Baby Fish, Livebearer Repro.
I have had 2 sets of platys, 2 guppies and 3 green swordtails. I have
been waiting forever for them to give birth. I know they get a black spot
and look like they are going to explode right before. My question is how
fast do they give birth? Do they all come out at once, or 1 every hr, etc.
The reason I ask is that I found 1 baby orange platy today. The mother still
has black inside, however it doesn't seem to be by her anal fin. Also, I
have put a few females in the breeding tank before, however they abort. Is
there any other 'Sign" to look for? I'm afraid to do it too soon. I believe
I read that platys, guppies etc. could be every 3-4 weeks.
Thanks
Kim
<Hi Kim. The "black spot" you mention is known as the Gravid Spot. It is
only reliably visible on Guppies and other small members of Poeciliidae;
larger species, like Platies and Swordtails, don't always show the spot.
That's because the spot is a colour patch but rather the developing embryos
pushing the uterus against the muscle wall of the abdomen. The bigger the
fish, the thicker the muscles, and the less visible the uterus becomes. So
forget about the gravid spot. Instead, concentrate on the shape of the
female. Prior to birth, she will be extremely rotund. In any case, as you've
learned, putting the female in a breeding trap doesn't work with anything
except the smallest species (e.g., Guppies). By far the best (and I'd argue
ONLY) way to get fry from mothers kept in community tanks is to add floating
plants. Indian Fern is ideal:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/ceratopteris.htm
Simply check the tank every morning, and look for the babies among the
leaves! Simple as that. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Baby Fish 7/3/08
Thanks! I will definitely try the floating plants. 3 females that I have
are definitely round and look like they are ready to burst! That is why I
was wondering if the orange platy is possibly still giving birth since I
found 1 baby 2 days ago. How long does it usually take for all babies to be
born? 1-2 days, hours, weeks???
Thanks again!
Kim
<If you find one or two babies, and then nothing for days, then the chances
are all the others were eaten! Typically livebearers release their batches
of fry within a short period. In my experience, you look in the tank one
morning, and find all the babies swimming about among the plants! Cheers,
Neale.>
Platies, Guppies; repro
3/3/08
I have two male guppies and one female platy along with some other bottom
feeders, i just started a ten gallon tank so i only bought a few to let the tank
cycle. I am pretty sure that the platy is pregnant from the store and the
guppies like to chase it around the tank and bite at it's fins. I has taken to
hiding in the bottom corner but comes up to eat. What should i do to relieve
stress of the platy during the pregnancy. I have an extra tank but no filter to
add to it. I had planned on maybe putting her in it for the babies to grow. If
you could please reply back at XXXX@yahoo.com that would be much
appreciated.
thanks,
Cody
<Hello Cody. Two things: first make sure the aquarium is big enough for these
fish. A 10-gallon tank is too small; 20-gallons is the minimum. When kept in
small tanks livebearers can be nippy towards one another, as you're learning. As
for stress, the main thing is to remove the males. They will fight constantly,
and nothing you can do will stop that. They will also eat any babies. Whatever
you do, don't put her in a "breeding trap" -- these are too small for adult
fish; at best you can put the babies in them. Adding some floating plants will
also help the female fish and give protection to the babies for long enough for
you to find, rescue them. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/poeciliids.htm
Specifically the sections of guppies, platies and breeding.
Cheers, Neale.>
|
Guppy and Molly Babies
2/8/08
Hi-
I recently bought fish (4 guppies and 2 mollies) and someone had babies. I have
been looking online for answers and I thought maybe you could help. I can't tell
if the mollies had babies or the guppies!!
~Fish Lover~
<You really can't tell when they're very small, though baby Mollies tend to be a
bit bigger and more dumpy-looking than newborn Guppies. Do remember that the fry
are at great risk of being eaten, so you'll want to add some floating plants to
give them shelter and a bit of safety. Breeding traps work up to a point, but
baby fish often don't do well in them, so I prefer to move newborn fish to a
small aquarium where they can be reared properly. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Guppy and Molly
Babies 2-9-08
Thank you. I do have floating plants in my aquarium. I am keeping
them with my other fish, though. None of them seem to be eaten or
bothered, and it is fine by me if there is only one still alive because
I don't know if my ten gallon tank can hold much more.
