Why Do You Love Livebearers?

[Annastasia]

Okay, it seems to be the general consensus on this board that Livebearers are dull and boring fish. So, to make me feel better ( ) (and as a fun, community activity), let's hear why you love your Livebearers.

I personally don't find them boring at all. Some of my favorite things about them are:

• Their little happy food wiggle. You know, you go over to the tank, and they start swimming back and forth quickly and wiggling the tail. And they look so happy to see you.
• The fact that they give birth to live fry. This is just a big step in evolution for fish, IMO.
• The little teensy fry with the little eyes and big huge tummies.
• The fact that there are SO many different kinds. They aren't just limited to Guppies, Mollies, Platies, and Swordtails. There are tons of other species. It's a very diverse group of fish.

Anyway, that's the start of my list. It's midnight, bear with me. Let's hear your's!

 

[tank212]

Well the reason I like livebearers and still keep them is the different colors. I too like that they give birth to live fry. I also like them because they were my first ever fish and first ever fish to raise from little fry.

 

[Starfirefly26]

They seem so much...different than other fish. They wiggle and move more, they have more of a body movement.
I love how my girls flock to the top to eat.
The babies are so cute. The big eyes saying "What are YOU?!".
Personalities.

 

[The-Wolf]

Why Do You Love Livebearers?

I don't!

I must say that we got something at work called a blackchin livebarer and it looks quite interesting.

 

[nmonks]

Annastasia,

This is an interesting question. To play devil's advocate for the moment, I think the critics of livebearers are hostile towards them because:

• Artificial, brightly coloured forms of just a few species predominate, and most look very unnatural.
• Their behaviour is predictable and some version of "swim about, begging for food".
• Breeding doesn't require any particular effort or planning.
• Like goldfish, they are popular with beginners, and lack the prestige of the more "advanced" species.

So if you are a fishkeeper into, say, Rift Valley cichlids, where there are hundreds of species each with their own behaviour and feeding modes, the common livebearers will appear artificial and unexciting. But I think this reveals the ignorance of many aquarists of the full diversity of livebearers.

Like large predators? Take a look at the pike livebearer. Want a fish that is pugnacious and lively? Try halfbeaks. Want something that looks bizarre? Then the four-eyed fish is for you. Bright but natural colours? Endler guppies. Rarity value? Goodeids. Something for a brackish water aquarium? Wild-type giant sailfin mollies.

Even the "common livebearers" have certain pluses that get overlooked by many aquarists:

• Do well in hard, alkaline water.
• Indifferent to nitrate levels.
• Tolerant of brackish water.
• Peaceful towards themselves and other fish.
• Harmless to plants, shrimps, and snails.
• Eat flake readily.
• Breed freely and easily.

I do think it's a shame the hobby has focused so much on artificial forms (which I'm not wild about) but that's not my call, and that other people like them is fine by me. It takes a certain sort of arrogance to diss someone else's choice in aquarium fish. That said, I do oppose the breeding of types that are physically deformed in some way, like balloon mollies and to some extent veil-tail anything. These fish are less able to do what they want to do, and I have a problem with that, whether it's fish or dogs or any other animal. But if you want sunset platies and cobra guppies, then I don't see any problems.

On the flip side, I do hope aquarists who break into the hobby with the common livebearers make a stab at the rarer stuff later on. There are a lot of very cool livebearers out there you probably haven't heard of.

Unusual Livebearers TFF pinned topic

Cheers,

Neale

 

[morgan]

I like my Dalmation Mollies because they are very pretty and you never know what the (numerous) fry will look like. I started with a dark Dalmation Mollie and a Silver Dalmation Mollie. They were both females and they must have mated at the lfs. From these two Mollies I have had some Silver, some Black, some sailfins and some lyretails. I have various combinations of these features. Luckily I have 2 lfs who will take the fry when they reach a certain size. They are also extremely hardy IME and have survived my beginner's mistakes. At the time of my big disaster ALL the Mollies survived even the tiniest fry. Every other fish died, it was awful. Plus they are not fussy eaters. I don't intend to progress to more difficult fish (I know most people do) , even my Pleco is a Common! Equally hardy.

