Is display tank interbreeding likely?

[bettaMagenta]

Morning musings over coffee... I'm curious about mixed breeding in display tanks, specifically in my Asian setup. I've got a bunch of Hillstream loaches, multiple species and varieties within species. I'm thinking of adding a small group of Gold Ring Hillstreams to the mix, alongside the other Sewellia varieties I already have. Not looking to breed them, just want to see all these different varieties in one place, observe the differences and similarities.

In trying to create the perfect environment and diet for them, I'm bound to see some courtship behavior – it happens in my other tanks. Just wondering, how often do different varieties find each other acceptable mates when there are others of their own kind in the tank?

BTW, I usually buy these in groups of 3 or more, since they're smaller fish.

Sewellia's in my tank:
- Gold Ring (on the way) - Sewellia albisuera
- Reticulated Sewellia lineolata

[bettaMagenta]

I've got Sewellia lineolata already in the tank, to be specific. Thought I had a couple more Sewellia, but turns out those are Gastromyzon's - and I've got more varieties of those than Sewellia right now. Same question applies though, assuming Gastromyzon's could interbreed between their varieties.

My Gastromyzon's include this one, just listed as Gastromyzon sp, but I'm pretty sure it's a Gastromyzon cf. punctulatus. On my want list is the Gastromyzon zebrinus, and then there are a few others - this one's just a Gastromyzon sp, no more specific listing available, and this other one's also just a Gastromyzon sp, but it's a "Bloody Mary" variant.

The wild cards are my Beaufortia kweichowensis, I've got a group of these and they look capable of breeding with the other two, which raises the same question - how often do different varieties find each other acceptable to mate with, when there are others of their own variety in the same tank?

[sSjey]

Morning musings over coffee... I'm curious about mixed breeding in display tanks, specifically in my Asian setup. I've got a bunch of Hillstream loaches, multiple species and varieties within species. I'm thinking of adding a small group of Gold Ring Hillstreams to the mix, alongside the other Sewellia varieties I already have. Not looking to breed them, just want to see all these different varieties in one place, observe the differences and similarities.

In trying to create the perfect environment and diet for them, I'm bound to see some courtship behavior – it happens in my other tanks. Just wondering, how often do different varieties find each other acceptable mates when there are others of their own kind in the tank?

BTW, I usually buy these in groups of 3 or more, since they're smaller fish.

Sewellia's in my tank:
- Gold Ring (on the way) - Sewellia albisuera
- Reticulated Sewellia lineolata

When you say mixed breeding, are you referring to different varieties within a species or different species altogether? To clarify, take Microgeophagus ramirezi for example - gold, German blue, and wild rams are all the same species but different varieties, whereas Microgeophagus altispinosus is a different species within the same genus. Generally speaking, different species tend not to interbreed, but different varieties of the same species can and often do.

I'm curious, do you have the Latin names for each of the Hillstream loach varieties in your tank?

[bettaMagenta]

@sSjey, went back & added the Latin names as best I could to the pics above. I've got to admit, I'm still getting the hang of the whole Class, Species, Variety thing - still trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, I've got my Gastromyzon's, and I know some are just listed as 'sp', but I'm guessing that's a whole different ball game when it comes to interbreeding. Anyway, I'll keep working on getting the names right - thanks for pointing that out.

[coltin]

In a mixed species tank, fish generally try to find their own kind to breed with. If you only have one fish from a certain species and it's in a tank with another closely related species, they might still breed, but the eggs or young could be viable or sterile. Normally, though, they prefer to breed with their own kind - it's just the way they are. Some livebearers, like guppies, are a bit of an exception - they seem to be up for breeding with just about anything.

[bettaMagenta]

Thanks for the insight, I've always bought these loaches in groups of three to avoid that exact situation. In a community setup like mine, there's usually a high chance of predation on eggs or fry, so even if they do breed, it's unlikely the young would survive. If I ever decide to breed any of these fish in the future, I'd want them to have formed a strong pair bond, and be able to withstand the stress of being moved to a breeding tank - something a casual encounter probably wouldn't be able to handle.

[sSjey]

The Gastromyzon without a proper species name might just be a variant of one of your other fish. Without a Latin name, it's tough to say for sure. If it's just a variant, then yes, they could interbreed.

I did some digging and found that Loaches Online lists 13 Gastromyzon species, including some with 'unknown' names like unknown01 to unknown05. For the ones with proper names, they list G. zebrinus and G. punctulatus as a synonym of G. ctenocephalus.

[bettaMagenta]

Looking on Seriously Fish under Gastromyzon ctenocephalus is kinda overwhelming. The gallery is like a rainbow explosion of colors, but my little guy is just black with cream-colored dots.

[sSjey]

When it comes to loaches, I'd personally trust the expertise of Loaches Online over a more general fish site like Seriously Fish, they seem to have a more in-depth understanding of these fascinating creatures.

[bettaMagenta]

Just looking a little, I found on the Loaches site a link to "looks similar to" and I think my black spotted ones might actually be more like "scitulus" - the link took me there and they look pretty close to mine specifically, but with these fish being so hard to tell apart for me, it makes me wonder if they might actually breed with the others.