Livebearers
The difference between males & females can be seen in more than one way. The female is plumper than the male & also the male has a gonopodium, which is a modified anal fin. The gonopodium is used to insert sperm into the females. Sadly Livebearers, if hungry, will eat their fry. When buying Livebearers of both sexes, make sure you have more females to males.
Livebearers mouth is angled upwardly therefore they eat food, which is above them. Needless to say, they swim from mid-top levels.
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Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) have many different colours & shape of the caudal fin. There is no relevance to males to choose females close to them. In fact, the female doesn't have the colour to the males. Often females might have a colourful tail but often not. A guppy is mature usually 3 months from being a fry & therefore females can produce many fries. In the wild, they are in Central America to Brazil & regularly they eat mosquito larvae, which obviously helps humans. Their growth goes to 2" however in tanks, they are usually 1". |
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Mollies (Poecilia sphenops) come in various forms, Sailfin, Marbled, Lyre tailed & colours. Even though I haven't listed in this section of Livebearers, they have a different scientific name however Sailfin Molly is Poecilia velifera. A Molly in wild, comes from Mexico to Columbia & can growth go 5", in the tank usually 2". Some of them go into brackish waters & it's been said to add some salt into a tank. I haven't & have not seen any problem. |
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| Platies (Xiphophorus maculates) are the same with variants. Red, High-Fin, Wagtail, Moon, Tiger & Tuxedo are some. They are found in Southern Mexico & can grow to 3" however in a tank 1". Like all Livebearers, Platy can be the first fish in a new tank set-up as they tolerance non-mature tanks. Again like Livebearers, they require plants, which equally protects the fry by swimming in them. |
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As you can tell by their name, Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri), the males have that tail however females don't. Again a number of variants such as Green, Marbled, Black & Lyre tailed. In Central America, their colour is green but not easily seen. They can grow to 4" but in a tank, 2". |
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