three fish lovers

ok here is the issue I have, we were givin a tank and some fish that were all suposed to be mollies, and were all female. then we bought for the kids a male platy, then we were given three female guppies. now it seems that the largest molly is pregnant. So I guess the question I have is can mollies and platies cross breed and if so will the guppies also??

Chief_waterchanger

Guppies can breed with mollies, but platies can not. they could've already been impregnated before you got them, though.

COBettaCouple

welcome to fishlore!

i think that with livebearers, anything's possible.. but you can bring home all female mollies and still have a pregnant one when you do. we bought 4 female platys and ended up with fry.

three fish lovers

thank you for answering so quickly, I have 2 kids that keep asking me when the babies will be born any ideas what to tell them they are 6 & 7 years old and have so many questions!

lokky.funky

Hi. Welcome to Fishlore

The livebearers usually give birth every 4 weeks or so... So you wouldn't have to wait too long before having baby mollies

Hazcop

I've had guppies and plattys cross-breed so you never know.

armadillo

Ooooo, am really interested to know if they can cross-breed or not. I thought they could. Keep us posted about how the sprogs look.

Callum The Cat

armadillo

I was pretty sure all livebearers could cross breed.

Callum The Cat

armadillo

Ooooh, am really curious now.

COBettaCouple

if this is her first drop of fry, it could take as long as 7 weeks, but then every 25-28 days for following batches. she'll also drop a batch over several days so we checked the tank for 3-5 days after finding fry each time.

Chief_waterchanger

I am positive not all livebearers can cross-breed. That is like saying a horse and a human can crossbreed... they are both livebearers, but that doesn't happen.

armadillo

Well some livebearers can cross breed for sure. So we're open to the idea that mollies and platies can. Different species of livebearers are more like horses and donkeys. There are definite cases of interbreeding but in general, they can't produce fertile offsprings.

Dino

They are not in the same genus, so it is doubtful that they can cross.

Mollies and guppies are in the same genus and thus can produce offspring ( though the oddspring are sterile).

Platies and swordtails are a different genus from mollies and guppies and thus should not be able to produce offspring.

armadillo

Ah of course. Peocilia.

Callum The Cat

armadillo

I say keep an open mind, Cal. You never know, imagine their faces if they DO end up interbreeding.