Thanks. ~fishlover~
<Happy to help. A 10-gallon tank is far too small for Mollies, and
realistically too small for Guppies, or at least, any group of Guppies
that includes a male. Male Guppies will harass each other and
unreceptive females in small tanks. As for the Mollies, unless you
adding salt (at about 6 g per litre) you will have real problems keeping
them healthy because they are so very sensitive to Nitrate. Do remember
"loving your fish" is less about cute names and more about providing
them with optimal living conditions. Animals don't give a rip whether
they're loved, but they do notice if they aren't cared for properly. So
do plan ahead, monitor water chemistry and water quality carefully, and
be prepared to make changes when (not if!) they are required. Here at
WWM we don't hand out advice just to be awkward, but to help. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: Guppy and Molly
Babies
I went to PetCo to get the fish. The fish person said that that was
a good amount of fish. They are all very healthy.
~fishlover~
<Who ya gonna believe... someone who wants to sell as many fish as
possible, or someone who has been keeping fish for over 20 years and
makes his living writing for fish magazines and books? Seriously, a
10-gallon tank isn't big enough for Mollies, and will be a war zone if
you have more than one male Guppy in there. Sure, they're fine now. But
that might not last. Mollies usually need salted water to do well, which
Guppies don't mind, so add the marine salt mix and be done with it. A
mere 6 g/litre isn't going to cost you much. Feel free to read any
aquarium book about Mollies and Guppies, and you'll find much the same
advice I'm giving you here. I'm labouring the point only because you
sign yourself "fishlover" which kind of suggests that you actually care
about the well-being of your fish. If not, and you're happy to take the
risk of them fighting, damaging each other, getting stunted, poisoned by
nitrate, or whatever because they're just cheap little pets you bought
on a whim, that's your own choice. But perhaps a change of nickname
might be in order? Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Guppy and Molly
Babies
Ok, well I will do my best but....never mind. I don't have any male
guppies.
<Good stuff. Do remember that some of your baby fish are likely to be
males, so even if you just bought females from the pet store, three
months from now you'll have sexually mature males throwing their weight
around. So plan ahead. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Guppy and Molly Babies 2-9-08
Thank you. I saw a black spot on some of the babies on their tails. Does
that mean that they are female?
<In a word, no. I suspect you are thinking of the famous (infamous)
"gravid spot", a dark region that appears around the back half of the
ventral surface of the abdomen of *some* female livebearers when they
are close to delivering their brood. It is a hopelessly unreliable
sexual characteristic even for telling if female fish are pregnant, so
in cases of limited RAM for storing useful fishkeeping facts, drag that
particular file to your brain's Trash icon and delete. Guppies (and most
other livebearers) are best sexed by looking at the anal fin; after a
couple of months it should be apparent that some of them have normal
fins (females) while others have modified, rod-shaped fins (males).
Cheers, Neale.> |
Platy and swordtail fry 2/7/07
Hi
<Hello>
I have two questions. One, is that I have 1 red platy fry and 3 swordtail fry.
All the rest of the fry squeezed themselves between the glass and rocks and
killed themselves. What were those fry thinking?!
<Mmm... trying to avoid predation?>
Second, I've had 2 red platies give birth in my comm. tank and I haven't seen
one single fry. Do you think that they all just got eaten after the first day?
thanks.
Sean
<Could be... do take a read on WWM re Poeciliid reproduction... Bob Fenner>
Livebearer birthing
clinic.... 1/15/08
Hello there,
<Hello.>
I have sought you out previously for advice and your team has been spot on.
About 8 months ago I purchased a few mollies (6) for my 60L tank and 7 Guppies
for my 30L tank, I managed to stabilise the water conditions and both fish
groups were kicking around very healthily - too healthily in fact.
<Oh?>
My Mollies have now multiplied from 6 Adults to 3 Adults, 30 juvenile and 30
baby (with more baby on the way), and the Guppies have gone from 7 Adults to 6
Adults, 10 Juvenile and about 40 baby.
<Well done.>
I have visited all the local pet shops and aquarist stores supporting Tropical
Fishkeeping, and all of them refuse to take Mollies due to their
incessant breeding and lack of 'factory controlled' conditions of life. I
advertised for a few weeks in the local paper to no avail, and I asked
around all the people I know - I managed to get one friend who was on the verge
of purchasing an aquarium (110L) when he read up on Mollies and decided to buy
some fish of his own (non-Mollie) instead of having free ones off me.
