and serve to control my guppy population until I can set up a segregation tank for the females and regain control of the breading.
December 12, 2011 - 07:00pm: Drop 1: 2 mid sized fish behaving pretty much as the adults. No further significant change as of yet. At my experience level, I cannot sex them definitely as of yet.
Drop 2 :Final head count is 5.(Considering the speed with which the fish reproduce with only one female present and for the unique purpose of finding out whether I would be able to deal with population control in the future, were I to acquire more female Guppy specimens, I transferred one of the fry into the 30 gallon tank where a fully grown Apistogramma Cacatuoides male is housed. There will be no overpopulation issues foreseeable in the future.)
Unless I'm very much mistaking, it seems at least one of the fry shows a "half black/tuxedo" coloration or pattern, but it is still very early to really tell. At least one specimen might show a faint yellow coloration on the body, which is to be expected considering the generating female.
December 10, 2011 - 03:30pm: Drop 2 : All fry still accounted for, total confirmed head count as of now: 5. Newly dropped fry do not seem to be in danger of being eaten by any of the adult fish. They are pretty much ignored by all inhabitants. Feeding frozen brine shrimp eggs every few hours. I think the plan for now is to let them grow large enough to sex and see color patterns, then exchange at the LFS. Possibility of upgrading the tank to a 20 gal and keeping this one for the females.. TBD.
December 10, 2011 - 09:30am: Drop 2 : Second drop! : Day 1.: The female lost her belly and the gravid spot is less large and lighter. So far, 2 fry were discovered swimming at the top of the tank, amidst the Duckweed roots or in the hair algae at the bottom. Size is less than a centimeter. I think I saw one get eaten by one of the adults as well. The lights are still off at this time, so no other fry have been seen as of yet.
Drop1: Day: 22 after discovery: The one I thought could be male actually is starting to develop a dark spot where the gravid spot should be... Both are starting to show faint yellow shade on the body.
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December 04, 2011 - 12:00pm:Drop 1: Day 16 after discovery: No major change in young fish besides their size. They are a little over a centimeter long now. No apparent color pattern on the one I believe to be female. Same black pattern on the one I believe to be male and maybe some traces of faint yellow on the tail. (The mother is bright yellow). Young fish are active and continue to feed well on a variety of food items.
Water parameters are stable and as above. Performing 10% water change and gravel vac weekly.
November 29, 2011 - 08:00pm: Drop 1: Day 11 since discovery: Note that this might not be the age of the fry as I don't know exactly when they were dropped. No major change since last entry. They have more than tripled in size since first discovered. The one I believe to be female does not display any specific coloration as of yet. No coloration change in the one I believe to be male. Same black spots and shadows as previously noted. The small fish are essentially ignored by the adult population by now, at least as a food source.
- Fry Feeding tips: Although the youngs are pretty quick to go after anything that is small enough to fit in their mouths, and that sinks. I find it useful to feed the adults food items that "crumble" or make enough small particles when eaten so that the fry have a chance to go after the particles while the adult fish are kept busy with the larger pellets of food. This was particularly successful when using "mini floating Cichlid pellets". They create a cloud of tiny, highly nutritious, particles which the small fish respond to very well. I have also used pieces of sinking algae wafers, which fancy guppies respond to extremely well.
- Everywhere on the web, they advise to provide several small feedings a day, if you're not there during the day - and you don't feel like using a timed feeder - I found it useful to break down the evening feeding into 2 sessions instead. This is especially useful when the fry are very young and cannot compete as efficiently with the adults.
November 26, 2011 - 04:00pm: - Drop 1: One week passed: Fry doing well. They pretty much doubled in size since I first saw them a week ago. One of them definitely has some black coloration at the base of the caudal fin and now what appears to be some more black, if very faint, on the body almost resembling the "tuxedo" pattern of the adult males. The second fry is a little bit larger than the first one and has no such coloration. This leads me to believe that we have one male and one female.
November 23, 2011 - 11:00pm: Drop 1: One of the fry appears to have some black coloration on the base of the caudal fin. I still don't really know what this will mean for his adult coloration, but now I can differentiate between the two. Feeding and swimming behavior unchanged.
November 22, 2011 - 09:00pm: Drop 1: Both fry still accounted for and they seem to be doing quite well. I think they are getting a bit longer than they were unless I'm mistaking. They appear to have become braver as well and are often seen swimming in the water column. They are pretty much ignored by the adult population by now although their size would still allow them to be lunch. The only peril left for them would be starvation and, I make sure to provide them with multiple small feedings per day of tiny flake "powder". The multiple feedings seem to be allowing them a chance to catch at least an adequate quantity of food particles in suspension, and gives them a fighting chance competing with the adults. They are still way too young for any attempt at clear sexual differentiation, at least at my skill level.
November 20, 2011 - 01:00pm: Drop 1: Surprisingly, no fry was found in the filter cartridges. Performed water change and improvised a device to protect the fry from being sucked into the filter. One less peril for them to face.
I don't have a sponge filter, but I used the fabric from an old carbon filter cartridge to make a net around the filter. This device will most probably get clogged up and/or gonked up fairly, quickly, but it should act as a protective barrier for the young fry.
Fig. 2: Improvised filter safety net. November 20, 2011 - 11:30am: Drop 1: Both fry still accounted for. I'm keeping the adult fish well fed on frozen brine shrimps. On to 10% water change as part of the regular maintenance. I'm afraid to look into the filter.....
Fig. 1: Very first fry found.November 19, 2011: Drop 1 : Day 1. Noticed 2 tiny fry for the first time. They are no more than a quarter of an inch so far. I have no idea when they were born. They eat small particules of flakes and small particles of frozen brine shrimps - mainly the eggs that are released from the shrimps when the adults feed on them. The fry seem capable of evading capture by diving out of the way at surprising speeds. They also swim at the surface amongst the tangles of the duckweed roots or in the thicket of hair algae at the bottom.
