Selective breeding of guppies is a method through which certain specific traits such as particular color, pattern and tail shape can be achieved in the baby guppies whereas any unattractive and undesirable characteristic can be eliminated from being passed on to the babies.
It is a helpful technique to make your guppies look the way you want them to. It is a very complex procedure as it requires good planning, monitoring and record keeping. There are different types of selective breeding that can be performed and they are as follows:
1) Line Breeding
It is a type of selective breeding where parent guppies have traits related to each other. Having related guppies breed with each other can produce more enhanced specialist version of parent guppies. In this method female offspring is again mated with its father guppy to produce more in line results and is recommended. Whereas male offspring should not be allowed to mate with the mother as it can result in opposite results. These way it is guaranteed to have the more enhanced version of the desired trait.
2) Out Crossing
It is a type of selective breeding where parent guppies have traits unrelated to each other. This is performed to maintain and enhance health benefits of the guppy. Out crossing overcomes the chances of faults and deformities that might come with line breeding. For example by performing out crossing selective breeding, the curvature of the spine can be reduced and avoided. Out crossing is a very useful technique to add new traits such as new tail shape or new skin pattern or body color.
3) Back Crossing
It is a type of selective breeding where you mate a guppy from a line back to its ancestors. This is usually done to remove a trait which does not look attractive. It is done to restore the progression to successful previous state. This is a lengthy process and might take multiple tries to achieve success.
4) Culling Guppies
Culling Guppies is considered one of the most painful and unkind action as ill guppies with undesirable traits are removed from the pool and left to die. Basically culling is performed on the guppies that are ill or have some kind of deformity. Guppies are considered one of the most healthiest tropical fish, which means there will be very less chances of culling. Also if guppies are healthy but don’t have the desired trait it is advisable to sell them or give away to someone that can take care of them.
