Should Have Checked!

[linda1503]

Went to my LFS today to get two wagtail platys, one male and one female. I already have 2 females. Asked the guy for the fish and went off to buy some veggie tetramin as well. Paid and went home. The only trouble is when I out the bag in my tank I realise that he had given me swordtails!! Never thought to check because I presumed the that most LFS assistants would know the difference between platys and swordtails! Obviously not!!

Anyway, they are nice fish so have decided to keep them. Question: I have heard that platys and swordtails will breed with each other cos they are the same species, so will they be ok or do I need another female swordtail to stop the male annoying the one female I have or will he be quite happy with one female swordtail and 2 female platys?

 

[luque]

should be fine

 

[shroob]

I think they probably will interbreed. Havn't had personal experience, but I think they will.
EDIT:Just read the other bit and I dont think platties are the same species as swordtails

 

[Inchworm]

Hi loach

I'm going to move your thread to the livebearers section, but I did want to offer a comment first.

Whenever you shop for fish, please stay right there and pick out your own fish. The salesperson may or may not care what condition the ones he picks out for you are in. It's also possible that he might injure one in the process of catching it. That's why I encourage everyone to select their own fish and watch while they are being caught. I also suggest that you ask the salesperson to put them into a plastic specimen container (the kind that hangs on the side of a tank) for you to inspect them before pouring them into a bag.

The little time it takes to do this will pay off in the long run!

 

[dunchp]

Platies and Swordtails are not the same species; they are both in the Xiphophorus family but are not the same species.

Xiphophorus actually means 'sword bearer' in Greek and relates to the swordtails, but a platy is effectively (vastly simplified) a swordtail with no sword.

The platies and swordtails you guys are referring to are generally cultivated species and are a mixture between species but the platies you are talking about are Xiphophorus maculatus and variatus or a cross between the two. The swords are generally Xiphophorus helleri but there are around 25-30 species of Xiphophorus from the wild.

To make matters a little more complicated, some of the wild platys actually have a small sword, such as Xiphophorus andersi (spiketail platyfish) and Xiphophorus xiphidium (swordtail platyfish) and some swordtails such as meyeri do not have any sword.


Xiphophorus will interbreed and indeed the Xiphophorus stock centre hybridises different species for the purposes of Cancer Research.

 

[LauraFrog]

If you want to know more about Xiphophorous genetics and the stock centre look up Myron Gordon...

If you don't want hybrid fry, put the swordtails in a different tank. But as has been mentioned, almost all swords/platies you can get at your LFS are already hybrids.

 

[linda1503]

Thanks for all your replies, sorry Inchworm should have posted here originally thanks for moving it. Good advice aboout staying and watching which fish are netted. I usually do but after having a good look in the tank all the fish seems bright and healthy. Never give it a thought about the guy netting from a different tank! This time I was lucky and got two healthy fish (even though they were the wrong ones.) I'll certainly stay and check next time. Anyway they seem to have settled fine and are exploring and eating.
Oops guess I was completely wrong about being the same species. Ah well its good to learn and thats what this site is for. I'll go now and read up on platys and swordtails. Thanks everyone!