Planning A Livebearer Tank

I kindaaa want endlers...where do i get them?

Leopard endler
a very nice hybrid

flame tail guppy

wild guppy been kept in the hobby for 20 years (originally from columbia)

top swordtail guppy female had fry 1 turned out as albino

mrp3 said:

Yes and plus I don't agree with the first comment on not putting fish together that will create hybrids. What is wrong with hybrids? Everyone seems to hate them but I love my hybrids just as much as my so called "purebreds" but all fish are actually hybrids from some time or another. My pregnant platy is in her own fry tank right now because that is what I like to use. I'm actually hoping she has hybrids of my favorite original tankmate that sadly died last week. ;(. Out of my 6 original tank mates I've only managed to have 3 left after 6 mos. I want these fry to be a marigold wag swordtail red platy hybrid. I'll be sad if they're not but oh well I'll love them anyways.

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The problem with hybrids is, there is always the risk of losing the original species. Take Endler's for instance. So many have been allowed to breed with guppies that all Endler's available in the trade are now Endler/guppy crosses. If it wasn't for dedicated breeders and hobbyists keeping pure strains, if anything happened to the wild population (which is from a small geographical area), through drought or pollution say, they'd be lost forever.

The wild type swordtail is almost impossible to find, as they're all swordtail/platy hybrids and some species of African cichlids and Synodontis catfish may already be extinct because of hybridising in the hobby and trade circles, which is a tragedy. What if one them had the cure for cancer, or leukemia tucked away in it's DNA?

Not all fish are actually hybrids; that's not how speciation works.

most wild type swordtails can still be found in the wild
and are available throughout the hobby


xiphophorus alvarezi

xiphophorus pygmaeus

Xiphophorus mayae

wild Xiphophorus are not normally seen in lfs
if available they should be classet as aquarium strain
there is know way of knowing if its Pure

Although I find guppy/endler crosses more common in pet shops and similar locations, the wild type endlers are very much available if you make the effort to find them. I happen to be a registered breeder of them. The main commercial source of class N endlers is Adrian Hernandez who operates as Swamp River Aquatics but there are plenty of hobby breeders like me who will never see our wild fish worth much. Unfortunately, the crosses are prettier than the wilds.

This is a male that I tried to preserve because he showed that extended red sword-like tail. It was only the color of the lower ray of an otherwise transparent tail with a very short sword extension but it sure looked swordy. As I bred him with virgin wild females, I lost most of that sword look in about 2 generations.