PintoHawk
Jan 10th 2009, 10:37 AM
Breeding Livebearers: Mollies, Platys, & Guppies
written by Anna Crawford-Hawkins, Lethbridge Aquarium Society
Breeding livebearers is fun and requires very little experience. This article will explain the basics in terms anyone can understand, regardless of their experience level.
What is a 'livebearer'?
The term 'livebearer' (also called "live-bearing fish") refers to a specific group of fish that give birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs. The male fertilizes the eggs inside the female's body, and she carries the young until they are developed enough to be born. When they are born, they are able to swim and find their own food; they usually spend most of their time hiding, as they can easily become prey for larger fish.
Such fish include the ever-popular Mollies, Guppies, Platys, and a few others. I have experience breeding Mollies, Guppies, and Platys, so for the purposes of this article, I will be talking about those in particular.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/3livebearers.gif
Setting Up The Tank & Equipment
If you wish to breed livebearers, you will need a suitable aquarium, cycled and ready to go, with all the proper equipment, such as a heater & filter. I recommend some live plants, as well, such as hornwort and Java Moss (NOTE: smaller, densely-built plants, such as mosses, will offer the best hiding places, whereas larger, broad-leafed plants will make it easier for the parents to find the babies and eat them. Livebearers are carnivorous; they WILL eat their young). Some people have two tanks; one is for the parents/breeding, and the other is used for growing-out the fry. Some people have only one tank for parents and fry together. Either way you wish to do it, the live plants will come in handy as hiding places for the fry, to keep them out of harm's way. What if you set up a tank for parents and fry together but you are not home when the mother has her babies? At least you will have taken precautions and provided cover for the fry until you are able to move them to their own tank.
I recommend that you put plants in all 3 levels of the aquarium: top, middle, and bottom. Hornwort is great for creating levels, because it can be tied-down to rocks and decorations, and will grow up towards the light, creating a "ladder" for the fry to travel from the surface to the bottom in search of food, and remain protected the entire journey. Hornwort can also be left to float in the aquarium, creating a "nest" at the surface. Moss can be tied down to anything, and provides excellent cover for fry. Even if you wanted separate tanks for parents and fry, you should still provide cover for the babies in their own aquarium, because this will help them feel safe and confident, and provide resting places and shade from glaring lights, not to mention FOOD - but I will discuss food further on this article.
Set the temperature to around 80F.
Remember, the adult tank should be large enough to accommodate all the adults. Do NOT overstock as this may lead to stressed-out fish, and the female may abort her babies or give birth to deformed or weak fry. For a breeding Trio of Mollies, I prefer a 20 gallon tank or larger. For Platys and Guppies, 10 gallons or larger is usually sufficient, as they are typically smaller than Mollies.
Filtration
Any aquarium that will be housing fry will need a safe filter system: the fry will be small, and could easily be sucked into the filter. I recommend a sponge filter, but if you have one of those Hang-On-Back filters that come with most aquarium Starter Kits, you can asily adapt that for fry safety, too. Take a piece of clean (soap-free) nylon, such as that used for ladies' pantyhose, and cover the filter intake, wrapping an elastic band around the tube to hold the nylon firmly in place. This will efficiently (and inexpensively) cover the filter intake hole and usually protect fry from being sucked inside.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/spongefilter.gif
Sexing & Selecting the Parents
Mollies, Platys, and Guppies come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. There are many types of beautiful choices available in all three species; most people choose whatever color/pattern/body shape that they find appealing. When selecting breeding parents, choose healthy-looking, strong fish that do not show any signs of stress or illness. The recommended ratio is one male to three females (this is called a Trio); this is because the male is tireless and persistant, and if he has only one female to lavish with his enthusiastic attentions, he may stress her out so badly that she could become ill or even die. If you provide three females, the male will divide his attention between all three of them.