<Shame. Mollies are lovely fish!>
I started off as a pretty inexperienced Tropical Aquarist, but now I am
confident in my abilities and have been looking to other fish (for instance
Bichirs etc) however I only have space for the 2 tanks, and I am left with over
100 fish eventually.
<Yikes!>
It's getting close to critical point - 2 water changes a day in each tank, very
soon the nitro cycle will disappear and the bacteria will perish -
forcing the ammonia levels to skyrocket.
<Indeed.>
Any enough monologue, I have a few questions, if you don't mind...
<Go ahead...>
What options are left for my Guppies and Mollies?
<Try visiting online Fish Forums. There are many. Some have Buy/Sell sections,
where you can easily offload unwanted fish. If you have wildly multiplying
livebearers, one solution is to install a smallish predator. Seahorses, for
example, happily eat baby Mollies kept in marine aquaria, but even in a
fresh/brackish system, things like Glassfish and Halfbeaks and Sleeper Gobies
will chow down on fry.>
Say, I eventually managed to sort out the Guppy and Molly issue, would a
Bichir in the 60L be excessive by itself namely this one (
http://www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/Fish/Freshwater/MiscFish/CuvierBichir ) ?
<60 litres is a bit small for Polypterus senegalus. That fish can comfortably
get to 25 cm in captivity, and while it isn't overly active, you still need to
respect the fact it's a fairly big fish. A 120 litre tank would be the minimum,
in my opinion.>
Also, I am considering upgrading my 2 aquariums to a single Marine Environment
and have a few questions - is it just the inclusion of the Protein skimmer and
high salt that is the difference between the 2 types of aquariums?
<Depends on where you're going with the marine tank. I've kept coldwater marines
in tanks that were basically nothing more than coldwater freshwater tanks but
with salt added to the water. This sort of approach is viable with hardy marines
that live in coastal habitats and don't really care much about water chemistry
fluctuation. But once you start with reef organisms, things get A LOT more
complicated, a LOT more quickly. Skimmers, UV, quarantine tanks, sumps,
high-output lights, Redox, all become part of the picture. These are things
that, for the most part, are optional or not necessary in freshwater tanks.>
- Does/Can Live Rock substitute Protein Skimmers?
<Nope. Do read some of the many EXCELLENT articles about the topic here at WWM
by the various marine gurus.>
- Is it possible to get a silent Marine setup (bedroom you see...)
<Quite possibly, but not if it has a skimmer, sump, etc. But I kept my coldwater
marine tank in my bedroom when I was teenager and it was fine.>
- Do Marine smell at all/more than Tropical?
<Smell different, I suppose. Salt water does have a distinctive "tang". Some say
it's iodine, others ozone. Whatever it is, it is a nice smell.>
Thanks for your assistance,
GZ
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Livebearer birthing
clinic.... 1/16/08
Thanks for the quick reply.
<No problem.>
I will look into some of those species that you mentioned as small carnivores -
I don't think seahorses are available here in the UK,
<Yes they are, but they're expensive because they're tank-bred nowadays. This
makes them infinitely easier to keep than wild seahorses (they eat dead food!).>
nevertheless, a conversion to fish-marine is possible since this tank has
Mollies in (I also have some small Suckermouth Catfish - are they capable of
reverse osmosis too ?).
<No, Plecs cannot live in seawater. Do check you understand what "reverse
osmosis" means -- nothing to do with seawater!>
I have just a few more questions:
- A friend in Germany has several huge tanks, 90L, 200L, 300L and always advises
against the 'all-in-one' commercial filters/pumps. He instead used (from what I
can remember) a foam layer which is permanently fixed to the aquarium walls in
which the pump is placed behind. Overtime it matures as the bacteria reside in
it, and starts to look like a rock face of sorts. Is there a correct name for
this filter medium - I cannot find any reference to this at all, and have since
lost contact with my friend.
Would such a filter be overkill in a 60L tank?
