gettin' it on...

N

NEM

Small Fish
#1
Aug 18, 2005
23
0
0
#1
i have a few male guppies that seem to harrass (or have interest in.. not sure which) a female swordtail in the tank.

will livebearers breed (or try to) with a different species????

thanks.
 

f8fan

f8fan

MFT Staff
#4
Nov 19, 2004
1,765
8
38
Bangor, Maine
#4
Fish Friend said:
yes... most livebearers can inbreed with each other and can give birth to actual fry wich are a cross between them that are mating
Click to expand...
Uhhhh, you sure about that?
Would they be pluppies? (platty/guppies)
or gutties? (guppy/platty)
I would think that they mess around, sure, but genetically they are different species and wouldnt be able to produce any offspring.

But then again, dogs do it....

Correct me if I am wrong?
 

F

Firebug

Large Fish
#6
Jun 15, 2004
841
6
0
Colorado
#6
I thought that it was only possible for guppies and mollies to cross-breed...(BTW, the offspring are sometimes referred to as "Gollies")

Your guppy is just a very horny fish (all males are...uh, guppies that is). :)
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#8
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#8
Swordtails are not aggressive, although most livebearer males are very shall we say "motivated" to breed. This is why it is suggested to have at least two females for every male because otherwise they may pester the females too much.

Swordtails just like every other livebearer are fine to keep with most peaceful community fish.
 

f8fan

f8fan

MFT Staff
#10
Nov 19, 2004
1,765
8
38
Bangor, Maine
#10
I am still confused on the whole "livebearer" and "livebearer" mating thang....I thought only "species" mated with "species"? Are there gutties or pluppies swimming around in people's tanks?? And if so, what is their life expectancy?
 

Fish Friend

Fish Friend

Superstar Fish
#11
May 29, 2005
1,661
0
0
England
www.piczo.com
#11
id say intirely normal unless they dont get born deformed.... i actually think my female platy is pregnant from the black molly that mated with everything in the tank.... !!! she has a smallish gravid spot.... anyway... livebearers are just mating machines...they are so desperate to mate i dont know why lol maybe they just get over horny or exited lol
 

F

Firebug

Large Fish
#12
Jun 15, 2004
841
6
0
Colorado
#12
Nah! can't be, Adam! I bet your platy was impregnated by another platy before you got them. Livebearers almost always come hom with you pregnant! I'm not saying that it's not possible...but if it ever did occur, the babies WILL come out deformed and sterile. I've really only heard of platies and swordtails, guppies and mollies, and guppies and Endler's (avoid this, because female endler's will die giving birth to fry because the fry is too large to go through the birth canal!) getting it on right.
 

Balloon Fish

Balloon Fish

Elite Fish
#13
Jul 6, 2004
3,025
0
0
34
San Antonio, Texas
balloonfishy.tripod.com
#13
I could be wrong on this one but the only way for fish to mate and produce fertile babies is if they are in the same genus. Like for example the guppy's genus is Poecilia and the swordtail's genus is Xiphophorus so no matter what they won't be able to mate. Even if they are the same genus there could be behavorial differnences between them like mating rituals, etc. Like for example, the squirell in the grand canyon, they were orignally the same squirell but when they half the group was on one side of the canyon and the other was on another they evolved into differnt species and now, even if they can get back to the other side their mating season or behavior is probably differnt to the other squirell so they might not even mate. But for live bearers you stick them in a cup and they'll breed just not if they have differnt genus's. (correct me if i'm wrong about the whole genus thing cause i looked it up on google but didnt' find it much helpful but i did remember it from biology but that was a year ago...)
 

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