getting the size back, of the wild fish...

[Magnum Man]

so it's pretty well known, that most live bearers available to us for aquarium use, are not wild caught, and most are not pure strains...
I'm looking for "giant Molly's" ( Poecilia velifera )
and finding wild fish has proven difficult... most good sources say 5 inches or more, for wilds, yet the bred Sailfins typically, of velifera designation, being sold are listed as 2.5 - 3 inches... there are some articles on "giant Molly's" but either no one has been interested, or breeding them back for the original size, has not been fruitful...

so any suggestions for breeding back, towards wild coloration and size...

one thing, I suspect larger tanks were not used, and in the old days it was always rumored that the size of the aquarium would effect the size the fish can grow... so I'm starting with a 45, and 60 gallon tank for this attempt...

 

[GaryE]

Once the fish has been hybridized and is no longer a species, why try? It would never be velifera, no matter how much you worked at it.

I'd contact Goliad Farms or Adrian Hernandez, and simply start with good stock. Once it warms up, that should be easy.

 

[Aquaria Pro Aquatics]

so it's pretty well known, that most live bearers available to us for aquarium use, are not wild caught, and most are not pure strains...
I'm looking for "giant Molly's" ( Poecilia velifera )
and finding wild fish has proven difficult... most good sources say 5 inches or more, for wilds, yet the bred Sailfins typically, of velifera designation, being sold are listed as 2.5 - 3 inches... there are some articles on "giant Molly's" but either no one has been interested, or breeding them back for the original size, has not been fruitful...

so any suggestions for breeding back, towards wild coloration and size...

one thing, I suspect larger tanks were not used, and in the old days it was always rumored that the size of the aquarium would effect the size the fish can grow... so I'm starting with a 45, and 60 gallon tank for this attempt...

I have had the same issue with lots of species. Not just with livebearers either, or size, but lots of issues. Especially neons funny enough. At some point I just find the best breed stock I can.

Dominick
Aquaria Pro Aquatics

 

[emeraldking]

Well, bringing back the original size by using breedings forms is very hard to do. Not impossble, though... For I've seen giant sailfins white colored. But they were descendants of wild specimens in a zoo I've visited. When they couldn't fins fresh blood to the population, they adde some breeding forms. The first offspring had a few whites besides the wild coloration. But I also have to add that they were kept in a very large bassin.
But going back to the original size is hard because they are so mixed already that the original genes are so suppressed by all the other genes, that it's almost unlikely.