<No filter is "overkill" if it provides at least the amount of filtration
required for the livestock being kept. A too-big filter can be a waste of money
in terms of purchasing and running costs though, and too much water current
upsets fish from relatively still waters. All this said, I can't really see what
anyone would object to a commercial filter. It is true that manufacturers are
sometimes optimistic about how much livestock or what size tank a filter is
suitable for. But provided you go by turnover, no harm will be done. A basic
community tank needs at least 4 times the volume of the tank in turnover per
hour, a big/messy fish system at least 6 times, and marines and giant freshwater
fish at least 10 times.>
With tanks, is it always wise to go for surface area over depth (for chemical
loss via aeration)?
<In theory, yes, a filter that it wide but shallow, with all the bacteria close
to the atmosphere will indeed outperform one that is tall but narrow, where the
bacteria must rely on the oxygen supplied by the flow of water. In practise this
isn't usually an issue, and other things, like water changes and water
circulation, will have a much bigger impact on the livestock than the shape or
design of the filter. PROVIDED of course that the filter is adequate in terms of
turnover and the choice of filter media.>
The Mollies and Guppies I currently have in the juvenile state, about 14 of
them, smaller than adults but a lot bigger than fry, what could I do with these?
Nobody in the local area on forums wants Mollies, and some folk explicitly
advise/abhore female mollies and Guppies for the 'population explosion' risk.
<Can't think why. Anyone sticking either in a community tank with, say, cichlids
or small predators such as swordtails or Pim pictus catfish isn't really going
to have a population explosion!>
Thanks for your help,
GZ
<Cheers, Neale.>
Platys.... what if? Molly
crosses? 1/3/08
Hi Guys or Gals!
<Hello.>
OK, so.. about 9 months ago my cousin dumped some mollies and platys in my
freshwater tank due to them being baby making machines at
her house. I got sick of my freshwater tank constantly having problems with
disease and infection so I pulled the Mollies and over the course of many, many
long hours, I slowly converted them to marine fish (in their own separate tank
not in with my other marine fish) They’re doing great! (both tanks) It’s been 6
months. Some are Dalmatian mollies and some are molly and platy cross breeds
(living in a 1.024-1.025 salinity).
<Never heard of Platy/Molly hybrids. Are you sure? I'd LOVE to see pictures of
these Platy hybrids.>
I even have a couple new babies in that tank. So my question is.. are the Platys
solely freshwater?
<While Mollies adapt to marine conditions fine, I've never heard of anyone adapt
any Platy (or Swordtail) to marine conditions. Brackish water up to SG 1.005 is
likely the limit.>
Or can they be converted like the mollies as well?
<Not that I'm aware of.>
I heard they’d be OK in brackish water, But I want to know if they’d live
comfortably in a marine environment.
<Likely not.>
Thanks for your time.
Rochelle
<Cheers, Neale.>
Pregnancy Question - 11/26/07
Hey it's me again!
If the gravid spot is not the pregnancy clincher, then what is? I've noticed
that at the end of the belly and right next to the anal fin forms a point right
before she gives birth.
-Any help?
-Sarah
<The problem with the gravid spot is that it isn't a surface feature. It's
caused by the embryo-filled sac being pressed against the muscle wall of the
abdomen. So you see a dark area just in front of the anal fin. It's very
reliable on wild-type Guppies and Mosquitofish. But as soon as you look at fancy
livebearers, which have stronger colouration, or larger species like Platies or
Swordtails, you can't see the gravid spot because the colouration and/or muscles
obscure it. As a general rule, if a female livebearer above around 2-3 months
has ever been with a male more than 2 months old, she will have been fertilised.
Since livebearers can have as many as six broods from one insemination, you
effectively need something like 6 months or so of time to completely "use up"
any sperm deposited and so be "ready" for mating once more. This is why people
breeding livebearers separate males and females as soon as they can be sexed,
and never, ever mix males with females except for deliberate breeding purposes.
Once you've had a few broods, you will probably be able to tell for your
particular fish what they look like a few days from parturition, but beyond
that, you cannot reliably tell whether a female is actually pregnant or not.
Hope this helps, Neale.>
Platies and Swordtails
changing sex 10/26/07
I love your website. I'm very sorry if this topic is already on your
website, I've already looked as much as I possible could. I'm doing a mid-term
project in science class. I am going to see if Platies can change gender. I have
to look up info to support it. I know that only hermaphrodites can change
gender. I also know that it can only happen to females, and that it takes longer
for guppies to change sex than platies or swordtails. I'm actually going to do
the experiment, how long does it take, approximately, for them to change? Also
that there must be all females present, no males. I already own a lot of
livebearers, adults and babies, I've had fish my whole life. Can you help me
please? Thanks a lot.
