Swordtails      The Guppy

Live bearers are a great fish for beginners of the hobby to start with, Platies, Guppies, Mollies and Swordtails are great livebearers to start with for those who are new to the hobby and wish to try breeding out. Livebearers are generally very easy to breed. To breed swordtails, you use the same method you would use in breeding all live bearers, swordtails like to breed in 73-79°F water. The higher temperature of 80°F will induce the fry to be born sooner. They could have up to 200 babies each time. Seven Possible Breeding Inducers 1. Changes in water temperature, direction of change dependent on species. 2. Changes in water depth, direction of change dependent on species. 3. Changes in feeding, usually increase in live foods. 4. Changes in tank mates, usually separate and re-join male(s) and female(s) or introduce new fish all together. 5. Changes in water quality, usually cleaner water of a pH more closely matching that found in the wild for the species breeding. 6. Changes in lighting, usually increase in day length. 7. Changes in tank decor such as the addition of java moss or other plant cover. It may take a combination of the above inducements to initiate spawning. Live bearers breed much like mammals, the male fertilizes the eggs internally in the female. To find a male swordtail , he must have a pronounced sword on his tail. He should also have a gonopodium, the modified anal fin. The anal fin comes to a point which is thrust into the female to inject sperm. The female should be larger than the male and  will get a black spot on her abdomen which along with a more rounded belly will indicate that she is carrying young. The female carries the fry for about a month before delivering them. Raising the temperature of the water from 75 degrees to 80 degrees will shorten the time. She then gives birth to live fry. After fertilization, the female can produce multiple batches of babies without a male present. Sperm is stored in a special flap in the egg pouch. The number of each batch of fry depend on the species, it can be from 3 to 300 and livebearers can reproduce several times a year. Upon delivery, the babies swim off, hide, and begin searching for food. Like most other fish, the hard part is raising the fry. Generally the parents and other fish in the tank become predators to newly hatched fry but there are several solutions to this problem. Females and males will eat their fry and so will any other fish in the community tank, so a safe way is to put the pregnant female into a special breeding trap which can be bought at your local pet store, once the fry have been released the female must then be moved back into the adult tank.

 Breeding The Guppy

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Breeding Aquarium Fish The easiest solution is to provide good cover and hiding places for the fry in the form of plant cover like anacharis, java moss and hornwort. This will help, but some will still get eaten. ( The law of survival of the fittest. ) Another solution is to buy a breeding net or trap, which provides a separate compartment in the aquarium for the mother before she drops the fry. After dropping the fry the mother can be removed so the fry are separated from the rest of the tank by the breeding net. Breeding traps are also utilized which keep the mother confined with a grating that the fry can pass through. The mother and fry can also be placed in a separate aquarium so the mother can be separated from the fry when they are born. After they are born the baby fry are ready to eat. You can feed the fry a liquid fry food for livebearers or baby brine shrimp. Also pulverized flake food, (you can do this with your fingers) or it  is sold as baby fish food. The baby brine shrimp is usually purchased frozen, or can be hatched from brine shrimp eggs. For a link to brine shrimp (also called artemia) here is a web page with more information than you will ever need to know!  Brine Shrimp The newly hatched babies are quite large and can handle brine shrimp almost immediately. The fish are also occasionally given micro-worms, however, they will not appear to be real fond of them. As these fish mature, their appetite seems to decrease and they eat at a more leisurely pace. Therefore, they should probably be given frequent small amounts of food. They prefer the more aromatic frozen chopped bloodworms as they grow. Keep the tank under the same conditions as described above for the parents employing weekly 25% water change to keep nitrates down. Judging the amount to feed is extremely difficult to learn and takes trial and error. It is very easy to either starve the fry or kill them with excess food. Once the fry are large enough that you can see then eating, you can provide small pieces of the same things that their parents eat. As the fry grow, feed them more, vacuum the tank more, and provide larger tanks as needed. Once the fry are large enough to live with their parents (without being eaten) and eat the same  food, they then are ready to be considered fish not fry.

Common name: Platy,  Family name: Poeciliidae, Species: Xiphophorus maculatus Size in captivity: 1 1/2in(4cm), Diet: Omnivorous, Tank level: All Behavior: Peaceful Distribution in wild: Central America Platy small popular aquarium fish, known as Platypoecitus maculatus. They have a rounded body about 1.5in (4cm) long and varies colors like red, yellow, and black it likes clumps of dense vegetation and plenty of open water. They breed easily. Alike other family members of thePoeciliidae family. The platies give birth to live fish. The young may hide from the parents or they'll be eaten by them, therefore plenty of vegetation should be provided. The platies are related to the swordtails. By using phases from the original stock and through hybridization, color variations have been produced. Seven varieties have been known to be produced, red, black, yellow, moon, blue, spangled and wag-tail. Platy Wag Tail Xiphophorus maculata Gestation lasts usually 4 weeks but may last up to 6. The 10-50 young are approx. 0.8cm long when born. For the first week they should be fed on Infusoria and Artemia nauplii; during the second week the diet should be fine dried food and microworms. The parents will not usually attack the young but the occasional female is cannibalistic. Breeding Aquarium Fish

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