I recommend acquiring the breeding adults from a respected and responsible local breeder, rather than a pet store, because usually locally-bred fish are more hardy, already acclimated to the water conditions in your area, and more appropriately raised & cared-for than fish which have been quantity-raised in overcrowded tanks and then shipped a long distance.
It is quite easy to see the gender difference between adult livebearers. The male has a longer, tube-shaped anal fin, which is called the "gonopodium". The female has a 'normal-shaped' rounded anal fin (see the photographs below for a visual.). The male inserts his gonopodium into the female and fertilizes the eggs inside her body. She carries the babies for about 30 days (depending on the species) and then 'drops' the fry when they are large enough to survive, and when she feels comfortable and safe. If she is stressed out during the last weeks/days of her pregnancy, she may abort the fry, or withold them until she feels more comfortable.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gonopodium.gif http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gonopodium_no.gif
Conditioning
Preparing the adults for breeding is called "conditioning". This involves feeding the fish good quality food and providing them with an appropriate habitat. If you have provided a cycled aquarium with a filter & heater, enough space for the livebearers to swim happily, some hiding places for both the adults and the future fry, and are doing regular water changes and tests, you have accomplished the "appropriate habitat" factors. If you are feeding a variety of good foods (such as brine shrimp, microworms, infusorias grown on aquatic plants, bloodworms, tubifex worms, vegetable-based flake foods, fresh blanched veggies or algae pellets) you have accomplished the quality foods part of conditioning. Keep them healthy and strong, and you will have stronger, healthier fry.
Breeding
Basically, put the male with the females, add water, and wait.
The male will enthusiastically follow the females all over the aquarium, breeding with her every chance he gets. Sometimes it is quite comical to see how crafty he can be when she is not in the mood and tries to avoid him. He will breed with his females as often as he can, every single day, until the day he dies.
Female Livebearers are able to store sperm from being bred once for up to 6 months, and will have a batch of fry every month or so, depending on the species. You can separate the males and females after they have bred if you want to give your females a break from the attentions of the male.
How can you tell when the female is pregnant? In lighter-colored fish, you can see the eyes of the fry inside the pregnant mother, near her anal fin. This is called the Gravid Spot. It will usually get darker and larger the further along she is in her pregnancy. See the photographs below for a visual.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gravidspot.gif
Gestation Periods
The gestation period of a Guppy is 21-30 days, and she may drop between 2-100 fry, typically ranging between 5 and 30. The gestation period of a Molly is approximately 3-4 weeks, and she may drop 10-140 fry. The gestation period of a Platy is approximately 30 days, and she may drop 40-50 fry.
Birthing
Some people choose to place the mother in a Breeding Trap to give birth, but I don't recommend this option. The Trap is a net or plastic box which attaches to the side of the tank, or floats on the surface; the mother is held captive in the top portion, and when she gives birth, the fry drop down through very thin slats in the bottom and sides, away from her, so that she cannot eat them. I find that the mother becomes too stressed-out and more often aborts the fry or drops undeveloped eggs when using this method. I prefer to set up a well-planted aquarium where the fry are able to hide from the adults - the strongest & quickest survive, therefore improving my stock in the long run.
Generally, my females drop in the earliest hours of morning or late at night, when all is quiet and dark and they feel safest. I am convinced this is an instinct, to give birth when it is dark and quiet to ensure that more of the babies will survive.
The number of fry varies depending on the species, age of the female, her health & condition, and the overall conditions in the tank. The first time a young female releases babies, she may only have about 10. It may take her a few hours to release the entire batch of babies, and some of these babies may still be eggs or even stillborn. Mollies tend to have larger batches, as they are usually larger fish, than Guppies or Platys, but it really depends on all the factors mentioned above, conditioning, age, habitat, and so forth.
