This blog results from an email I got from a hobbyist, Christy. She wrote: “Hello, I'm a small hobbyist and I was wondering if you would share your breeding setups for platies and mollies. It sounds like you get a good number of fish from your tanks with the schedule and setup. Best of ... Read More
Breeding
Flame Variatus
The first photo is of a male Flame Variatus and the second of a female. This is a commercial (domestic) strain of Xiphophorus variatus. Like most commercial xiphophorines (swordtails, platies, and variatus), this fish is likely to be of hybrid origin, although the strain clearly is primarily X. ... Read More
Redtail Blue Tuxedo Variatus
The photo is of a male Redtail Blue Tuxedo Variatus, a commercial (domestic, if you prefer) strain of Xiphophorus variatus. Like most commercial xiphophorines (swordtails, platies, and variatus), this fish is likely to be of hybrid origin, although the strain clearly is primarily X. variatus based ... Read More
Redtail Black Variatus
The photo is of a male Redtail Black Variatus, a commercial (domestic, if you prefer) strain of Xiphophorus variatus. Like most commercial xiphophorines (swordtails, platies, and variatus), this fish is likely to be of hybrid origin, although the strain clearly is primarily X. variatus based on its ... Read More
Xiphophorus mayae
The photo is of an adult male Xiphophorus mayae. This is a wild swordtail species we acquired in 2012 at the American Livebearer Association (ALA) convention auction in Fort Lauderdale. ALA’s annual convention auction offers a great chance of picking up unusual and rare livebearers. The 2014 ... Read More
Blue Opal Wag Maculatus
The photo is of an adult female Blue Opal Wag Maculatus. This is a commercial (domestic) maculatus-type variety that we are developing. First, why do I say maculatus-type? Because, while it has the general shape and fins of Xiphophorus maculatus, it is of hybrid parentage. Since it has a wag ... Read More
Skyblue OB Peacock Cichlid
The photo is of a young (about 3.5 - 4 months old) male Skyblue OB Peacock Cichlid. This is a domestic (commercial) strain we developed around 2005 from a couple of males that appeared in our Gold OB Peacocks. I gave those two males about 40 Gold OB females. I then mated the resulting females ... Read More
Gold OB Peacock Cichlid
The photo is of a young (about 3.5 months old) male Gold OB Peacock Cichlid. This is a domestic (commercial) strain we developed starting in 2003 from fish we acquired from a Florida fish farm. From those original fish we have developed several color varieties. In our Gold OB line, we are able to ... Read More
Blue OB Peacock Cichlid
The top photo is of a young (about 4 months old) male Blue OB Peacock Cichlid. The bottom photo is a young female, probably the male’s half-sister, of the same age. This is a domestic (commercial) strain we developed starting in 2003 from fish we acquired from a Florida fish farm. From those ... Read More
Pigeon Blood Sailfin Molly
The photo is of a mature female Pigeon Blood Sailfin Molly. This is a domestic (commercial) molly strain we developed in 1999 while our hatchery was still in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The strain resulted from a cross of Poecilia latipinna, San Antonio River, a population of wild sailfins I collected ... Read More