I didnt think I was a breeder....

what sort of fish?

bblboy54 said:

That is actually a loaded question..... These fish are actually a cross between guppies and plattys.... and I know this for sure because they were born in my tank.

I know this is once in a million shot, but it really did happen. My platty was all by her self in a tank that had a couple guppies in it. She became pregnant and had 4 fry. 2 of those fry made it. One of those 2 fry is the one that is now pregnant. As ofyet, still only on fry and mommy still looks pretty big.

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I think this is highly unlikely. You do know livebearers can store sperm, correct? The platy likely came to you either pregnant or with sperm stored and became pregant in your tank without the aid of the guppies. It's not a one in a million shot. It is impossible. Platys and guppies are two different species. Now then, a platy and a swordtail on the other hand...

think this is highly unlikely. You do know livebearers can store sperm, correct? The platy likely came to you either pregnant or with sperm stored and became pregant in your tank without the aid of the guppies. It's not a one in a million shot. It is impossible. Platys and guppies are two different species. Now then, a platy and a swordtail on the other hand...

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Both Palties, guppies and swordtails all belong to the same family of fishes, Poeciliidae. Thus their genetic make is simillar and not identical. So, cross bredding is possible except their offsprings would be sterile. That is unable to repoduce themselves.

Having said that, it is more than likely that either your platies or guppies came from the LFS pregnant.
These creature have a remarkable ability to store the sperm in their body till it is the right time to give birth. An ability some creature have that is vital to survival of their species.

Rohn

ive read they can store it for only a couple months, im not sure if this is right tho. how long have you had your platty? and can you post pics? they sound interesting

Hmmm, I had two mickey mouse male platy in with a plain grey female guppy.
Then I added a smale male gup, king cobra guppy. He was juvenile, and my female paid him no mind. He later died of a swim bladder problem, I think he was genetically weak from the start, he never grew to size altho his color was amazing. Anyway, after breaking down the tank, I came across 3 tiny fry. Today, these fry show red and black platy color, have longer bodies than gups, and a less showy tale, which is red and black, the color of the two platies that my grey female gup was in with. I suspect a crossbreeding, since the male guppy that I had was electric blue, black and red. The fry look nothing like him, but do resemble the mickey mouse platy. I have 2 male and one female from this. Right now the female is showing a gravid spot. I think she has mated with a sibling.

So, I think crossbreeding between platy and gup is possible.

I'v read that livebearers can store sprem for up to six months. I have also read that they can store sperm for up to four pregnancies. Give it time, I imagine these fish are not crossbreeds. Judging a fishes body style when young is a crapshoot at best. Guppies are particularly well known for the fact that they have such varying colors and body shapes, even in the wild that sometimes people have confused them as unrelated fish, or sometimes a diverses fish is lumped in as a guppy, when it truly isn't (like Endler's Livebearer). I very seriously doubt that the guppies mated with your platy successfully and think it most likely a case of stored sperm.