The Fry Food, Fry Tank, Fry Care
How can you tell when the female will release babies? I find that the female will hide the day before she drops the fry, she will avoid other fish, and/or she may become slightly aggressive or anti-social. Some livebearing females will not eat for a few days before birthing. When she is almost ready to have them, the tummy will look very large and out-of-proportion with the way she usually looks, and especially compared to a male. The tummy will have a square shape, sort of flat on the bottom; this will become easier to notice as she gets older, or as you, the breeder, become more experienced in breeding your fish.
When the fry are born, they are "free-swimming", which means they will dart quickly away from the mother and hide, and be capable of finding their own food and shelter immediately. Usually, they will hide and rest for several minutes to an hour before they begin exploring. This is why it is so important to provide hiding places if you keep the fry with the parents.
The fry will seem quite small to you, but relatively speaking, they are actually enormous compared to egg-laying species. Livebearer fry will eat powdered flake food, or liquid food, or microworms, or baby brine shrimp, or all of the above, immediately. Livebearers aren't generally very picky and will eat almost anything you offer them. If you keep live plants, they fry will eat the infusorias that naturally grow on the plants.
It is important to do regular water changes when keeping fish, but it is even more crucial when you have fry. Fry need to eat several times a day, in very small portions, but over time, this can cause polution in the aquarium, so extra water changes are a MUST. I have heard that doing extra water changes also causes the babies to experience extra growth spurts.
Keep the temperature on your Grow-Out Tank (the tank where the babies are growing up) at the same temperature as the parents' tank, about 80F typically. Do regular water quality tests, of course.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/fry.gif http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/fry2.gif
What To Do With the Babies?
The Fry will take a three to six months to grow large enough for sale, depending on the species you are breeding, and the other factors as mentioned above. You will need an appropriately-sized aquarium in which to "grow-out" your babies. If they fry are over-crowded, they may be stunted or become ill and stressed out.
You can offer them to fellow fishkeepers for sale, you can donate them to your local fish club or school or library even, you can trade them for other fish or items you need, you can see if you local fish store will accept them for store credit or cash. Some people even breed livebearers to feed other small carnivorous fish species.
Before you even purchase the parents, you should be planning for the day when all the babies will be grown. Breed responsibly!
written by Anna Crawford-Hawkins, Lethbridge Aquarium Society
Breeding livebearers is fun and requires very little experience. This article will explain the basics in terms anyone can understand, regardless of their experience level.
What is a 'livebearer'?
The term 'livebearer' (also called "live-bearing fish") refers to a specific group of fish that give birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs. The male fertilizes the eggs inside the female's body, and she carries the young until they are developed enough to be born. When they are born, they are able to swim and find their own food; they usually spend most of their time hiding, as they can easily become prey for larger fish.
Such fish include the ever-popular Mollies, Guppies, Platys, and a few others. I have experience breeding Mollies, Guppies, and Platys, so for the purposes of this article, I will be talking about those in particular.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/3livebearers.gif
Setting Up The Tank & Equipment
If you wish to breed livebearers, you will need a suitable aquarium, cycled and ready to go, with all the proper equipment, such as a heater & filter. I recommend some live plants, as well, such as hornwort and Java Moss (NOTE: smaller, densely-built plants, such as mosses, will offer the best hiding places, whereas larger, broad-leafed plants will make it easier for the parents to find the babies and eat them. Livebearers are carnivorous; they WILL eat their young). Some people have two tanks; one is for the parents/breeding, and the other is used for growing-out the fry. Some people have only one tank for parents and fry together. Either way you wish to do it, the live plants will come in handy as hiding places for the fry, to keep them out of harm's way. What if you set up a tank for parents and fry together but you are not home when the mother has her babies? At least you will have taken precautions and provided cover for the fry until you are able to move them to their own tank.
I recommend that you put plants in all 3 levels of the aquarium: top, middle, and bottom. Hornwort is great for creating levels, because it can be tied-down to rocks and decorations, and will grow up towards the light, creating a "ladder" for the fry to travel from the surface to the bottom in search of food, and remain protected the entire journey. Hornwort can also be left to float in the aquarium, creating a "nest" at the surface. Moss can be tied down to anything, and provides excellent cover for fry. Even if you wanted separate tanks for parents and fry, you should still provide cover for the babies in their own aquarium, because this will help them feel safe and confident, and provide resting places and shade from glaring lights, not to mention FOOD - but I will discuss food further on this article.
