Strange cross breeding.. any ideas

falkner

Our fresh water tank started with the following:
1 Black Female Dalmation Molly
1 Male Mickey Mouse Moon
3 Female Fancy Guppies
2 White Clouds (unsure of sex)
4 Cory Dora
Ok so after at least 4 months a white dalmation molly appears in the tank. An additional 4 weeks later (today) we have 3 frys also in the tank. Too soon to tell what they are but 2 are white and one is DARK blue. SO we are confident there is only one definite male (moon) and possibly one of the white clouds. The three fancy guppies are have very large bellies- don't know if this a natural cycle for them or they are pregnant. My main question is cross-breeding occurring?- I am confused!

okiemavis

Cross-breeding has been reported among live bearers, but it is very rare, and not what is happening in your tank.

Female live bearers can store sperm for months and use it to repeatedly impregnate themselves. If your guppies were ever in contact with a male, you can safely assume that they will be pregnant several more times before they run out of sperm, as will the molly.

These white clouds, are they white cloud minnows, or a type of live bearer?

falkner

They are minnows. First thank you for information that no one has ever told us. Lastly - Is it normal for the fancy guppies to look so large in terms of their belly size then it just seems smaller at other times?

okiemavis

When I kept fancy guppies, my females seemed to do that too, although I assumed I was going crazy. They're little pigs, so they'll eat a lot of food and their bellies will expand for a while. Also, guppies can be pregnant with fry that are at more than one stage at once. It's a space saving type thing. So they can give half-births and still be pregnant with other fry that aren't meant to be born yet.

Guppies are hardy little guys, and they breed *very* easily. Unless it's something crazy and strange, I'd assume it's another little intricacy of live bearer reproduction.

Are you planning on separating the fry or letting them fend for themselves? I always just let things go on naturally in my tank, and I still ended up with plenty of fry.

falkner

I intend to let nature take its course, but I am pulling for the little dark fry. I will keep you posted. Thanks

okiemavis

Good luck! Oh and I forgot to say before- welcome to fishforum! Glad to have you on board.

fish_4_all

IT is not unheard of to have guppies and mollies interbreed. It is also extremely common for Swordss and Platties to interbreed. I have seen crosses of both kinds. White clouds lay eggs.

The larger female of a which ever species is more likley to carry a cross fertilization due to obvious reasons.

Live bearers females can hold sperm for a long time but 4 months seems like a long time to not have seen many different batches of fry.

Just make sure to keep the crossbreeds if they are out of the LFS. Is hard enough to find pure strains as it is.

FishGirl

Does anyone know if crossbred livebearers are infertile?

Oldman47

The concern about crossing is not a real concern with your stocking. Mollies and platies are far too different to cross. Guppies have been artificially crossed to mollies but I have kept both together in the same tank for years and never seen a cross so its at least unlikely. Swords and platies do cross breed but I have been told by the breeders that make the crosses that they are not easy to do.
The fry are very likely to be coming from the molly if the fry are a decent size. If the fry are very small, they may well be from the "fat" guppies. Both of these livebearers, guppies and mollies, are among the ones who can produce fry for as much as 6 months and sometimes a little longer after they were last with a male of their own species. The fry can be fun to raise because you don't know what males the females were exposed to in shipping or in the LFS.
For fishgirl, crosses between xiphophorus are definitely fertile. Xiphphorus are what swords, moons and platies are. Crosses between guppies and endlers are also fertile in many but not all cases. Crosses between the many different fish that are all called mollies are also fertile because the latipina, the velifera and the sphenops along with the less common mollies are closely enough related. Most of the mollies you see at the LFS are a cross between different wild type mollies. The very different crosses that are usually done artificially like guppies to mollies I have no idea about. There is not as much information about them out there as about many other things.