© 2017 The International Fancy Guppy Association


They are not for use without express written permission. 


The "Too Many Lines" Illness

By Jim Gourlie

So you say you have 80 tanks and just don't understand why your fish are not quite up to snuff. Let's start with the simple stuff first. How many different strains are you carrying? Doing some simple math will help. Let's say it will take at least 4 tanks to maintain a strain line. (One breeder tank, one tank to raise F1 in, and two tanks for your show males and/or virgin virgin females.} Now if you carry two lines of a strain (Example: two lines of Blues), you are now up to eight tanks. If you have 80 tanks your very maximum amount of strains that you could possibly maintain would be 10 strains. In my opinion you should use 5 to 6 tanks per strain. This can allow for a second or, if necessary, a third dropping from a particularly good line.

How many times have you seen a novice breeder carry 12 to 15 different lines because they are like a kid in a candy store? All those "Pretty Strains" of guppies! Yes, they do have 15 lines of fish but no room to maintain the lines. The existing lines that they do have go down hill in a hurry because the breeder has little time to attend to each line's needs or the fish are crowded into tanks because there is no more tank space left.

1. Take time to decide what line you will concentrate on.

2. Get rid of those "Pretty Strains" that are eating up your tank space.

3. Use your tank space as efficiently as possible to ward off the "Too Many Lines Illness!"

Back to the Public Library