A very difficult Livebearer to keep

[fish48]

Girardinichthys viviparous

 

[GaryE]

Is this one of those pharma ads where people are supposed to go look up the fish?

They're nice, and are difficult.

 

[fish48]

Girardinichthys viviparous goodeid ) are very pretty difficult to find in the fish hobby and one of the most difficult livebearer to keep and maintain females are gravid so should see fry within the next two or 3 weeks

 

[GaryE]

I have only ever seen pictures of that one - never seen them live. People who think all livebearers are easy to breed don't know all livebearers...

 

[anewbie]

Can you elaborate on what makes them difficult to keep so we don't have to research the species

 

[GaryE]

A lot of the less popular livebearers have special needs for diet, or water, or are just plain delicate to keep. Otheres are extreme in their aggression, and it takes planning to set up a tank for them.
I hate to say it, but every species has to be researched in detail before you get it, if you want to keep it right.

 

[anewbie]

A lot of the less popular livebearers have special needs for diet, or water, or are just plain delicate to keep. Otheres are extreme in their aggression, and it takes planning to set up a tank for them.
I hate to say it, but every species has to be researched in detail before you get it, if you want to keep it right.

Thankfully I did not ask about all species; I only asked about this species, Girardinichthys viviparous, which is related to this thread. if you don't know the answer that's fine but otherwise i don't see the point in your comment as it relates to my statement.

 

[fish48]

Thankfully I did not ask about all species; I only asked about this species, Girardinichthys viviparous, which is related to this thread. if you don't know the answer that's fine but otherwise i don't see the point in your comment as it relates to my statement.

Girardinichthys viviparous, has everything to do what has been mentioned except there is no aggression among each other ,
Girardinichthys viviparous are a delicate species and require a resting period during the winter months i find they do best at 60 to 62 Fahrenheit. and summer months I keep them between 70f and 72f much higher than 74f they will suffer I keep them in a pH of about 78 which suits them well. water changes 50% weekly, to do well they must have plenty of live food in their diet if they don't get the correct requirements they soon die off

 

[emeraldking]

I use to have them as well. They're small splitfins and friendly. It's also nice to see when a male turns really black. Like a lot of goodeids, these goodeids can also be kept at lower rates. And eventhough, goodeids come from Mexico, most are subtropical and come from subzones with a subtropical climate (endemic to higher areas). But there are also goodeids that are tropical and come from lower regions where it's warmer. But that's just the minority.

Can you elaborate on what makes them difficult to keep so we don't have to research the species

There are a lot of other livebearers than just the mollies, guppies, platies and swordtails. But goodeids belong to the real livebearers (viviparous) while the ones of the big 4 (the ones just mentioned) are ovoviviparous livebearers.
And there are a lot of ovoviviparous and viviparous livebearers that are not that easy to maintain. And not even all will be very prolific. This is also why I'm always saying that when someone is saying that livebearers are easy and very prolific, that they just don't know everything about livebearers. If someone only knows guppies, platies, swordtails and mollies as livebearers, then that person only knows a very small part of the world of livebearers. For that world is way much bigger...

Fish48 and GaryE would totally agree with me by saying this...

"Proud to be a fish nerd"