Livebearers - Aquarium Fish

Without going into detail, livebearers (also known as live-bearing aquarium fish) don't lay eggs like most fish, as they actually have some penile insertion going on, also known as sexual intercourse. These can be some of the cheapest, most colorful fish you may ever acquire for your freshwater aquarium. I say that because many times you will just need one male and a female or two of each livebearer species, and the next thing you know, you'll have an entire tank full of tropical bliss.

Most livebearers have one distinct habit that makes them seem rather ferocious when compared to the rest of the common aquarium fish, as they have the tendency to eat their own young. Yikes! Anyway, if a person had the supplies, the space and the public demand for such things, you could make a living selling these things with no problem at all. Yeah, but it don't generally work that way anymore. For one, most people will prefer a wide variety of fish (mostly egg layers - which are harder to breed in captivity) and, with the fish business, the losses and liabilities often pack a big wallop against the total profits, to say the least. But forget the business side of it for now, as we are talking about aquarium fish for the hobbyist.

Livebearers are an excellent fish for the beginner. The most popular livebearer I can think of, is the Guppy. 2nd on the list would be the Platies/Platys. Coming in at a close 3rd would be the Swordtails and the Mollies would bring up the rear at number 4, in my opinion, as the most popular livebearers in freshwater aquariums. Depicted above, will be those very fish I just mentioned in that order. They come in all types of different colors, which is another reason they are so cool to breed.  You will get to see all the different colors mix and match from generation to generation.

I once knew a guy that kept a turtle in his tank, and he had so many livebearers in there that he never had to feed the turtle. The turtle would keep the population in check and they would reproduce at about the same rate they got consumed; ha!

Image Credit: Public Domain & Wikimedia Commons. Source = Wikipedia

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