a question. male or female

[kevy]

Hey. I'm doing a Bio project that involved breeding some fish and was wondering if anyone could explain the difference between male and females for me. Specificly Guppies, Mollies, Platies, and Swordtails. Thanks a lot for any responce.

I'm new by the way, hey everyone.

 

[SneakBetta]

Most females are bigger than males. I know it's hard to tell if it's bigger or not, but I'll go on some websites and try to find the answers. I want to know too!!

 

[SneakBetta]

I found how to identify two of the fish-

Guppies-
Male gets 4cm in length. Males have lots of color.
Female get 6cm in length. Females have dull colors.

Platty-
Male have a gonopoduim (whatever that is) and a lightly smaller and slimmer body.
Females have a plumper more rounded body.

www.angelfire.com/my/fishpage/platty.html

I will try to find the other fish too!!

 

[juliethegr8t]

SneakBetta is right about the Guppies - but you can also tell the difference because male guppies have longer flowing tails whereas the females have much shorter tails, along with the much duller colors - males come in all shades of the rainbow, and females are often a darker greyer or browner color.

As for swordtails - they are very easy to tell the difference when mature, because the male develops a long "sword" from the bottom of his tail fin, and females do not have this.

The gonopodium is a modified fin that females do not have - it's on the bottom of their body and near the back (it's a modified anal fin used for copulation). This is the case for immature swordtails too - females never have one, and the males always do.

All of the fish you're wondering about are livebearers, meaning they have live young instead of laying eggs. Because they belong to this family it's easy to distinguish the difference - all males will have a gonopodium and females just have a triangular shaped fin in the same area.

Welcome and good luck with your project!

 

[kevy]

Yea, I choose livebearer becuase i figured they are the easiest to breed, and I know they are very hardy. Right now I think i'm pretty much set...I think. I have a 10 gallon tank with lots of plants for the fry, when they come. Does anyone have any advice for this tank? I'm a little unsure about it.

Thanks a lot for the replies so far, it helped a lot. Unfortunity the guys at my local pet show knew very little.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Is this a new tank? Because if it is, you'll have to go through what is called the "cycle" when fish are added - it's when levels of ammonia and nitrite get very high and there are often fish deaths if it is not approached and managed correctly. So I don't know how much time you have for this project - but it can take a tank 4-6 weeks to cycle, or more. There's ways to speed up the process, but it still takes time. If you buy guppies though, you'll most likely get a pregnant female if she has been in with males - so that helps with time The parents will probably need to be removed once they lay their eggs though so they don't eat the fry. If you have any more questions, ask away - everyone is always helpful here! Good luck!

 

[amez]

To tell apart guppies, males have long tails, nice colors and are realitvly bigger. Femals are vice visa and have a dot on the part after their belly. That is the easiest way to tell them apart, by the black dot. Sry but i dun no bout the other fish

 

[bigfish]

Guppies are livebearers which means that they give birth to live young and they don't lay eggs.