D-Hawk Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 will platys and swordtails breed in a community tank? I am keeping them with zebra danios, neons and bristlenoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 yes, they may even hydridize. not many fry will survive but if you have enough plant cover a couple will survive from each brood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Hawk Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northland chic Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 My friend had a couple of platys and then I gave her a heap of swordtails. Went out there the other day to find a heap of hybrids! i must say they look awesome, big like a sword but really colourful and deep bodied like a platy. The males get tiny swords as well. Next time I'm out I might take some pics. Don't worry everyone, she doesn't sell or trade any fish. The tank is at her parents and they love the colour and they way the fish are so friendly! They are also in love with a brown male bristlenose who lives under a half coconut shell because he comes out then lifts the side of the shell and quickly darts back under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Hawk Posted October 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 wow I didn't know they could hybrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 platys can hybridize with swordtails, mollies and guppies, but swordtail Xs are a lot more common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 have any pics of hybrids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 hmm interesting discussion here: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-tropical-fish/mollies-guppies-cross-breeding-26557/ as well as some pics. they're not saying what ive always thought but they have photographic evidence! also here: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/livebearers/70119-im-confused.html several years ago I did some research and came up with this: possible hybrids: platy X swordtail platy X molly platy X guppy not possible: swordtail X molly molly X guppy swordtail X guppy but those links i gave you give a more reasonable picture - if they are in the same genus they can hybridize. ie. platy X swordtail, molly X guppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 I don't buy it. They will breed with them selves before hybridising. good evidence to support that some species will breed within a species before resorting to hybridizing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 I don't buy it. They will breed with them selves before hybridising. good evidence to support that some species will breed within a species before resorting to hybridizing too. i agree, they are very unlikely to hybridize if they have a same species option. I think most of the hybrids out there either were intentional or were small mixed groups with no same species partner available (eg 2 female platys kept with 2 male swords) So imho if you want to avoid hybrids then make sure you have at least a m/f pair of platys and a m/f pair of swords Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northland chic Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 I will get some photos next time I'm out there. I remember giving her a few platys, then a heap of swordtails (adults and babies) and the last fish I gave her was one platy. A couple of the platys I bought last time were I believe hybrids to begin with because they had that dull brown colour and horizontal stripes which I have only seen in swordtails but were labeled as platys and not as big. I had a male platy but when i gave them to my friend he went too, there was a couple of platys i couldn't catch and they seemed to always be pregnant for months afterwards so I had to think they were mating with male swordtail but never seen any offspring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 I always assumed platys and swords could breed as both were Xiphophorus sp. and someone had, in the past, just taken those with the sword and bred them to get the longer sword but, apart from that they were the same fish. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northland chic Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Yip, I'm sure I read somewhere that one of the colour variations in swordtail (maybe the wag kind) is only possible because it was bred with a platy originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 I always assumed platys and swords could breed as both were Xiphophorus sp. and someone had, in the past, just taken those with the sword and bred them to get the longer sword but, apart from that they were the same fish not true there are two species of platy (Xiphophorus maculatus & Xiphophorus variatus) and one species of swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) they are diferent species, just closely related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 But all being Xiphophorus they should crossbreed easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevolentsparkle Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 yes, but it's far from a general rule... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.