# science fair project



## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

basicly i need a project for my school science fair. I was thinking about doing something on genetics and maybe interbreed some livebearers. My dad suggested fruitflys but i want something where you can tell the difference between parents and their young without using a microscope. Is it easy to interbreed guppies and endlers? I've also heard that male guppies aren't picky and have been known to breed with female mollies as a last resort although the fry are sterile and don't live long i still think it would make a good experiment. Also i heard platies and mollies will interbreed but i doubt that. So do u think this is a good idea or do you want to suggest something else?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

How much time do you have to do this? Fruit flys breed quicker and you will have offspring quicker. I think that is why your dad suggested them.


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

I don't know about guppies and mollies, but I'm 99% sure guppies and endlers will interbreed. 

I just don't see what is being proven by interbreeding. Are you just showing that they will? Maybe breeding a blue guppy and a red guppy and explaining why the babies aren't purple would be a better science project on genetics.


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## blixem (Jun 13, 2005)

Don't forget that most livebearers can hold sperm quite a while from previous matings, so unless you are sure you have only mated the female with that male, the fry maybe from other fathers.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

how rapidly do guppies breed?


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

They usually drop fry once a month after they've been in with a male and like Blixem mentioned, they can drop fry for several months after being with that male.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

i have from now till feb.


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

That should be plenty of time to breed guppies and raise the fry.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

another(better) idea was for me to test the intelligence of fish. Basicly i need the smartest fish that will fit in a ten gallon. I'll be testing memory and problem solving skills. Any fish ideas?


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## Hamm35924 (Jun 13, 2005)

i think bettas are pretty smart, i've read about some things that people have done to test the smartness of bettas, like if they have certain aggression behavior more towards a certain color of stuff, and then there's their memory...


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2005)

figure eight pufferfish


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

what bout DPs?(no need 4 snails)


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2005)

i guess, but i like figure eights better.


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

Just interbreed a few livebearers, and record your results. Then show the results at the science fair. 

Do like guppies and endler, guppies and molllies, swordtails and platies, and whatever else you can think of, bring a few 2.5-5 gallons to the science fair with the parnets and offspring in them.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

Any more ideas??? Please i need help. right now I'm leaning towards Guppy/molly hybrids but i need to collect more info


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