Many fish tank owners are interested in owning live bearing tropical fish.  Watching the babies or fry grow can be very rewarding and entertaining.  Most live bearing fish can be found in local pet stores.  These fresh water fish include fancy guppies, mollies, sword tail fish, platies and limias.

Before you purchase fish with the intention of breeding, make sure you have a large enough tank for both the parents and the babies.  Your tank should be well balanced and clean.  You can buy your fish already pregnant or purchase both males and females together.  The pet store staff should be able to tell which fish are males and which fish are females.

For mollies, females have a fan-like anal fin (under the belly towards the back) while the males have a tube-like anal fin called the gonopodium.  Female and male guppies are similar to mollies.  The female has a more “fanned” anal fin while the male has a horizontal gonopodium.  A male swordtail fish has the “sword tail” while the female’s tail is fanned.  As with mollies, platy and limia males have the tube-like fin behind the bottom belly.

Don’t be surprised to find the adult fish eating their young.  To prevent this, be sure you have plenty of places for your fry to hide.  Include plants, decorations, and rock crevices for their protection.  You can also purchase a floating plastic “baby tank” for your fry, but personally I have not had any luck with these.  Our babies have lived best swimming in the large fish tank with lots of places to retreat to if needed.

Fry should be fed a few times a day with ground fish flakes.  After a few weeks you can feed them on an “adult” fish schedule.  Again, be sure your tank is large enough to hold a school of baby fish… and remember, they will become as large as their mommies and daddies!

Fish Tank Water Testing

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You should test your water on a regular basis. Test strips are available that check acidity (pH), ammonia, nitrites and nitrate levels of the water. Inexpensive kits are available in pet stores that not only test the water, but provide chemicals to add to your tank to give you the correct levels. Be sure to read all of the instructions carefully before testing and adding to your water.

Every week or so you should remove about 10% of your water and follow by adding fresh water to your tank. Syphons are available to clean the gravel in your tank. These are inexpensive plastic tubes with cones on the end. Simply fill the tube with water from your fish tank and place the cone end in the gravel. Place the tube end in a bucket on the floor. The suction action will stir up your gravel, removing the waste and some water while leaving your gravel in the tank.

After cleaning, restore your water level. It is important to add water that is the same temperature as your tank water. Tap water is treated with chlorine, which is harmful to your fish. Before you add the water, treat it with drops that instantly remove chlorine from the water. Some good brands are Seachem Prime, Tetra Aquasafe NH/CL Formula, Jungle’s ACE, Kordon’s AmQuel and Kent’s Professional Ammonia Detox. Be sure your label specifically states that it neutralizes ammonia as it removes chlorine. If it does not, you will be adding harmful ammonia to your water as you take away the chlorine.

Salt in Fresh Water Tanks

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Yes, salt is beneficial to your fresh water fish! Use one tablespoon of Aquarium Salt for every five gallons of water. Salt replaces sodium and chloride ions that stressed or sick fish need. It also helps to inhibit the fishes’ uptake of toxic chemicals like nitrite. Salt can inhibit parasites, and will enhance the colors of your fish.