# Guppy Incest?



## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

Hey guys, I used to have around 20 guppies but they all died except 1. After a few weeks, the last mother guppy gave birth to a bunch of guppy fry; however, only 1 survived. The fry that grew up is a male and for some reason, I have discovered that there are 4 new guppy fry in the tank. Is it possible for the son to impregnate the mother? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, I've just never heard of it.


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## vca2004 (Sep 7, 2009)

Yes that is possible, but besides that possibility guppy females can "store" sperm and get fry again a few times without any male present whatsoever.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Interesting title. 

To answer your question, yes. When creating a new strain of many fish, it is often common to breed mother to son and father to daughter. It is actually very difficult to create a beautiful fish without defect. But it is well worth it if you can stomach the culling of the rejects. Here is an article on inbreeding, cross breeding, and out crossing.


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## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

oh how peculiar! I'm sorry for the poor wording on part, sewingalot, I did read that article and I have to say I'm more enlightened now then ever lol. So, it's safe to say that my guppy population will return to normal or even more as long as this inbreeding continues correct?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

urbguy said:


> oh how peculiar! I'm sorry for the poor wording on part, sewingalot, I did read that article and I have to say I'm more enlightened now then ever lol. So, it's safe to say that my guppy population will return to normal or even more as long as this inbreeding continues correct?


No worries on the title. I found it amusing. It is a similar in definition, so it works. Anyway-

Yes, it is safe to say that your guppy population will return to normal. Just be sure to remove any deformed fish from the main tank to prevent problems. You don't have to cull them, just prevent them from breeding.

You really want to learn about the fish, join the forum on guppies.com There are some serious guppy breeders out there. Some of these fish are real beauties. Good luck on expanding your population!


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## Twimbo (Oct 10, 2009)

Yes, that would be the case. As long as you have a male and a female, you can count on baby guppies, and then grandbaby guppies.


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## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

oh god i'm afraid of what to expect. what if i see a guppy having 3 eyes or 2 tails or what not. maybe i should invest in one of those bottles of chemicals that can kill fishes humanely.


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## mickmac247 (Mar 14, 2008)

bottles of chemicals that can kill fishes humanely??/ I would be more afraid of that than what I would get from new gups lol


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## Twimbo (Oct 10, 2009)

If you are really concerned, just introduce some diversity into your gene pool. Trade one of your two guppies to someone else, or simply buy a new guppy. Maybe your Local Fish Store will trade with you. Or find someone else in your area with guppies, there are plenty of guppies around. I wouldn't worry, I think that this must happen in nature quite often. 

k


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

urbguy said:


> oh god i'm afraid of what to expect. what if i see a guppy having 3 eyes or 2 tails or what not. maybe i should invest in one of those bottles of chemicals that can kill fishes humanely.


You want Clove Oil. Commonly available in grocery stores.

And line-breeding is the way most breeds and strains were developed. It's one reason that pure-bred dogs tend to have more genetic issues than mixed breeds. Mixed breeds have "hybrid vigor" due to lack of inbreeding in their genetic makeup. 

Serious fish breeders will occasionally "outcross" their strains with wild or unrelated stock from other sources to help reduce the risks of recessive genes.


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## anastasisariel (Oct 4, 2009)

*Eaisest way to dispose of rejects*

Well, if you have another tank with something that eats guppies thats the easiest way for me to get rid of rejects. At least that way is a little more natural. I used to feed them to an aquatic salamander.


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## AquaTX01 (Nov 4, 2009)

urbguy said:


> oh god i'm afraid of what to expect. what if i see a guppy having 3 eyes or 2 tails or what not. maybe i should invest in one of those bottles of chemicals that can kill fishes humanely.


lol... you should'nt worry bout having 3 eyes! other meant "deformed" which is more common deformities. My 20 gallon guppy tank, been around for years and never had any crazy lookin baby come out. just shorter tail, or more plain color. they do cross/inner breed like pigeons. and are done purposely to get the best traits out by breeders.... and i dont agree w/ killing them at all, if they're really deformed that bad (all bent, or fin missing), I'll feed'em to larger fish (more natural process)


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

urbguy said:


> oh god i'm afraid of what to expect. what if i see a guppy having 3 eyes or 2 tails or what not. maybe i should invest in one of those bottles of chemicals that can kill fishes humanely.


You don't have to worry that much. Here is a deformity of one of my guppies from inbreeding:










It is a really poor photograph, but you can see this male has a female shape to the front and it's tail is oddly shaped. For what it's worth, he is happily living in a male only tank and I call him Notredame. To get three eyed fish, I believe you need a nuclear power plant (The Simpson's fish). :wink:

The easiest way to prevent the major deformities is to simply segregate the fish with any undesired traits. You don't have to destroy them, just prevent its breeding with others. And if it accidentally breeds with another fish, just remove the fry from that batch and seperate the sexes as well.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> You don't have to worry that much. Here is a deformity of one of my guppies from inbreeding:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


ROFL Notredame is a great name. :icon_smil


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## Schoolofdisabledguppies (Jun 9, 2018)

You don't need to worry about guppy incest. It happens all the time. In my tank, the guppies WANT incest. They will breed with others similar unless you separate similar ones.


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## MtAnimals (May 17, 2015)

do ya think they ever look at each other and go "uncle dad!" :laugh2:


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