Might Change My 240 Litre To A Livebearer Fish Only Tank!

[JohnRossDele]

Hi all, i'm changing my 240 litre tank to a livebearer only tank

Swordtails: 5 (1 male & 4 females)
Mollies: 6 (2 males & 4 females)
Guppies: 12 (4 males & 8 females)
Platies: 12 (3 males & 9 females)
A group of 6 cories (3 albino, 2 bronze, 1 peppered)

thanks

P.S i have my white spot med at the ready

 

[Truck]

the most probable out come of all of this is a tank full of inbred hybrids. not the most constructive comment but it will happen if you keep mixed sex fish.

Livebearers arent my thing anymore, but i would be more inclined to go with the more exotic species such as black chins and limias instead of the bread and butter live bearers.

 

[tropic_john]

mollies > guppies > hybridise
platies > swordtails > hybridise
mollies > endlers > ?

in that tank i'd breed a rare livebearer and add endlers that will breed aswell [make sure the fish arent capable of hybridising]

 

[OldMan47]

As long as you don't keep guppies with endlers, the rest can easily be kept together safely. Guppies and endlers will cross rather easily.
Although it is theoretically possible for a guppy/molly cross or a platy/swordtail cross to happen, it just doesn't happen when you have mixed sexes of each species. Much of the color and fin development that has been done in swordtails and platies is the result of careful crossing of those species but it is not easy to achieve and is often only successful through artificial insemination. Mollies in our tanks are already crosses of at least 3 species that all have the common name molly so worrying about a hybrid there is a bit misplaced. Guppies are also the result of some extensive breeding programs that have moved the rather short finned wild type guppy to the domestic guppy that we know today.
What Truck calls bread and butter fish are certainly the most easily found and will inbreed. What that means to you as a breeder is that you must cull any defective fish so that the inbreeding leads to improvements rather than deformities.
I personally breed mostly the rarer livebearers such as goodeids, Limias and my favorite small fish the Heterandria formosa. As he said, those fish do demand somewhat of a premium at a pet shop because they can never find them commercially either.

 

[JohnRossDele]

can some fill in the blanks then so i know how many remember to look at the list to see my favourite to least favourite

guppys_____
mollys_____
platys_____
swordtails_____

favourite to least favourite even though i still really like the one at the bottom

swordtails
guppys
molly
platys

this might help to increase the number of the ones i like by the most eg Mollys 5-6 and swordtails 11-12

 

[OldMan47]

In a small tank like that, I would avoid multiple male swordtails. One will be dominant and the others will suffer for it. A single male is a magnificent fish and would do well with several females, as many as 5. Mollies are often good in small groups of maybe 2 males and 4 females. Guppies do well in large numbers but if you intend to allow any breeding you should probably choose one variety of guppies to keep. You could easily keep 10 or 12 guppies along with the rest of the stock. I have not had any problems with multiple platy males the way I have with multiple swordtail males so maybe 2 or 3 male platies and 3 females for each male. Again, if you will allow platy fry to survive to adults, you might consider just one variety.
Another option for a decent sized tank like that is to find one of the less common fish that you like and do a single species breeding colony. It is what I do with my goodeids, another livebearer group, and I find a tank about that size can produce a steady supply of fry for trading without some of the complications that arise trying to sell or trade the more common fish. A goodeid tank, depending on which species, can also be run with no heater and it benefits the fish to do so. One of the easier to find goodeids is the Xenotoca eiseni, called orange tailed goodeids. This is one of my males.
A closeup

And a picture with light from behind.

 

[JohnRossDele]

In a small tank like that, I would avoid multiple male swordtails. One will be dominant and the others will suffer for it. A single male is a magnificent fish and would do well with several females, as many as 5. Mollies are often good in small groups of maybe 2 males and 4 females. Guppies do well in large numbers but if you intend to allow any breeding you should probably choose one variety of guppies to keep. You could easily keep 10 or 12 guppies along with the rest of the stock. I have not had any problems with multiple platy males the way I have with multiple swordtail males so maybe 2 or 3 male platies and 3 females for each male. Again, if you will allow platy fry to survive to adults, you might consider just one variety.
Another option for a decent sized tank like that is to find one of the less common fish that you like and do a single species breeding colony. It is what I do with my goodeids, another livebearer group, and I find a tank about that size can produce a steady supply of fry for trading without some of the complications that arise trying to sell or trade the more common fish. A goodeid tank, depending on which species, can also be run with no heater and it benefits the fish to do so. One of the easier to find goodeids is the Xenotoca eiseni, called orange tailed goodeids. This is one of my males.
A closeup

And a picture with light from behind.

thanks so much for that brilliant info!

so i can have

Swordtails: 5 (1 male & 4 females)
Mollies: 6 (2 males & 4 females)
Guppies: 12 (4 males & 8 females)
Platies: 12 (3 males & 9 females)

Cheers

 

[OldMan47]

The goodeids are a bit rough to put with the other livebearers but do great in a tank of their own with maybe a few cories to work as cleanup crew. The fry are large enough at birth that most will survive with just a minimum of cover in the tank. In case you didn't notice, the male goodeids do not have a gonopodium. Instead they have a structure called an andropodium which makes their anal fin look like the front part is split off from the back part. It is a reason that goodeids are often called splitfins.

 

[JohnRossDele]

thanks. I'll change aquascape too... i'll go for a more artistic planted biotope

good info on the goodieds (although i probably wont need it to the future , but it's still good for the future references that i might have to look at incease ever change my mind (so i printed this topic out!)

 

[GuppyGoddess]

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[JohnRossDele]

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whats this guy playin at!!

 

[karigupi]

I think that with well chosen stock, you could have a really stunning tank there. A nice little group of Cory's on the bottom would work well too.

I am in the process of changing my big tank over to just livebearers, at the moment there isnt much in there, 3 platies, about 4 adult & 12 juvenile guppies & my 9 corydora. Its going to be my showtank, the place where I put my prettiest home bred guppies, I hope to eventually fill it with fish that I have bred myself from selected pairs.

I've put a colour enhancing tube in there, which has a slight pink tinge to it & it makes the guppies colours really pop.

Good luck

 

[JohnRossDele]

I think that with well chosen stock, you could have a really stunning tank there. A nice little group of Cory's on the bottom would work well too.

I am in the process of changing my big tank over to just livebearers, at the moment there isnt much in there, 3 platies, about 4 adult & 12 juvenile guppies & my 9 corydora. Its going to be my showtank, the place where I put my prettiest home bred guppies, I hope to eventually fill it with fish that I have bred myself from selected pairs.

I've put a colour enhancing tube in there, which has a slight pink tinge to it & it makes the guppies colours really pop.

Good luck

o cool, good luck 2 u 2!!

i have got 6 cories in my current stocking so i will keep them and save my money