I just noticed the pinned topics about the less common livebearers and thought I should set the record straight.
The Ameca Splendens, butterfly goodeids, are not the tiny fish being portrayed. Mine run to 7 cm or more in length and are not the friendly fish portayed in that pinned topic. They do not tolerate other species well but are quite friendly to their own species.
The red tailed goodeids, Xenotoca eiseni are also not the tiny fish described. I am looking at my own breeding colony in my 50 gallon tank while I type this and see a female about 5 cm long and most of the males at 4 cm.
I am a specialist. I breed lots of goodeids as my main focus. As a general rule, if you have the room for 20+ gallon tanks you can keep most of the goodeid species. They almost never require a tank heater if you are comfortable in the space where they are kept. I especially enjoy the leopard goodeids and the greens, X captivus. Both are also large robust species. I also find the Characodons to be very attractive goodeids. There is a debate going on in the scientific community about how to classify the Characodons. Mine are designated Characodon lateralis but the location information I have on them does not match the present scientific community's designation of lateralis. They are more likely to fall under the designation of C audax according to the experts. Either way, do a google search for characodon and I bet you will agree they are beautiful fish. Wilds are often not very pretty, they do need to survive in the wild, but characodons are the exception in my book.
The Ameca Splendens, butterfly goodeids, are not the tiny fish being portrayed. Mine run to 7 cm or more in length and are not the friendly fish portayed in that pinned topic. They do not tolerate other species well but are quite friendly to their own species.
The red tailed goodeids, Xenotoca eiseni are also not the tiny fish described. I am looking at my own breeding colony in my 50 gallon tank while I type this and see a female about 5 cm long and most of the males at 4 cm.
I am a specialist. I breed lots of goodeids as my main focus. As a general rule, if you have the room for 20+ gallon tanks you can keep most of the goodeid species. They almost never require a tank heater if you are comfortable in the space where they are kept. I especially enjoy the leopard goodeids and the greens, X captivus. Both are also large robust species. I also find the Characodons to be very attractive goodeids. There is a debate going on in the scientific community about how to classify the Characodons. Mine are designated Characodon lateralis but the location information I have on them does not match the present scientific community's designation of lateralis. They are more likely to fall under the designation of C audax according to the experts. Either way, do a google search for characodon and I bet you will agree they are beautiful fish. Wilds are often not very pretty, they do need to survive in the wild, but characodons are the exception in my book.