<Greetings. Without wanting to do your homework for you, let me save you some
effort on one aspect of your project: There is no evidence at all any
Xiphophorus species change sex. As your literature review should reveal, while
it has been mentioned in the aquarium literature many times, it has never been
observed under laboratory conditions. It is widely believed to be a myth, with
aquarists having misidentified a slow-developing male as a female. Sex changes
in fish tend to confined to marine perciform groups. The classic examples are
among the Wrasses, which typically start off as females, but the largest ones
become males. This is called Protogyny ("female first"). Protoandry, where all
individuals start off as females, is not so common, but one well-known example
is the Anemonefish, where the largest member of a colony becomes the female.
Cheers, Neale>
Setting up fry/quarantine tank,
livebearers, platies – 09/29/07
I'm new to this hobby and I really appreciate having this site to go to for
help.? I have a 10 gallon tank set up in my classroom with 3 female red? wag
platys.? I've had the platys for almost 3 weeks now and they seem to be doing
pretty well.? One likes to hide at times, but she'll always come out for a pinch
of food and sometimes she hangs out with the other two so I think she is Ok.?
Anyway, our school's back-to-school night was last night and one of my?
students'? parents (who used to run a fish store in NY) said one of my platys
was pregnant.?
<Pretty much a steady state...>
I had? thought she? might be because she? has a fatter belly than the other two,
but I didn't know if maybe she was bloated/sick.? I? do not see a dark spot on
her so I'm assuming it will be awhile longer for her to give birth.? I know it
is a long shot to think that I might be at school when she has her fry and can
actually save them from being eaten, but I thought I'd set up a tank to use as a
fry tank just in case.?
<Can use a trap of a few designs... or add some/more hiding material... trust to
chance... some young should survive in such a setting>
And besides, if it doesn't get used as a fry tank, I could use it as a
quarantine tank for any new fish that I want to add to my tank.? I'm going out
this weekend to get the supplies to set up this tank.? My question is how to
best get this fry tank up and running as quickly as possible.?
<Posted... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwset-up.htm
and the linked files above>
I have? read that I could take water from my existing tank and put it into my
fry tank to get the cycling started.?
<Yes>
Should I filter? out the waste (fish poop, uneaten food, etc.) that I siphon out
during the water changes from my old tank? before putting it into the new fry
tank???
<Mmm, no, I wouldn't>
I'm doing twice weekly water changes with my classroom tank now.? Should I put
the old water I siphon from my classroom tank into the fry tank each time I do a
water change or would putting it in during the initial set-up be enough to get
the cycling started and keep the good bacteria going until the fry tank is
needed?
<I would use the "old" water for the new tank... Please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/platyreprofaqs.htm>
Thanks!
Carolyn
<Bob Fenner>
Platies and
guppies? Crosses 8/4/07
Hey there WWM crew,
I couldn't find an answer to this question on the site nor
anywhere else in my books or other online sources, so maybe you
can still help me out. The other day I saw my female guppy
mating with my male platy, and a female platy trying to mate
with just about everyone and anyone. Is this normal first of
all?
<Mmm, yes... Poeciliids are wanton this way>
And secondly is it possible that my female guppy may get
pregnant with a half platy half guppy group of fry? Thank for
your continuous help!
Sincerely,
Erica
<And yes, can occur... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/livebrrreprofaqs.htm
and some of the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Birthing without a mate?
Guppies 7/28/07
My daughter's guppy gave birth to 4 live guppies on May 20. We purchased her
pregnant from a pet store. She was removed from the babies immediately and has
been alone since. On July 24 we found 3 new babies in the tank with the mother!
There has not been any other fish with her since the birth and I am trying to
figure out how this happened? Is this common and is she done? Yikes!
