Sexing Guppy Fry as Early as One Month Old

How to sex guppy fry as early as one month old. By telling male and female baby guppies apart, you can raise them separately, and assure you'll have virgin females for breeding later.

[@MelaninRose]

This was so helpful!! My guppies are having fry out of control so I will certainly use this method to sort the males from the females! Thank you!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

If you've had time to watch any of my other videos on guppies, you'll see that I mention the use of virgin females, and raising sexes separately. This is a core, highly important aspect of raising guppies, at any level above just keeping some guppies in a community tank that will always end up with a mish mash of overcrowded, stunted fish. One you're in a cycle of birth, grow to one month, separate sexes, grow some more, selectively breed, sell of adults, raise fry and repeat cycle, you'll be rewarded with good looking fish, some pocket cash (i.e. "lunch money"), and an easier time of it. Best of luck.

[@tyhanson2508]

+Kaimuki Backyard oh OK thx

[@kaylavolk8533]

when in doubt put it with the males, better having one female with males getting pregnant than one male with the females getting them all pregnant

[@maheshd.r5942]

Thanks bro. Really saved my guppies from inbreeding when kept together.

[@jefferymuffinsbobmarley6128]

i swear its super easy to tell on your fish but impossible to tell on mine XD imma just have to wait another week. unless i truly have 1 male and all female fry thank you for the super helpful video!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Good luck!

[@trixie1636]

Mine too! They all have black tails 🥲

[@ladygrndr9424]

Thank you for this! Very informative, and very needed :P I bought some Endler Livebearers, which in a little less than a month managed to have over 50 fry, all but two of which have survived, so I got a little desperate to not have any MORE (although yes, I know the females can remain pregnant for months :P). I now have a female and male tank set up, but had been slowly transitioning the males over from the female tank as they started to color and the gonopodiums formed...which might be too late to stop them from impregnating the females again. I will give this a shot this weekend, and hope to stop my over-population in it's tracks :D

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yeah, I agree with what you're saying. The overpopulation aspect of guppies, Endlers, and related species is something that definately takes "managing." Good luck.

[@boscoitalics]

thank you! i just had my first batch of fry and only want one batch..i didnt plan it but i got a pregnant guppy. i will have a male and female only tank..and will seperate the babies in a month! just need a bigger tank for the males :) love the guppies alot

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Good luck!

[@lukesmith2225]

Legend the line trick helped so much

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Great

[@treetababy]

Thank you! That answered my question. I have 3 males whose gonopodium is still triangular, but otherwise look like males, time to separate!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yup, separate now.

[@teresadonaldson4713]

Very helpful and informative. Now able to separate mine at 4 weeks old. Thanks.

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Teresa Donaldson Thanks, and I'm glad this video helped you.

[@boscoitalics]

thank you! i have 2 more weeks to seperate my fry. :) love raising the babies

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Nice

[@mikef3300]

I have setup a 40 gallon breeder tank with guppies and in just a couple months I now have to many fry to count. As they have matured I’ve noticed that most of the fry are female. The tank water has been on the warmer side and I was wondering if water temp may have something to do with my guppies having more females than male fry? I’ve read this about other fish. Could the same be true for guppies? Great video

[@kaimukibackyard148]

I've heard folks mention this before. From my experience, from the strains I've raised, I've gotten a 50% - 50% ratio.

[@nannymcfees1328]

Alot of the so called females are late bloomers too dude so don't be shocked if you em turn to boys

[@tanya9nithreus]

I really love your videos!! :) They are always so natural!! I too would love to see your new videos when you have time to make them!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

+tanya9nithreus More are coming. Thanks for your compliment and viewership!

[@tanya9nithreus]

You're most welcome and I shall be checking back often! :D

[@seanpotgieter572]

Ok thanks you. You have a very beautiful strain of guppies.