 

[Annastasia]

Good reply Neale. I had typed out a whole long reply to the 'Pet Peeve' topic, because people were knocking down Livebearers, but then just gave up because honestly, they won't listen anyway. Maybe you should just copy that post into there.

People just automatically assume the Livebearers are the common four, and knock them. That shows some amount of ignorance on their part, because they obviously haven't taken the time to get to know the others. If they call them dull too then.... I also don't see why people continuely feel the need to knock our fish. We don't post, in millions of threads "Oddballs are dull and boring!" or "Any topic about Danios.....dull, dull, dull". Geez, have some courtesy for people with different tastes and opinions.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Wolf ~
The Black Chin Livebearer is most likely Girardinus metallicus. If you want to look up information, you'll get more hits with that name.

 

[Bloo]

Anna, I guess it's each to their own. I've kept fish for 20+ years ( I only mention this because so many keep saying they are "beginners fish" - though of course the statement is a valid one as they are relatively easy & hardy and breed easily) but still find livebearers interesting and lovely fish to keep. Admittedly I'm down to Endlers and Wild Guppies at the moment (and a lone Molly ) but they are all lovely "personality" fish to me and I don't go round knocking what other people find dull and boring - and see no point in people doing so either.

 

[blitztidus]

Livebearers are an easy way to explain life to children. They also are an easy fish to keep, IMO. I LOVE livebearers because of their eaisly gained beauty. Fancy Guppies, for an example, can be quite stunning, sometimes even more beautiful than any betta I have ever seen. Well, I guess what I am trying to say is that I love livebearers for the same reason some people love bettas. It is all opinionated though, what isn't these days

 

[Kairi]

My favorite thing about them is how friendly and curious they are. Some fish in my tank I've had for months and they still don't like me *pout* but most of my mollies (all new members to this tank) are more than willing to eat right out of my hand... or try to nibble my hand if I'm fixing stuff in their tank.

I also love watching them play in the bubbles. I am easily amused- I could watch for hours if I had the time

 

[Nevergone815]

i love livebearers for all of the reasons listed by annastasia and nmonks. i DO want to venture into the "rarer" livebearers down the road, but i think that i will always look to one of the commons for another fish in any set up idecide to do.

 

[jimi priest 0189]

i like having new fish and with live bearers i have alot of new ones every so often also i like giving my friends heathy fish they can trust (unless they get sick else) where they will survive

 

[Kairi]

ooo another thing i like... the babies they are just too darn cute

 

[dwarfgourami]

More individualistic than schooling fish, and yet more social than the loners, interested in their owner in a way that is halfway to the betta, yet taking a positive interest in each other- it seems to me they combine the best of both worlds. I spend a lot of time looking at the interaction and hierarchy of my platies.

And I like their curiosity, the way they are always bumbling about the tank, and always come to investigate if something is going on.

I am looking forward to trying more unusual species- yet I can't see myself ever giving up on female guppies; to me, they embody everything that is special about the livebearers. And when I browse the wilder species, which I am planning to move into shortly, I am still drawn to the ones that have the humble poecilia-look, like limias and merry widows, rather than the cool-looking ones like pike minnows or halfbeaks.

Sometimes I feel maybe I should make an effort and like something trendier and more prestigious instead. But what the ***, I'm 42! Surely I have got to the time of life where I can allow myself to like something for the simple reason that I like it, never mind how much it fails to impress people?

 

[Nevergone815]

More individualistic than schooling fish, and yet more social than the loners, interested in their owner in a way that is halfway to the betta, yet taking a positive interest in each other- it seems to me they combine the best of both worlds. I spend a lot of time looking at the interaction and hierarchy of my platies.

And I like their curiosity, the way they are always bumbling about the tank, and always come to investigate if something is going on.

I am looking forward to trying more unusual species- yet I can't see myself ever giving up on female guppies; to me, they embody everything that is special about the livebearers. And when I browse the wilder species, which I am planning to move into shortly, I am still drawn to the ones that have the humble poecilia-look, like limias and merry widows, rather than the cool-looking ones like pike minnows or halfbeaks.

Sometimes I feel maybe I should make an effort and like something trendier and more prestigious instead. But what the ***, I'm 42! Surely I have got to the time of life where I can allow myself to like something for the simple reason that I like it, never mind how much it fails to impress people?

well said