<Greetings. Yes, this is normal. Guppies practise something called
"superfetation" which means that they can divide up the fertilized eggs into
several different batches of embryos. Each batch develops at a different rate,
allowing the female to give birth to a succession of broods following a single
mating.. Their close relatives the dwarf mosquitofish can actually stretch this
out to no fewer than 6 broods from a single mating! Anyway, welcome to the
wonderful world of livebearers! Cheers, Neale.>
Can a fish be "sterilized"? Oh yes...
poeciliids here 7/9/07
This may be one of the more unusual questions you have received to date.
I have many mollies that were just fry last September. One of the fish who has
turned male is having the same exact tumor problem his father did. The father
fish succumbed after the slow growing nodular tumor spread and got in the way of
his breathing after several months. One of his son's has been growing a tumor
off to the side of his body and localized on the belly, but fortunately not
spread to where it would effect his breathing. He still has a good quality of
life and is courting his sisters along with the other males. I'd had to separate
him since Mollies are a social fish who do well in groups, but I also don't like
the thought of him reproducing what appears to be a bad gene.
What I'm wondering, would it be safe (and painless) to snip his gonopodium to
prevent reproduction? If not, any other suggestions? I don't think he deserves
to be put alone or die because of this. Thanks.
<Greetings. Sterilising livebearers has been done in the past in the way you
describe, typically for breeders to prevent people "copying" their new
varieties. Whether it is safe or painless I cannot say, though as a man, the
idea of anyone snipping anything off of me fills me with dread! Fish *do* have
nerves in and around their fins, as can be seen by the reaction when fin-nippers
attack things like angelfish and gouramis. But your bigger problem is what to do
with the male. Personally, I'd isolate him. Put him in a tank on his own with
(ideally) other brackish water fish. Mollies are not really schooling fish, so
while they enjoy company, they don't pine away from the lack of it (unlike, say,
neons or Corydoras). You are absolutely right to try and remove poor genes from
your stock. Whether a tumour is actually genetic though is a different question.
While they can be, in many cases they are caused by other factors, such as
viruses. In female livebearers they also seem to be caused by certain problems
during gestation. But if it is genetic, there's no reason to assume only the
male carries it; genetic disorders can be carried by females even if they don't
express them. I'm sure you recall from biology class at school how Haemophilia
works, for example, which is a human disease that can be carried by females but
usually manifests itself only in males. In other words, when you breed the next
generation from your females plus some new males from elsewhere, don't be
surprised if you see this tumour reappear (if it is genetic rather than caused
by something else). Cheers, Neale>
Re: Can a fish be "sterilized"? 7/10/07
Per the below advise, I will go ahead and just separate Jack Jr. (fish with
the tumor - they all have names). Would a 1 gallon tank (aerated and filtered of
course) be enough for him to live his last days out in? (I don't have a separate
tank avail, so they just reproduce in a 55 gal and babies live by hiding in the
abundant plants an decor.
<No, a 1 gallon tank isn't really acceptable for a molly. At some point breeders
have to euthanise unwanted fry. Fish produce too many offspring to care for them
all, especially if they're "faulty". But that's your call.>
On coloring for mollies, I seem to have a blend I have not seen - I have a few
that are a deep beautiful orange color on the body, black dorsal, side and tail
fins and pure white belly. I have not seen any in pictures with quite this
variety. How common/uncommon is this color pattern? They almost resemble a
red-wag platy color-wise. I read up that fish can change color to a degree
associated with mating; would this be the case, or have I lucked out on getting
a somewhat unique color scheme? (The fry came out of gold dust mollies)
<I have no idea whether such a variety is new. Creating a new colour variety
isn't difficult, but getting it to breed true (i.e., the same, generation after
generation) is much more difficult. Same as with breeding any animal. Your
regional livebearer club (e.g.. American Livebearer Association or British
Livebearer Association or whatever) will probably be your next stop if you're
serious. As well as having a club you can join to discuss with other experts,
they will have auctions and meetings where you see and learn about livebearer
breeding. Mollies generally do not change colours in the same way as, say,
cichlids. Good luck! Neale>
Re: Can a fish be "sterilized"? 7/10/07
Thank you again. I think at this point I am seriously considering
euthanization in light of the tumor growing so that he does not die a slow or
painful death. I think I'll just keep my fish as a hobby for now, but thank you
for letting me know there are organizations for livebearers and such should I
ever get more serious down the road. Have a wonderful day!
