what happens in a no holds barred, live bearer tank???

[Magnum Man]

I'm kind of running into that now... if I understand correctly, pretty much all the platy varieties "can" cross, & swordtail's & platy's "can" cross. & Molly's or Guppy's can't cross... with platy's or swordtails... so just because some of those fish "can" cross, is that likely??? I currently have 3 varieties of Platy in one 55 gallon tank, & as long as I offer both male & female of a variety, that looks significantly different, they seem to kind of hang in their group, is that normal, or am I likely to get all kinds of strange crosses going on???
also does having more than one species breeding, effect breeding of other livebearers much??? in other words, does one species dominate in a tank, & the others breed less??? is there a problem putting Molies into a tank with several varieties of platy, or adding a few Guppy's, Limia, or some Neoheterandria, to a tank with other live bearers???

 

[emeraldking]

As long as you keep livebearers which sexual organs are compatible, crossbreedings can happen. But most of the time, when you have both sexes of those livebearer species in one tank, they'll breed with their own kind. If you keep just one sex of a livebearer species and the opposite sex of another livebearer species, which sexual organs are compatible, a crossbreeding is more likely to happen.

It's more the open space that's left in the tank, which will trigger a dominance or not of one of the livebearer species.
I personally wouldn't keep a Neoheterandria species with another kind of livebearer. Most Neoheterandria species are a bit submissive and would be better off in a species tank.

Limias, mollies, guppies and endlers can crossbreed with another.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Magnum. You can put Mollies with Platys. They're different breeds of fish. Guppies are best bred with Mollies and Platys best with Swordtails. The rest is confusing for me.

10

 

[GaryE]

What you end up with is mutts of all colours. Colour varieties are like dogs - all the same species so mutts are cool. Colour varieties don't care. They try to inseminate rocks.
That said, I didn't have crossing problems with I kept different Genera together. Mollies bred with mollies, swordtails with swordtails. I tried to never have the same Genus in the same tank, or close to each other. The molly group species could cross with each other, as could the Xiphophorus. I avoided that as I see no reason to put two beautiful, different things in a blender to see what comes out.

A lot of people don't appreciate or realize how many different species of swordtails, mollies, and platys exist in the wild. The hobby has put them in a genetic blender and squashed a lot of diversity.

 

[Magnum Man]

The only interaction I’m seeing, is between the sunrise high fin males, and some pineapple sword tail females, but I’ve not seen any actual mating, but I see very little of the tank throughout the day

 

[emeraldking]

That said, I didn't have crossing problems with I kept different Genera together. Mollies bred with mollies, swordtails with swordtails. I tried to never have the same Genus in the same tank, or close to each other.

That agrees with what I said...

A lot of people don't appreciate or realize how many different species of swordtails, mollies, and platys exist in the wild. The hobby has put them in a genetic blender and squashed a lot of diversity.

True! This is something I've tried to explain so often. Most people and on most forums, when we talk about livebearers, they only think of the known big 4 breeding forms. While guppies, swordtails, platies and mollies are just a few of the many livebearer species there are. And that even within the commercial known big 4 species, that in the wild way more species and morphs are present.

 

[GaryE]

I had a friend who travelled extensively in Central America, and who lived in Mexico. She would bring me mollies every visit (back when it was permitted). Usually, I only got males.
But the diversity was astonishing. So many distinct biological species, and so many colour forms within each species. Poecilia butleri, P. sphenops, P mexicana, P orri, P velifera, P petenensis, on and on. All were really intresting, all were distinctive. All go into the soup in the hobby, and come out as 2 or 3 orange or spotted or black fish. The domestic mollies are nice fish, and some are old favourites to me. But they are made at a cost to those who are interested enough to look. The real species are very very hard to find in the hobby. You have to know experts like @emeraldking .

 

[Magnum Man]

@10 Tanks ... said "Guppies are best bred with Mollies"... I did not know Guppy's and Molly's could interbreed

 

[emeraldking]

@10 Tanks ... said "Guppies are best bred with Mollies"... I did not know Guppy's and Molly's could interbreed

They sure can. I've got some pics of such hybrids on my own website to give living proof of them.

 

[Magnum Man]

must be hard on female guppy's.. kind of like a female cocker spaniel, getting bred by a St. Bernard

 

[emeraldking]

All go into the soup in the hobby, and come out as 2 or 3 orange or spotted or black fish. The domestic mollies are nice fish, and some are old favourites to me. But they are made at a cost to those who are interested enough to look. The real species are very very hard to find in the hobby.

I live in two worlds regarding livebearers. One is of the average aquarists and one is of the serious aquarists. The serious livebearer aquarists are also divided in two worlds. One that focuses on the breeding forms and especially of the higher segment (show quality) and one that focuses on wild varieties.
The world of serious livebearer aquarists is very big. To an average aquarist, this world may seem small but it's way bigger than many think. If I look at my own international network and the relevant events I attend, one would be surprised how big that world actually is.
I do have to admit that throughout the years I haven't found any forums which were focused on that part of the hobby. On Facebook there are serious groups but unfortunately they're also dominated by socalled know-it-alls... Mostly (so, not always...) by young people who have started recently in the hobby and think that they know it all. But like I've said, not always... For there are also some older ones who lie about their aquatic background to push their name forward. And yes, those are unfortunately also active in many FB groups. Which makes it more unpleasant to be active overthere. I've been dealing with a serious number of people who wanted to make a quick name in this industry but many have also vanished from the scene. There's a hype and many want to surf along... Until the hard questions show up...

 

[emeraldking]

must be hard on female guppy's.. kind of like a female cocker spaniel, getting bred by a St. Bernard

How about a chihuahua by a great dane...?