shortymet55
Fishaholic
I was wondering what happens when you mix swordtail colors. I tried searching, but nothing came up with an answer. First, will my swordtails be able to breed. Second, will the babies be a mix of the two color? Thanks
Mixing Swordtail Colors
- Thread starter shortymet55
- Start date
fry_forever!
Fish Herder
Yes, they will definitely mix colors. If you mix them too much though, the babies eventually become more disease-prone, so it's not the best thing to do. Here's a pic of crossed mollies & swords: (Actually, dalmations are crossed between black and white, and they are more disease-prone than most mollies.)
http
/gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/16077Dalm.jpghttp
/farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/247533...9a6a2e4.jpg?v=0There you go.
helterskelter
Livebearer Specilest
Yes, they will definitely mix colors. If you mix them too much though, the babies eventually become more disease-prone, so it's not the best thing to do. Here's a pic of crossed mollies & swords: (Actually, dalmations are crossed between black and white, and they are more disease-prone than most mollies.)
[URL="http/gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/16077Dalm.jpg"]http
[URL="http
There you go.
Yes you can mix colours and yes they will breed together.
However it dose not make them more disease-prone. It's makes then stronger coz your mixing the gene's and not inbreeding them.
Also the photo's are mollies and not a cross with a swordtail.
That specific cross is impossible.
Swords are in the genus Xiphophorus and mollies are Poecilia.
These two are to far unrelated and not possible sorry.
Mixing colors of a species is meaningless as far as the fish's health Storm. Unrelated fish cannot cross successfully, as HelterSkelter said, but that won't stop the males from trying. If a particular fish has been excessively inbred, a color cross can mean better health just because you are getting a gene mix that should reduce the chance of reinforcing bad genes. It is not mixing colors that has a beneficial effect, but mixing different gene pools.
Specific colors of some fish are known for being weaker than other fish of the same species. That has nothing to do with the fish's color and has everything to do with the breeding practices of the people developing the fish and breeding them in commercial quantities. It seems like every few months, I read about how weak and terrible a particular fish is and it just does not ring true with my own experiences with that fish. I can only assume that whoever is having trouble with the particular fish is really having trouble with a particular breeder and somehow thinks it is the fish that is a problem.
Guppies are an example of fish that are often bred under very poor conditions and are not properly selected for good breeding stock. This means that guppies, one of the toughest fish you could ever hope for, get a reputation for being disease prone and weak. As far as the fish itself is concerned, nothing could be further from the truth but if all you ever see are crap guppies from irresponsible breeders, you will believe that it is the guppy that is weak. If you can get 2 of those weakling fish from different tanks to survive long enough to breed, you will find that their fry are as tough as nails. The random mix that you have made of 2 different breeding lines has suddenly improved their hardiness dramatically.
I usually colony breed wild type fish for the simple reason that I am not a god to judge which fish should breed and I do not hesitate to remove fish that are deformed and eliminate them from my breeding program. What I leave behind get all kinds of gene mixing going on and the defectives get culled. The end result is that the fish colony stays robust and healthy with very few culls needed.
Specific colors of some fish are known for being weaker than other fish of the same species. That has nothing to do with the fish's color and has everything to do with the breeding practices of the people developing the fish and breeding them in commercial quantities. It seems like every few months, I read about how weak and terrible a particular fish is and it just does not ring true with my own experiences with that fish. I can only assume that whoever is having trouble with the particular fish is really having trouble with a particular breeder and somehow thinks it is the fish that is a problem.
Guppies are an example of fish that are often bred under very poor conditions and are not properly selected for good breeding stock. This means that guppies, one of the toughest fish you could ever hope for, get a reputation for being disease prone and weak. As far as the fish itself is concerned, nothing could be further from the truth but if all you ever see are crap guppies from irresponsible breeders, you will believe that it is the guppy that is weak. If you can get 2 of those weakling fish from different tanks to survive long enough to breed, you will find that their fry are as tough as nails. The random mix that you have made of 2 different breeding lines has suddenly improved their hardiness dramatically.
I usually colony breed wild type fish for the simple reason that I am not a god to judge which fish should breed and I do not hesitate to remove fish that are deformed and eliminate them from my breeding program. What I leave behind get all kinds of gene mixing going on and the defectives get culled. The end result is that the fish colony stays robust and healthy with very few culls needed.
fry_forever!
Fish Herder
Yes, they will definitely mix colors. If you mix them too much though, the babies eventually become more disease-prone, so it's not the best thing to do. Here's a pic of crossed mollies & swords: (Actually, dalmations are crossed between black and white, and they are more disease-prone than most mollies.)
<a href="http
<a href="http
There you go.
Yes you can mix colours and yes they will breed together.
However it dose not make them more disease-prone. It's makes then stronger coz your mixing the gene's and not inbreeding them.
THat's not what I meant. I was giving him an example of mollies crossing. Not mollies and swordtails.
Also the photo's are mollies and not a cross with a swordtail.
That specific cross is impossible.
Swords are in the genus Xiphophorus and mollies are Poecilia.
These two are to far unrelated and not possible sorry.
helterskelter
Livebearer Specilest
and what?
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