Guppy Fry Color?

[blindfaith429]

I was doing a water change on my tank today, and noticed a bright yellow tiny thing floating around. After looking at it closely, I realized it was a guppy fry.

I looked at the tank a little closer, and saw at least 7 more fry, but all the others were clear. I only found the one yellow one.

Mom is all yellow, dad is bright orange with a silver belly.

Will the clear ones color up later? Or are they born already with color? Trying to figure out what happened.

I know its not an exact science with guppies like this, but I was just curious what I should expect. This is my first time with guppies and breeding.

The LFS i got them from, keeps the males and females seperate, and as far as I could tell, the females were not pregnant yet (bought 3, all got pregnant).

Thanks!

 

[Mikedick77]

They will color up. When they do is all individual. I have a 20 gallon tank with about 100+ guppy fry in it. As they color up, I cherry pick the ones I like to see further coloring on. The others get rehomed quite easily.

Edit: Further note, some guppy fry can be born and be pregnant with no male present. At least that's what I've read.

 

[Quiche]

Hey, congrats on the fry! My platy fry are all born a faint shade of yellow, some paler and some richer, regardless of what they turn into later (red wag, iridescent, twin bar), so I assume yours will color up later too.

 

[blindfaith429]

Thanks all for the replies.

Here's a pic of some of the clear ones, hanging out at the top of my java-moss-covered-wood "tree of life".

 

[jake37]

Sometimes they do - most of the times they do - they don't always.

 

[mimo91088]

The yellow body is a genetic trait. The other ones might get some color as adults, but they'll have grey or clear bodies. The yellow one will keep a yellow base color for its whole life

 

[Mandy627]

I have a batch of guppy fry that is about a month old possibly more, but they are not coloring up as fast as I remember in past and all look clear/blank. How long should I wait before culling them out? Just curious, I dont want to cull them out when they haven't shown potential.

 

[PhillyJawn]

I have a batch of guppy fry that is about a month old possibly more, but they are not coloring up as fast as I remember in past and all look clear/blank. How long should I wait before culling them out? Just curious, I dont want to cull them out when they haven't shown potential.

Guppy males will color up about one month in, but two months is when their full potential pops, from what I've observed this coincides with when they become sexually mature so the color and sexual maturity seems to go hand in hand.

Its important to note the female guppies will always stay somewhat bland outside of tail / fin colors, and they can easily be sexed by their gravid spot 3-4 weeks of age.

Growth of the guppy fry also will be dependent on water conditions/temperature. If the temperature is on the cooler side, I've observed them to grow at a slower rate vs at higher temperatures they will grow faster due to an increase in metabolic activity at higher temps

 

[NoahLikesFish]

I second the thing about growth. Also that it takes time for a guppy to truly color up.

 

[SingingFish]

My rainbow guppy fry are all pretty translucent with maybe a small black spot or two until about 8 weeks. Then, their color exploded. I have 3 month old males who are now iridescent and bright!

 

[Mandy627]

My rainbow guppy fry are all pretty translucent with maybe a small black spot or two until about 8 weeks. Then, their color exploded. I have 3 month old males who are now iridescent and bright!

Ok I'm going to wait another 4 weeks then!

 

[blindfaith429]

Thanks all for the replies. I have a few of the fry that look like they are starting to color up. I have 2 or 3 that look like the back half of them are turning black, and a couple that have black fins only.

These suckers are fast and hard to take a pic of, especially during feeding time lol.