Should livebears be stocked with both sexes?

[Tinanewfishmom]

Hey I'm Tina and pretty new to all this. I'm wondering if it is better for livebearers to be stocked with both genders or a single?

 

[FishGuest5123]

You can stock single and unless you want a LOT of fry, I recommend it. I keep only male platy’s and guppies.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

Livebearers are best maintained as males only unless you want to breed them. The tank size and species depends upon how many males will work.

Males will tend to drive females hard, and this can weaken and kill the females. So if you do keep both genders, you need a very spacious aquarium and you need more females than males to relieve some of the attention a male will give to females. However, this does not completely remove the problems.

If you specifically want to breed and raise fry, you should have one male and one or more females. The male should then be removed so the female can deliver her fry without problems from the male. Once impregnated, females can deliver multiple batches of fry over several months without a male present. This can create significant water quality issues, and it requires multiple "grow-out" tanks.

 

[SilverSageClev]

I keep only male guppies and only female mollies and swordtails. I get the occasional pregnancy since mollies can have multiple pregnancies from previous mating but they pretty much eat the babies.


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[Tinanewfishmom]

Thank you! We have all females, wasn't warned about pregnancy when we purchased them or we wpuld have gone all male. I just worried that they wouldn't be as happy without any males

 

[FishGuest5123]

They’ll be much happier not being harassed!

 

[Colin_T]

In the wild, female livebearers hang out in large groups consisting of between 20 & 50 (but sometimes up to 100 or more) females. These groups have a pecking order with the biggest most dominant female ruling the group and she has a group of girlfriends who back her up. All the other females live in the group but are lower down the pecking order. It's a bit like high school with the popular girl and her girlfriends acting like queens and being in charge, while the other girls in the class are just there to make up numbers.

The groups of females move around rivers and waterways looking for food and places to hang out. As the groups move around a few males follow the group and try to breed with any females.

In the confines of an aquarium, the males will constantly harass the females and try to breed with them. This puts undue stress on the females and if there are too many males constantly pestering the females, the females can get sick and die.

If you want a group of males and females then have 1 male and at least 6 females (preferably 10 or more females per male).

Female livebearers can carry up to 6 sperm packets from breeding with males and they use 1 sperm packet to fertilise each batch of eggs. The gestation period (from the time she fertilises the eggs to when she gives birth to free swimming babies) is about 1 month. After which she will fertilise another batch of eggs using another sperm packet. This allows female livebearers to produce young about once a month for up to 6 months without any males being present.

If you want to breed livebearers then have a tank with females and let them give birth and use up all the sperm packets they are carrying in their body. Give them a few months without being pregnant and then add a male to the tank for a week before moving him out, or move the female/s into a tank with a male for a week and let them breed. Then move the females back into their own tank.

The above information applies to most livebearers but female swordtails can turn into males if there is no male present for a long time. If you have a group of female swordtails and they use up all their sperm packets, and there is no male around, the dominant female will turn into a male and start breeding with the other females.