can you breed mollies with guppies

Question
I went on here earlier and they told me that i needed two female guppies for every male. I found out that i need sixteen female guppies. i already have five so, i need to buy 11. One of my friends told me that i could use mollies instead. since there is not very many female guppies at the store and plenty of female mollies, i was wondering if she was right. Can you help me straighten this out before we leave for the store tomarow? I.L.

Answer
Hi Inspectora;

Your male guppies will probably not be interested in the female mollies. Sometimes they are, but not usually. They are in the same family but different types. I hope your tank is very large to accommodate so many guppies too. Each guppy needs one to two gallons of water per fish, not even counting future babies.

Have you considered taking a few of your males to the store to trade for females? Many stores will do that. Call ahead to be sure.

Or, get an aquarium divider or a separate tank and put some of the extra males there. That way the females don't get worn out from being harassed constantly by too many males. Provide plenty of plants and other hiding places so the females can hide as needed to get a break. It also helps babies to hide. If you separate males out give them plenty of hiding places too. Some males can be real jerks to each other and fight for dominance to earn the right to breed and pass on their strong genes. It's their nature ;-)

Good luck!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins