I just realized .......

[Diva]

Hey all,....=)

I posted some pics of some fish I wasnt certain of which species they belonged to - and most ppl thought this fish was a female Swordfish. I have 2 of these, and 1 is for sure a female and has already had babies with a fish Im pretty sure is a Black Molly.

I have 2 other fish (seen here also) that everyone is sure are 2 male Swords - (though were labeled as platies in the shop - but I think they mislabel from time to time..)

But it just occured to me - if these are 2 male Swords, and these are female Swords...why arent they interested in each other? Because they stay well away from each other. My Molly and large yellow fish have already had babies - and he's planning to have more!

So I guess Im asking, do you all still think the yellow fish is a sword or platy - as opposed to a gold molly?

I dont know lots about fish. Im just asking cause my other male livebearers are forever courting the ladies, and these 2 Swords dont care a bit about these yellow fish.

Any ideas welcome!

 

[jmoore]

the bottom 2 fish are definately male swordtails...
the swords are....well their swords. Not really, but its a good way to sex them.

the top fish shas very strong female molly attributes...skinny 'legs' right before their rear fin, the narrow face. and the pouty lower lips.

 

[Diva]

so if shes a molly, do you have any idea which kind maybe??

 

[Endgame319]

I still think its a female swordtail. Its actually quite common for livebearers to interbreed.

 

[Diva]

Do you know if its common for 2 adult male swordtails to have absolutely no interest in 2 female swordtails??

thats the thing that stumps me..

unless they are boyfriends...

hmm. i hadnt thought of that - is it possilble? I know its documented in some mammals...

 

[TankGirl]

I doubt that they will maintain their lack of interest for very long. Amongst livebearers (even if the females are not swords they will definitely fit the bill for the males) the only thing to interfere with.... um... business at hand is stress or danger, so maybe there are other fish impacting the social structure here. Are they in with the gouramis, and are they new?

Ideally, one male to three or four females is the way to go, so that no single female gets sole attention from one male.

 

[Diva]

Hey there tankgirl!

Well..all 6 livebearers were bought at the same time, about 3 months ago i think. - and in the shop they said I was getting a couple with each pair - but obviously they were wrong about the swords (lol, well maybe they werent.. ) and the yellow fish seem to be both female too, but the one is really small and Im not sure its female yet.

The 2 black ones were labeled as platies too - and they were a real couple, but the female died while she was pregnant. and then the male took up an interest with the yellow one.

the gouramis I think were bought a month later.

this week i added the serpais and 4 cories. (my pandas were thrilled!!)

My tank is really peaceful. (knock on wood. No one messes with anyone. the gouramis are in there with them, but they dont bother anyone, not even at feeding - not even the male gourami.

the only fish who can be a nuisance is the Black one. and only since this week when I got the serpaes. he chases them EVERYWHERE, poor things..

but no one seems stressed that i can see. there arent even any spots in the tank reserved for any particular fish...

I have a lot of driftwood and each one has a cave under it or in back of it - and then i have lots of scattered plants floating and everyone just seems to play musical chairs with which place is theirs that day...

But just tonight i saw my little yellow fish swim right up to the swords and they kind of stared at her like 'what do you want?'

Im not saying they arent female swords... I just havent seen any pics that look like them - what with the translucent color i mean. they are velvety looking and you almost cant see the scales... they look alot like the black on in that sense...

but im no authority. i just know that they arent all the same kind of fish - and they were all labeled as such - and that was platy.



8O

 

[nodoubt471]

marigold swords are often "transluscent" looking, maybe that could be it... although i do agree she has those pouty molly lips, but i have never seen a molly this color before, which makes me think sword...

but i could be wrong.

 

[Madame_X]

My first set of platies (two females, one male) never bred for several months after I got them. I never thought they would breed.

Once they started, they wouldn't stop. Ended up taking them to the fish store to find them new homes, as I couldn't accommodate them all (and using them for live puffer food... well, that just bothered me.)

For what its worth, my male platy wasn't interested in my black platy for the longest time; just my other Mickey Mouse. Eventually, it got to the point where he wouldn't leave her alone.

Be patient... they'll eventually breed!

 

[Diva]

Thanks for all the ideas so far!

I saw a photo of a marigold swordtail and I was thinking that she might just be that...

and then i saw this photo of a gold molly... do you all think they look alike??

edited to say oops they called this one albino....but same question..!

 

[newaridiar]

I can't really tell if it is a molly, platy, or a female swordtail, but quite honestly it doesn't really matter. All three are closely related, and guppies as well, and all 4 species can interbreed. This has been done in the commercial fish market to poduce "Guppy tail" Mollies. The only thing I would worry about is introducing hybirdizations to your LFS if you decide to return the babies rather than feed them to other fish.

Because of the coloring I would say they look most like platies that I've seen, but I only have personal experience with mollies and guppies so *shrugg*

 

[krap101]

their both swordtails im sure. because its not a platy because its longer/skinnier then a platy would be. and the other one is obviously a swordtail because the sword on its tail

i posted on this like 3 days ago but i guess it didnt post

 

[Diva]

newaridiar - i understand what you are saying - but im not concerned with them interbreeding. i just want to know what i have in my tank. and like i said - all of these fish (including the black molly) were ALL labled as platies in the store. I just want to know what they really are...

thanks for the input krap101...everyone seems to be in agreement that they are all swordtails....so I guess i should just accept that!!

 

[oscarbreeder]

That really looks like a gold molly to me.

 

[Diva]

ocarbreeder - the first photo does? or do you mean the second one..cause the second one is labeled as being a molly... the first is my fishy...

you think my fishy is a molly? (im kind of with you, if you say yes...but im the least knowledgeble fish owner on this site... )

 

[Gyration]

I have one question, or comment you should say>

Are you all sure that the two red ones are males swordtails? I hear that putting two male swordtales into a tank can be pretty bad. Well two males platies and two males mollies as well. I know my platies, the males would kill each other, as fast as the other one was old enough to breed. Even if they were different color, therefore, I don't think it really matters. IMHO the livebears, mollies, platties, swordtail fish all interbreed anyway, so it shouldn't really matter and the fish don't really care.

Now by just looking at them and being able to tell what they are?? I am no expert in that, if they were swiming here in my living room i would be able to tell you a little bit better.

I know that for the platies the way to tell is to look underneath them and see if they got 1 fin (his tool) sticking out or two fins that goes to the sides (females) and that's how you can differentiate females from males for platies and mollies. For swordtail, I am not sure yet, haven't had that much experience with them.

 

[jmoore]

Gyration: they both have swords, its kind of a dead giveaway.

 

[Diva]

yeah, those 2 are for sure both males...and they are buddies...but i thought maybe they are ok with each other beacuse the others might not be female swords...so maybe they dont feel like they need to compete. but thats just one theory.

and as far as the it doesnt matter ---- it does to me!! I just want to know what my fishies are...

i had thought it would be easy for people to identify them though...so i guess maybe I should just flip a coin!