can my male guppies breed with balloon mollies

[guppy_man]

ive got 2 mystery fry with yellow heads and brown bodys the fish i got in the tank are......

2 male guppies
2 female balloon mollies
1 dalmation mollie
4 dwarf gouramis
2 neon tetras
1 pleco

i dont think they came from the gouramis because they make a bubble nest and i havnt seen any bubbles so can someone help me out

 

[tank212]

never had any baby guppy fry with that description they've always been white and or black hmmm puzzling. what color are you mollies and guppies?

 

[guppy_man]

my 1 guppy is blue and purple the other is red and purple
and my 2 mollies are silver/grey

 

[tank212]

thats weird. yellow and brown??

 

[pica_nuttalli]

1) how long have you had the female mollies? if it was less than 6 weeks, they may have arrived pregnant. ditto if its been less than 6 weeks since they were exposed to any male molly.

2) is your dalmation molly a male? that'd be a more likely combo than the guppy/molly combo.

 

[guppy_man]

sorry for taking so long to write back ive only had the mollies for 2 weeks and my dalmation mollie is a male i think
thnx anyway

 

[pica_nuttalli]

then odds are best that they came "pre-equipped" most livebearers are pregnant for ~6 weeks prior to giving birth.

i wouldn't obsess over saving the fry, though. with 2 females and 1 male molly, you should have plenty appearing periodically in your tank.

 

[guppy_man]

i hope not because ive already got 28 baby guppy fry in a 5 gal tank and when they grow up im going to give them to my local pet store or some of my m8s

 

[GuppyDude]

ya those are molly fry, my lfs sells them small now and when they are really tiny they are black and white, black and yellow, brown and white, or brown or yellow, its just the type of molly they are.

i seriouly dout you gouramiis will breed in the tank as people have a hard enogh time breeding tem in a seperate tank. plus the male will become very agressive and rip up your other fish.

and once again mollys ant cross wth guppys so dont starte that again

 

[superjalami30]

I keep getting yellow guppy babies.
more of a comment than anything

 

[SirMinion]

I think like someone has already said, that the mollies were already pregnant when you got them.

But there is another possibility...

Female mollies have the amazing ability to become pregnant without a male molly.

All in takes is stimulation by a male fish of any other similar species like guppies, swordtails or platties. The male is not the father of the fry and the babies are not cross-breeds. Penetration by the male simply serves to stimulate the female into producing young that are effectively clones of their mother.

This process is called parthenogenesis and is found in many insects and some frogs as well as mollies.

 

[GuppyDude]

iv heard of parthenogenesis but never thoght about it in fish. i suppose that would be the reason why the guppy/molly hybrid rumor started. guppys will try to mate with anything, iv had males try to mate with bright colored ornimants in their tank, its so funny to watch them your fry are most likely from ur female mollys, the brown bodys are a dead give away.

if parthenogenesis produces clones of the mother, then does that mean all the fry will be female?

 

[SirMinion]

if parthenogenesis produces clones of the mother, then does that mean all the fry will be female?

Yes....and no.

The offspring of this form of parthenogenesis (called gynogenesis) are actually known as "asexual females"
They are still capable of producing more mollies by gynogenesis, but ONLY by gynogenesis, leading to populations of wild mollies that are exclusively female but still thriving as long as there are males of other compatable species around to stimulate maturation of ova.

In Guppy_man's case though, I'm certain that these fry are the result the mollies being already gestating when he got them, or the result of sperm storage, another little trick these amazing fish have.

 

[GuppyDude]

you know whats really creepy, scientists think the males of teh human race will eventually go extinct and females will be able to survive by this process or sumthing like it. i read it in an article but i dont buy it the only reason there are sexes and sex is so that all organisms dont have the same DNA, if we all had the same genetic structure, all it would take is one super flu bug and teh whole population would be toast.....sry for that use;ess info guys, just thoght id share

 

[Synirr]

Lol, I agree GuppyDude, that article is hogwash
Sexual reproduction is a very nifty trick, and I can't see the absence of it being anything other than detrimental to a species such as ours.