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Hey all is it possible to breed mollies with other livebearers, say platies?

Yes. Most livebearers can interbreed to produce viable fry. While not healthy, it happens all the time.

For example, a molly and a platy combo is known as a Variatus, and you can find them in many pet shops for sale.

well...do u think it is possible to breed a swordtail and a guppy?

[font color="#000080"]I’m sorry to disagree… Mollies and Platies don’t cross, and Guppies and Swordtails don’t cross too… They are not in the same genus, however Mollies and Guppies can cross, and Swordtail and Platies can.[/font]

Genus:

Mollies – [font color="#BF791F"]Poecilia[/font] Latipinna
Guppies – [font color="#BF791F"]Poecilia[/font] Reticulata

Swordtails – [font color="#008000"]Xiphophorus[/font] helleri
Platies - [font color="#008000"]Xiphophorus[/font] maculatus

[font color="#000080"]Here is an article about it…[/font]

[font color="#800080"]Question: Can a platy and a molly cross breed? Could the male guppie breed with the molly? Can a platy & swordtail crossbreed? Platy/Molly Mix.../..PlattyxSwordtail cross? Can Mollies and Platies cross-breed? Is it possible for a Platy to cross breed with a Silver Molly? Swordtail platy interbreed? Can anyone tell me if you can cross breed Platy's, Guppies and Mollies ... I think uncle scott actually mentioned a molly/guppy cross a few weeks back...

Answer: The general rule of thumb here is fish breed only within there species. That being said, platies and swordtails are so very closely related they will often cross breed. As far as mollies are concerned they only breed with other mollies. Guppies are the same way they stay with in species and do not crossbreed. Mollies and Platies do not breed togther, I have never seen any evidence of this happening. They are in two different geniuses, so it would take a lot of work in the lab to artificially cross-breed them.[/font]

[font color="#000080"]Here is the original link.[/font] Click Here!

[font color="#000080"]IMO, variatus is just a cross between swordtails and platies...(Not sure about this one though!) And Guppies and Mollies product is "Guppy-tail Molly."

Here is a link[/font] Click Here!

Last edited by ronnfive at 10-Aug-2005 21:47

agreed!

ok guys thanks
cool link

Yeah, that is why the swords of most petstore swordtails are so small. They are cross-bred with platies to get different colors, but I guess it weakens the strains.

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