How to Breed Livebearing Tropical Fish

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Chris from Aquatic Central here in San Francisco and on the web at aquatic-central.com. And today I'd like to tell you how to breed a livebearing tropical fish. Now it's pretty commonly understood that breeding livebearing tropical fish are the easiest among all the fish to breed. All that's required is a tank, probably at least 10 gallons large, a filtration system. Preferably a sponge filter such as this. You'll need to heat the water to approximately 78 to 80 degree Fahrenheit. So you'll need ample hiding places for the, the fry and the juveniles. Live plants are are great but anything else floating or or not otherwise will be fine. You'll need to plan to have food for the fry such as mosquito larva, Daphnia etc. First thing will be to condition your water for a chlorine chloramine, cycle the tank this make sure it's run through the nitrogen cycle. Then you'll place one female and one female of any given species be it a molly, guppy and lur platy etc etc. All of these may be distinguished male from female by the male sexual organ right by the ventral fin which is called the gonopodium. And that is basically just a fin that or sexual organ that shoots straight back where as the female will just have a broad ventral fin right there. Providing that water conditions are suitable these fish, livebearers are ready to mate typically monthly. Once a male and female have spawned the parents may cannibalize their young however if they have ample hiding spots it won't be a problem and it can begin feeding. If you do choose to separate the fry from the parents be sure to do so in a gentle fashion either with a ladle or a gentle siphoning out. And that is all that's required for breeding livebearers. Again my name is Chris from Aquatic Central in San Francisco and on the web at aquatic-central.com. Thank you."