[@niksnavnn1128]

Very usefull, thank you 😊

[@kaimukibackyard148]

You're welcome 😊

[@trixie1636]

😩 I just learned they can breed at a young age. I saved 20 from my little container pond, February 14-16 and moved them to a little tank inside until they got bigger. I noticed a couple looked to having belly’s and thought maybe they were eating too much. Reddit informed me they could in face be pregnant which is actually mind blowing considering their size. I really hope they are not because I have a surplus of babies I don’t know what to do with as is. Is it possible for them to become pregnant so small? I can’t imagine how tiny their babies would be! I’m still not 100% on how to tell them apart 😩 they all look the same to me 😅

[@kaimukibackyard148]

I believe they can breed at 8 weeks. Possibly sooner.

[@aquariumlife7357]

definitely going to start using this method!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

great

[@ovidiustefaniosub2658]

Nice video. Thanks!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Glad you liked it!

[@presouz1740]

OK I found the how! So happy I found this video So you pretty much just do it with wet hands and a big net! Two buckets to put them in perfect!! Any other tips I'm all ears!😆

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yup, that's it. Glad you got to it.

[@seanpotgieter572]

Hello, just wanting to know if male guppies develop/grow slower than female guppies. Will male guppies be smaller than females of the same age up until they are fully grown?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

My experience is that up until 1 month old, when raising a brood, usually the single largest fry will be a male. And by 2 months, the chances of the biggest fry being either male of female are about even. At three months, basically all of the females start to surpass the males in body size.

[@cryoraptora303tm2]

Usually all the males hit puberty and have growth spurts first. They are usually bigger than the females until about 3 months of age when the males' growth starts to slow down and the females start getting growth spurts. Males are usually fully grown by the time they are 3.5 months old and although females never really stop growing they are at what you'd consider adult size by the time they are 4 months old. Actually, males can ime keep growing until about 6 months of age where they typically get one last growth spurt and stop growing forever. Usually they max out at 1.6 inches. Females keep a pretty steady growth rate although they may occasionally have a random growth spurt, regardless of age. I've seen very old females getting to about 2.75 inches. Very rarely you can also get giant guppies that grow past 3 inches long. It also depends on the individual; I had a stubby female that never made it past about 1.4 inches and I've had a male that made it to 2.2 inches before he died. He might have gotten bigger than that. Also, contrary to popular belief I find that pregnancy doesn't really affect the growth rate past about 3 months of age. The females seem to keep growing when pregnant, even getting growth spurts although it's less common while they are pregnant. I am one day planning on keeping a female-only tank with females that never meet males and stay virgin for their whole lives, just to see if they get any bigger when they don't get pregnant or any other unexpected results.

[@tinaroach977]

Great videos! Do you ever make mistakes when sexing the fry?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

It happens, but it's very rare. The last time I mis-sexed one was probably 2014 or so. The reason it's low is because I do an initial sort say at around one month. So I'll have three tubs: males, females, and yet-to-be-sorted. As time goes on, I sort the remaining ones. The ones that are delayed in being able to be sorted, cause not damage, because these young males cannot mate and spoil the females their with yet.

[@Killjoy_Xp]

Hey, my guppy fry are about 2-3 months old and i can't seem to figure out their sexes, mainly because they grow really slow. Still from 0.2 inch to about half an inch (its the first time i have fry so i'm a bit worried maybe its just the normal grow rate). The tank isn't that big either since i'm in college and wasn't really planning on breeding them) some tips? oh yeah, they are all transparant/Grey except 1 who is completely white. any idea why that could be? many thanks

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Probably not enough space.

[@RR-ud9km]

I'm having a hard time telling the sex of my guppies 😣

[@kaimukibackyard148]

It's like a lot of things in life... you read up on the subject for the knowledge, but then you have to actually practice it to get good at it. just keep looking at your fry, taking your shots at sorting males and females, and figuring out things. As they grow, you may find that you made some mistakes, but you'll figure out why and get better as you go along.

[@RR-ud9km]

Will do! Thank you! 😊

[@ZsaZsaUmbra]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

You're very welcome!

