10 Livebearers for Your Wish List Varieties of Livebearers. I have been working in the tropical fish industry for over 30 years now and I'm still learning. Placing her in too soon could cause her to stress. Contrary to popular belief, Guppy was not in fact a clergyman but a civil engineer by trade and also an amateur naturalist. Imagine a giant sailfin dorsal fin standing erect by a male fluttering and circling around a female, his colors intensifying as his scales protrude ever so slightly. Female goodeids also cannot store sperm like poeciliids do. Poeciliids are made up of about 350 species across 35 genera, distributed from Argentina to the Carolinas. The rainbow goodeid makes a great show fish for a wild livebearer class. Purchasing a group is recommended. My name's Carl and I'm the main editor and work closely with two key writers both of whom are very experienced fish-keepers. Male sailfin mollies are known for their beautiful and colorful dorsal fins, which they use to attract females. This gives them a better chance of survival, especially in a crowded community tank. Guppies (Poecilia Reticulata) have a taste for mosquito larvae and thus, were introduced into waters around the world to fight the mayhem caused by mosquitoes. Males have a very long gonopodium and perform sneak matings to avoid becoming lunch. This species has been observed displaying group “midwife” behavior, with members of the colony helping to “push” the baby fish out of the birthing mother. Pet-shop strains are hardier, but you will have to wait until a female is “cleaned out” of sperm packets to ensure that your selected male will contribute his genes to your cross. Males are also slimmer and tend to be the more colourful fish. We use cookies to improve your experience of this website by remembering your usage preferences, collecting statistics, and targeting relevant content. Though they are not picky eaters, males nip on each other while vying for female attention. I like adding a few pieces of limestone or crushed coral in their tanks, instead of the traditional “salt” approach, which is not tolerated by live plants. Enjoy a colony of these critters in a tank where you can easily get up close at eye level to fully appreciate their beauty and behavior. Livebearers make excellent aquarium pets — they keep the aquarium lively and their resistance and hardiness makes them great survivors. These livebearers require moderate temperatures, ranging between 15 degrees to 30 degrees and a pH level between 6 to 8. These cookies do not store any personal information. These are perfect fish for an unheated nano tank or summer tub pond and are extremely hardy. On the other side of the spectrum is a fairly large poeciliid known as the pike livebearer. We’re concerned in this feature only with the internally fertilising American species that bear live young. Mating is a more cooperative effort. This 7-inch- (18-cm-) long fish is not only related to guppies but actually enjoys eating guppies. This question has been long and often debated. Here we present the livebearing fishes that are so common in the freshwater aquarium hobby. In my spare time I play golf very badly! There are a few things you will have to take care of with this fish. Least Killifish or Midget livebearer is the world’s smallest fish in the world — males grow up to 2.5 centimeters and females grow slightly over 2.5 centimeters. Males develop a red tail upon sexual maturity. Allodontichthys hubbsi Goodeidae. Livebearers make excellent aquarium pets — they keep the aquarium lively and their resistance and hardiness makes them great survivors.