Set the temperature to around 80F.
Remember, the adult tank should be large enough to accommodate all the adults. Do NOT overstock as this may lead to stressed-out fish, and the female may abort her babies or give birth to deformed or weak fry. For a breeding Trio of Mollies, I prefer a 20 gallon tank or larger. For Platys and Guppies, 10 gallons or larger is usually sufficient, as they are typically smaller than Mollies.
Filtration
Any aquarium that will be housing fry will need a safe filter system: the fry will be small, and could easily be sucked into the filter. I recommend a sponge filter, but if you have one of those Hang-On-Back filters that come with most aquarium Starter Kits, you can asily adapt that for fry safety, too. Take a piece of clean (soap-free) nylon, such as that used for ladies' pantyhose, and cover the filter intake, wrapping an elastic band around the tube to hold the nylon firmly in place. This will efficiently (and inexpensively) cover the filter intake hole and usually protect fry from being sucked inside.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/spongefilter.gif
Sexing & Selecting the Parents
Mollies, Platys, and Guppies come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. There are many types of beautiful choices available in all three species; most people choose whatever color/pattern/body shape that they find appealing. When selecting breeding parents, choose healthy-looking, strong fish that do not show any signs of stress or illness. The recommended ratio is one male to three females (this is called a Trio); this is because the male is tireless and persistant, and if he has only one female to lavish with his enthusiastic attentions, he may stress her out so badly that she could become ill or even die. If you provide three females, the male will divide his attention between all three of them.
I recommend acquiring the breeding adults from a respected and responsible local breeder, rather than a pet store, because usually locally-bred fish are more hardy, already acclimated to the water conditions in your area, and more appropriately raised & cared-for than fish which have been quantity-raised in overcrowded tanks and then shipped a long distance.
It is quite easy to see the gender difference between adult livebearers. The male has a longer, tube-shaped anal fin, which is called the "gonopodium". The female has a 'normal-shaped' rounded anal fin (see the photographs below for a visual.). The male inserts his gonopodium into the female and fertilizes the eggs inside her body. She carries the babies for about 30 days (depending on the species) and then 'drops' the fry when they are large enough to survive, and when she feels comfortable and safe. If she is stressed out during the last weeks/days of her pregnancy, she may abort the fry, or withold them until she feels more comfortable.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gonopodium.gif http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gonopodium_no.gif
Conditioning
Preparing the adults for breeding is called "conditioning". This involves feeding the fish good quality food and providing them with an appropriate habitat. If you have provided a cycled aquarium with a filter & heater, enough space for the livebearers to swim happily, some hiding places for both the adults and the future fry, and are doing regular water changes and tests, you have accomplished the "appropriate habitat" factors. If you are feeding a variety of good foods (such as brine shrimp, microworms, infusorias grown on aquatic plants, bloodworms, tubifex worms, vegetable-based flake foods, fresh blanched veggies or algae pellets) you have accomplished the quality foods part of conditioning. Keep them healthy and strong, and you will have stronger, healthier fry.
Breeding
Basically, put the male with the females, add water, and wait.
The male will enthusiastically follow the females all over the aquarium, breeding with her every chance he gets. Sometimes it is quite comical to see how crafty he can be when she is not in the mood and tries to avoid him. He will breed with his females as often as he can, every single day, until the day he dies.
Female Livebearers are able to store sperm from being bred once for up to 6 months, and will have a batch of fry every month or so, depending on the species. You can separate the males and females after they have bred if you want to give your females a break from the attentions of the male.