<Glad to help. Cheers, Neale.>
Male guppy romancing female platy
6/5/07
Hi,
<<Hello, Krista. Tom here.>>
I have a male fantail guppy that is exhibiting mating behavior towards one
of my female platys. He follows her around, snuggles up next to her and
swishes his tail in her direction.
<<A Guppy “lounge lizard”, eh?>>
She is not interested and is constantly trying to stay away from him.
<<You’ve raised her well, Krista. :) >>
Can they crossbreed?
<<I’ve run across unverifiable accounts of Guppies cross breeding with
Platys but find these reports rather doubtful. Platys with Swordtails? Yes,
but not Platys with Guppies. Livebearing females can store the males’ sperm
for a period of time resulting in multiple births from a single mating. This
occasionally gives rise to accounts from hobbyists that a female Platy, for
instance, became pregnant by a male Guppy. Doesn’t take into account that
she likely mated with one, or more, male Guppies at the LFS before coming to
her new home. A far more likely scenario, in my opinion.>>
What is the likelihood that she can become pregnant by him?
<<Again, in my opinion, none.>>
I purposefully have all female platys (3) and 2 male fantail guppies because
I didn't want babies - my tank is too small (4 gal BiOrb).
<<In a tank this small, it’s barely possible that fry – from viable parents
– would escape being eaten by the adults anyway, Krista. Nothing cruel or
heartless about this. Simply the natural way of things.>>
Thanks,
Krista
<<You’re welcome. Tom>>
Hello, FW livebearer info. 5/10/07
Hello guys,
(From Andreas, Cyprus)
<Greetings from San Diego, California>
Great website guys, i just found it out and there is endless information.
I have tried to search for my question to your website but i didn't manage to
find anything.
My question is how old the female balloon molly and female guppy has to be to
be able to get fertilized and give fly?
<Only a few (three-four) months really>
Also how old males has to be to be able to fertilize the females?
<About this amount of time also>
Just for information in my tank i have 3 balloon molly, 4 guppy, 10 tetras, 2
angels, a pleco and a kuhlii loach. And 47 balloon molly fry and 6 guppy fry.
The fry is currently in breeding net, unfortunately i can't let them free yet in
main tank because of the angels, even thought my angels are not so big they
would happily eat them all. I'm thinking to get rid of them but they are really
good looking so i don't know yet what to do)
<Perhaps another aquarium for the angels by themselves...>
anyway I'm going to make another small tank soon for the fry to grow, so maybe
that would solve the problem.
<Ah yes>
Thanks.
<Welcome my friend. Bob Fenner, who was out in Cyprus in '96 for the Hash House
Harriers Int'l runs.>
Breeding grass on top or bottom? Depends on species 4/24/07
Thank you so much for your website! I have spent many hours there and have
learned a lot!
<Good>
I have a 10 gallon tank with platies and one is definitely pregnant. I bought
some plastic aquarium breeding grass today and was wondering if it is better to
let it float on top of the tank or anchor it in the gravel at the bottom for the
upcoming fry?
<Near the top for these livebearers>
I was concerned if the fry would get enough crushed flake food if living in the
grass on the bottom.
I suppose I could cut the grass and let part of it float and put part of it on
the bottom?
Thank you so much!
Michele
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Swordtail guppies? 4/10/07
Hello again,
I've been sucked into your website :) And I have another question I can't seem
to find an answer to. Can you breed swordtails with guppies?
Because the third fish in my tank is a male guppy (with a female swordtail and a
male molly) and, while the molly has been mating with the swordtail only
occasionally, the guppy won't leave her alone (yeah those guys are insane). So I
was wondering, with all that action, could I end up with swordtail guppy mutant
babies? :P
Thanks,
Didi
<Possibly. BobF>
Superfetation 3/30/07
My son bought a female guppy nearly two months ago, and within the first week
she had 8 babies. She has been kept in a tank by herself for the time since, and
yet she just had three more babies tonight. As they are live bearers, I am not
sure what is going on, and I came across the term superfetation, and wanted to
know exactly what all this meant? Will we have any more babies to deal with?
<Mmm, plainly put, this is the capacity to store viable sperm in (this case
female guppies') reproductive tract. A useful strategy for when it "takes two to
tango" and there are no males about. You may indeed have more young from this
"lone" female. Bob Fenner>