[@ZsaZsaUmbra]

Kaimuki Backyard I'm new to the guppy thing. I started with 5 females in a 5 gallon a couple months ago. I'm now up to 2 30s a 20 and a 10 lol! Everywhere online is like "gravid spot, gonopodium" and sometimes they aren't visible on my fry by the time they are already breeding. Thanks to your video I just pulled 3 ambiguously male juveniles from the girl's tank. I should have stuck with koi 😁

[@kaimukibackyard148]

good story, thanks for sharing

[@mohammedanwer5619]

Hey this method didn’t work for me because my guppies aren’t like the once in the video they r different strains does anyone know how to sort them in my case ?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

I use this method for all strains, even dark bodied strains.

[@Knowvvee]

thank I my guppy is prego and is gonna have fry soon and we have tubs for them to grow in cuz we're gonna mate them one there old enough

[@kaimukibackyard148]

great

[@Fridskan]

Does this apply to all strains of guppies or just the sunset? Does it show as much on other coulours aswell?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

This applies to all strains. Some other strains show more color, but at the one month stage, before they get fully colored up, this technique will do you well.

[@Fridskan]

Thank you

[@derpykat492]

Thanks alot

[@jmsaquaticlife9089]

does it apply to all strains sir?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yes

[@SubZerogbh]

Best video explaining and clearing showing you how to sex guppies. Thank you for this. :D

[@kaimukibackyard148]

SubZerogbh You are very welcome; and good luck.

[@jameelosmany5718]

Im setting up a plastic tank with guppies for breeding in a wooden room what must the ratio be male to females its about 400liter Please assist as well as heat temperature thank you ?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

jameel osmany There are no hard and fast rules to ratio of male to female breeders. I usual limit the amount of females to about 2. This way, I don't end up with too many fry I cannot raise. With a 400 liter tank, you could probably use two females too. As for males, pick out the top 2 or 3, and use them to breed to your females. Temperature of high 70's °F will be a good starting point.

[@phantomslayer1595]

Hi I have a question can you possibly help me understand who the mother is of the last two batch of fry? I have two females Diamond and Zora. Diamond had 5 October 3rd. 10 more fry appeared October 18th. October 26th 9 more fry appeared. I know their called gravid spots but I just say stomach much easier in my opinion. Diamonds stomach has looked black since I got her and Zora plus two males on sept 17 I think she was pregnant when I got her. However Zoras stomach has only went from basically clear looking to like redish pinkish I guess you could call it and thats it I never seen any darkness or eyes in either of them. They have looked fat at the time of births. So I would guess Zora had hers on October 18th and Diamond had more the 26th. That would make sense right? Or is it possible that Diamond had three batches? I would think its easier to narrow down the mothers than the fathers since there's no way to tell until the fry color comes in. Ps. The video is really gonna help me soon because of the 5 that were born on the 3rd.

[@kaimukibackyard148]

+Phantom Slayer I think Diamond was the mother to the fry born on the 3rd and the 26th. And Zora to the fry on the 18th. Between the 3rd and 26th, there are 23 days, and although this is on the quicker side, I've had females with this short an interval between broods. Especially if the weather has been warm, or if you are using a heater on an aquarium The number of days between the 3rd and 18th, and between the 18th and 26th is too few. That is why I deduce that the fry born on the 18th are from another mother. By the way, I do have other videos that show pregnant guppies versus guppies that just gave birth which may help you in. I hope this helps.

[@68046Matt]

How often do you outsource? I noticed you maintain a line of mircraffs....i like these fish too very pretty color yellow and red. I was thinking of doing 1 or 2 things. Possibly keep a pure line of breeders by simply going to the pet store to get same strain new nice males or.........maintaining a mixture of pet store fish and raising the fry seperately selling all of the F1 "hybrid" to the pet store. I like variety, and i don't have alot of space, right now only enough for 4 tanks. I don't like to ship fish either, i sell them to my petstore for .50-$1 in store credit each. So i don't know if i should keep a mixed tank and just enjoy them, or keep a couple diffrent strains.....the reason is, I DONT LIKE TO SHIP, so raising a PURE strain for .50 is kind of boring waste to me. Hmmm

[@68046Matt]

+Matt Cissna On the internet a trio or 2 pairs of pure strain sells for at least $20 as long as they are decent......i just dont have it in me to stress them from shipping and deal with people. Maybe i need to try ship to make more money

[@kaimukibackyard148]

+Matt Cissna I've not introduced any new blood into my line yet. And all my fish are descended from an original female in 2009. I am not opposed to out-crossing-- and I suppose I will one of these days, once I see fish with attributes I want to introduce into my line. It'll have to be a Micariff, but it can be either grey or golden bodied, with or without the Sunset gene. I am interested in hearing what you end up doing (pursue single strain, or keep a variety for fun).

