Platy breeding gene pool
- Thread starter ewurm
- Start date
Well, if you're into the gene pool thing, why not take a some of the best females you bred, and then select a good male with qualities you like from the LFS? Do the process all over again with the new male and selected females in their own tank.
It could probably work with say three tanks, assuming you have somewhere to offload the surplus fish.
Sounds like a fun project.
It could probably work with say three tanks, assuming you have somewhere to offload the surplus fish.
Sounds like a fun project.
Inbreeding is not necessarily a bad thing. If you got them from a petstore, the platies were probably inbred to begin with (most commercially available livebearers are closely related to their breed-tankmates at the retail level).
As Nemesis said, you can split what you have now into different populations - and yeah, most breeders choose three populations. This allows the fish to "inbreed" in three groups. Then every few generations you can switch some of the fish to another population.
An alternative is to bring in new stock periodically from outside. Roughly every six four to six generations should do good.
If they're a particular strain (e.g. tuxedo red) you of course want to bring in only tuxedo reds - unless you want to mix it up a bit and work toward your own strain.
As Nemesis said, you can split what you have now into different populations - and yeah, most breeders choose three populations. This allows the fish to "inbreed" in three groups. Then every few generations you can switch some of the fish to another population.
An alternative is to bring in new stock periodically from outside. Roughly every six four to six generations should do good.
If they're a particular strain (e.g. tuxedo red) you of course want to bring in only tuxedo reds - unless you want to mix it up a bit and work toward your own strain.
i do this on a semi commercial level. and ive found that the platy you are buying in the LFs are alrady pretty well interbred, i can in fact show you fish that are interbreed on a third generation that are tiny, and succeptable to illness. if you are serious about breeding these fish you could set up your own lines with only 4 tanks. i prefer to seperate male and females at a young age and seel the males on to the shop and keep the females. if im ever at a fish shop i like to by platy that are oddly coloured. the problem ive had with trying to establish a new colourway of platy is that you need two similar fish from two souces to breed. its tough to do.
but good luck. i produce around 60 fish per month at the moment which i trade for tanks and food at my LFS. big cichlids eat lots of food
but good luck. i produce around 60 fish per month at the moment which i trade for tanks and food at my LFS. big cichlids eat lots of food
With guppies I breed back for 3 generations, culling ruthlessly, then outbreed for one generation and repeat the cycle.