Swordtail and platies?? - MyFishTank.Net Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Fish Forum

ValRasbora · 10-30-2009, 07:56 PM

hey I have 4 female platies and 1 male swordtail, will they breed together? One of my platies has a sorta 'lyretail' and if the swordie got @ her would the lyretail be exaggerated?
Thank you and I think some of my females MAY already be pregnant!

Newman · 10-31-2009, 03:18 PM

Ok. Chances are your female platies are pregnant for the store they came from. if not pregnant, then theyve already mated, and wont breed with the male sword.

Yes, theoretically this should happen. but it can only happen sucessfully if the male sword is very bored, and the female platy is a virgin. then youll have hybrid offspring. If you bred a male sword with a female platy, you would get platies. if you bred a female sword and a male platy (what i want to do) then youll get swordtails. either way the offspring will be hybrids, but they will show more characteristic of the species that the mother was part of.

Not sure but i cannot see why the lyretail gene would be exaggerated if you have only one parent be lyre tailed. frankly its impossible to breed a lyretail sword male anyway. only a small amount of the offspring would even have a lyre trait.

But all of your females are likely to be "used up" and no good to breed to the male sword. they store milt form previous matings for up to six batches or even more. this means they really only need to breed once a lifetime. in some cases the female might live long enough to be able to breed again once she runs out of stored milt.

I'm also not sure if the males gonopodium would fit in a platy, nor do i really think about that matter. Im doing the opposite. female sword crossed w/ male platy. that way i dont have to worry. But unfortunately my project of getting blue swordtails from a blue male platy and a red female sword has been slowed down cuz my female was pregnant already, and the male died a week after introduction anyway.
Now i gotta wait till the fry grow up and ill select the females/get rid of males, and buy a new male blue platy.
I'll keep you updated if this cross will work, if youre interested in crossing swordtails w/ platy.

10-30-2009, 07:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
ValRasbora Little Fish Join Date: May 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 279	Swordtail and platies?? hey I have 4 female platies and 1 male swordtail, will they breed together? One of my platies has a sorta 'lyretail' and if the swordie got @ her would the lyretail be exaggerated? Thank you and I think some of my females MAY already be pregnant! __________________ "The more the merrier!" 20 gallon 1 male marigold wag swordtail (named Freckles for the freckles he has). 4 platys; 2 red wags, 1 sunset, 1 variatus (all females I believe). 2 albino corys- RIP, little guy 4 harlequin rasboras 6 neons. plus 5 or 6 live plants (not sure what they are) oh and a snail infestation will be buying some sort of algae-eater... ideas anyone?

10-31-2009, 03:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
Newman Large Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 820	Ok. Chances are your female platies are pregnant for the store they came from. if not pregnant, then theyve already mated, and wont breed with the male sword. Yes, theoretically this should happen. but it can only happen sucessfully if the male sword is very bored, and the female platy is a virgin. then youll have hybrid offspring. If you bred a male sword with a female platy, you would get platies. if you bred a female sword and a male platy (what i want to do) then youll get swordtails. either way the offspring will be hybrids, but they will show more characteristic of the species that the mother was part of. Not sure but i cannot see why the lyretail gene would be exaggerated if you have only one parent be lyre tailed. frankly its impossible to breed a lyretail sword male anyway. only a small amount of the offspring would even have a lyre trait. But all of your females are likely to be "used up" and no good to breed to the male sword. they store milt form previous matings for up to six batches or even more. this means they really only need to breed once a lifetime. in some cases the female might live long enough to be able to breed again once she runs out of stored milt. I'm also not sure if the males gonopodium would fit in a platy, nor do i really think about that matter. Im doing the opposite. female sword crossed w/ male platy. that way i dont have to worry. But unfortunately my project of getting blue swordtails from a blue male platy and a red female sword has been slowed down cuz my female was pregnant already, and the male died a week after introduction anyway. Now i gotta wait till the fry grow up and ill select the females/get rid of males, and buy a new male blue platy. I'll keep you updated if this cross will work, if youre interested in crossing swordtails w/ platy. __________________ AQUARIUMS: 40 Gal 1 Female Orange & Black Oranda GF 1 Female Blood Red Swordtail 5 Otocinclus 3 Swordtail Fry 3 Cherry shrimp 1 Gold Apple Snail Java fern, Anubias, Anacharis, Cabomba, Marimo Moss, Flame Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass 10 Gal 2 Otocinlus 20+ Swordtail Fry 4 Cherry Shrimp Dwarf Sag HC 2.5 Gal Christmas moss 1 Female Deltatail Betta Credit goes to Lludu