How can you tell when the female is pregnant? In lighter-colored fish, you can see the eyes of the fry inside the pregnant mother, near her anal fin. This is called the Gravid Spot. It will usually get darker and larger the further along she is in her pregnancy. See the photographs below for a visual.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/gravidspot.gif
Gestation Periods
The gestation period of a Guppy is 21-30 days, and she may drop between 2-100 fry, typically ranging between 5 and 30. The gestation period of a Molly is approximately 3-4 weeks, and she may drop 10-140 fry. The gestation period of a Platy is approximately 30 days, and she may drop 40-50 fry.
Birthing
Some people choose to place the mother in a Breeding Trap to give birth, but I don't recommend this option. The Trap is a net or plastic box which attaches to the side of the tank, or floats on the surface; the mother is held captive in the top portion, and when she gives birth, the fry drop down through very thin slats in the bottom and sides, away from her, so that she cannot eat them. I find that the mother becomes too stressed-out and more often aborts the fry or drops undeveloped eggs when using this method. I prefer to set up a well-planted aquarium where the fry are able to hide from the adults - the strongest & quickest survive, therefore improving my stock in the long run.
Generally, my females drop in the earliest hours of morning or late at night, when all is quiet and dark and they feel safest. I am convinced this is an instinct, to give birth when it is dark and quiet to ensure that more of the babies will survive.
The number of fry varies depending on the species, age of the female, her health & condition, and the overall conditions in the tank. The first time a young female releases babies, she may only have about 10. It may take her a few hours to release the entire batch of babies, and some of these babies may still be eggs or even stillborn. Mollies tend to have larger batches, as they are usually larger fish, than Guppies or Platys, but it really depends on all the factors mentioned above, conditioning, age, habitat, and so forth.
The Fry Food, Fry Tank, Fry Care
How can you tell when the female will release babies? I find that the female will hide the day before she drops the fry, she will avoid other fish, and/or she may become slightly aggressive or anti-social. Some livebearing females will not eat for a few days before birthing. When she is almost ready to have them, the tummy will look very large and out-of-proportion with the way she usually looks, and especially compared to a male. The tummy will have a square shape, sort of flat on the bottom; this will become easier to notice as she gets older, or as you, the breeder, become more experienced in breeding your fish.
When the fry are born, they are "free-swimming", which means they will dart quickly away from the mother and hide, and be capable of finding their own food and shelter immediately. Usually, they will hide and rest for several minutes to an hour before they begin exploring. This is why it is so important to provide hiding places if you keep the fry with the parents.
The fry will seem quite small to you, but relatively speaking, they are actually enormous compared to egg-laying species. Livebearer fry will eat powdered flake food, or liquid food, or microworms, or baby brine shrimp, or all of the above, immediately. Livebearers aren't generally very picky and will eat almost anything you offer them. If you keep live plants, they fry will eat the infusorias that naturally grow on the plants.
It is important to do regular water changes when keeping fish, but it is even more crucial when you have fry. Fry need to eat several times a day, in very small portions, but over time, this can cause polution in the aquarium, so extra water changes are a MUST. I have heard that doing extra water changes also causes the babies to experience extra growth spurts.
Keep the temperature on your Grow-Out Tank (the tank where the babies are growing up) at the same temperature as the parents' tank, about 80F typically. Do regular water quality tests, of course.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/fry.gif http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp228/thefishfiles/articles/fry2.gif
What To Do With the Babies?
The Fry will take a three to six months to grow large enough for sale, depending on the species you are breeding, and the other factors as mentioned above. You will need an appropriately-sized aquarium in which to "grow-out" your babies. If they fry are over-crowded, they may be stunted or become ill and stressed out.
You can offer them to fellow fishkeepers for sale, you can donate them to your local fish club or school or library even, you can trade them for other fish or items you need, you can see if you local fish store will accept them for store credit or cash. Some people even breed livebearers to feed other small carnivorous fish species.
Before you even purchase the parents, you should be planning for the day when all the babies will be grown. Breed responsibly!