[@kaimukibackyard148]

+Matt Cissna I researched shipping and concluded that it wasn't worth it for my situation. You may read about it in the back and forth dialog between me and William Leal, in the comment section under this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKOnqJSHhMprkMk

[@Ssap1015]

Thx! This video helped a lot😃

[@ianmarkshadow]

Please post new videos about your guppies

[@kaimukibackyard148]

+ianmarkshadow My intention is to indeed post more videos. Sorry, I don't have a schedule, I do it when I come up with ideas, and when I have time. Free time to shoot and edit my postings, is my biggest limiting factor. Thanks for your viewership and understanding.

[@quickfacts5525]

yes thanks sir !!!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

glad you can use this

[@donsisnorio1155]

what did you do to female guppies that are not virgin?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Don Sisnorio They get sold to the pet store. The only females guppies that are not virgin are the one or two from every brood that I use for breeding. After about one or two broods, they rejoin their virgin sisters and brothers and go to the pet store.

[@gigiitsme2195]

same with mollies??

[@kaimukibackyard148]

harder to do so early with mollies. for example black mollies pigment is so dark, you won't be able to see inside the fish.

[@slytherinqueen6149]

For mollies just look at their underside a male will have a strawlike appendage while a female will have a triangular shaped fin.

[@hrishikeshpusalkar4042]

My 2 week old guppy Fry has Small gravid spot.

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yes, that's normal

[@hrishikeshpusalkar4042]

Thanks

[@Kru_aquatics]

I don't how to change voice

[@mimirei4776]

How old were your guppies when you made this video?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

One month old.

[@mimirei4776]

I can't seem to tell the genders apart on mine

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Mimi McRoberts If you're not growing them as fast, it may take longer to tell them apart.

[@mimirei4776]

Oh ok. So how old are they when they can breed with each other?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Mimi McRoberts The fasted maturing ones, say 2 months. By 3 months, all should be sexually mature enough to breed, unless severely stunted due to overcrowding.

[@rickardrocks2160]

so some of my guppies are getting colorfull, little over a month old, so its best to separate now? or when do they start being horny guppies?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Yes, between now and the over the next month, separate them as they reveal what sex they are.

[@rickardrocks2160]

i saw the male most colored up allready tryna getting it on so i moved him yesterday.. not to sure which is which yet though.. but he has a poking stick and colors so easy to see on him! thanks for the great info

[@minhcao7843]

Does your baby guppies have pointy tail? If so will the tail expand?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Just a paddle shaped tail at this stage. Not pointy.

[@minhcao7843]

Kaimuki Backyard if they are pointy how can u fix it?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

It would be very hard, you'll need to get fish with wide tails to cross in.

[@minhcao7843]

Kaimuki Backyard oh know I meant if the fry tail are pointy what's the reason behind it. And will it bloom when they grow up?

[@kaimukibackyard148]

that's just what they inherited, it's called pintail.

[@maddart4445]

I these videos!

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Thanks you!

[@dragonmaster5993]

my 3 week old fry r still very small

[@kaimukibackyard148]

it's very common. it's hard to do everything right to raise guppies quickly.

[@dragonmaster5993]

some r developing colors

[@dragonmaster5993]

i went to a canal and caught a yellow snakeskin guppy

[@01newj53]

The terminator breeds guppies 😲

[@kaimukibackyard148]

Jamie Newson Best of luck with your guppies!

[@01newj53]

Kaimuki Backyard​ thank you 

[@jameelosmany5718]

Please reply

[@kaimukibackyard148]

jameel osmany Okay, done.

[@lailyutsman3698]

ok