Help Me Choose An Unusual Livebearer

[dwarfgourami]

It's looking good- I think the family is showing signs of giving way on the subject of the 55 gallon tank. One thing I thought I might do with it (or the freed-up space in one of the other tanks if I move fish) is to keep a group of the less common livebearers. Endlers are a possibility. I've also been thinking of black-bellied limias or humpbacked limias, or maybe priapella intermedia. Any advice? What would you choose? Would there be a risk of black-bellied limias and humpbacked interbreeding if I kept both?

 

[VENOM]

Try halfbeaks. They are medium size livebearers with a "beak". Quite cool.

Im not familiar with black-bellied limias or humpbacked limias

 

[frazoo]

pike livebearers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have always wanted one since i found out about them and i have always wanted a grass pickerel!!!
pike ate awesome

 

[Annastasia]

Halfbeaks would be nice, as mentioned. Pike Livebearers are great, but I'm not sure if DwarfGourami wants a 9" fish.

Limias are great fish. Pretty in a special kind of way. They can interbreed, however I'm not sure how much of a threat that would be. Perhaps someone else can answer this.

Another option, and one of my personal favorites, is the four-eyed fish. Very interesting fish. They also get pretty big, but 55 gallons would be a nice size. If you're looking to breed though, they may not be the best choice, as you have to match "right handed" males with "left handed" females to breed, or vice versa.

Let us know what you choose!

 

[BigC]

Here's a nice little list of livebearers, cut and paste the latin name into googles search images box and see if you like one of them.
http/www.aqualink.com/catalogs/xlivebea.html
Your problem will be getting hold of some stock, which may take a while. If you are interested in livebearers then my advice to you would be to join one of the many local or international livebearer societies. These are the real searching grounds if you want to pick up something unusual.
Regards
BigC

 

[dwarfgourami]

Here's a nice little list of livebearers, cut and paste the latin name into googles search images box and see if you like one of them.
http/www.aqualink.com/catalogs/xlivebea.html
Your problem will be getting hold of some stock, which may take a while. If you are interested in livebearers then my advice to you would be to join one of the many local or international livebearer societies. These are the real searching grounds if you want to pick up something unusual.
Regards
BigC

Thanks. My list was picked from Trimar's latest stocking list, as they're not too far away from me. Of course that may have changed by the time I get my tank started up; I'm still at the dreaming stage.

 

[guppymonkey]

If you would like some unusual livebearers my suggestion would be some goodeids. There are many different species to pick from and they are all relatively easy to maintain and breed. They come in many various bright colors. They are a rare family of livebearers who nourish the young in the womb through an umbilical cord like structure instead of the way that most livebearers. Also, many goodeids are endangered or extinct in the wild so you could help the survival of a species by breeding them!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Lots of good suggestions here- thanks folks!

At the moment I think I'm hovering between the black-bellied and the humpbacked limia. I like the thought of something that's a bit like the ordinary livebearers and yet not quite. Be interesting to compare personalities.

Though the goodeids are tempting, too...

Think I might give halfbeaks a miss this time round, though it's something I have been thinking about. They sound great but there might be compatibility problems with my other plans and I wasn't thinking in terms of a species tank. For reasons of space I might pass on the anableps, too, though they sound absolutely fascinating.

If it was a choice between the limias (and assuming I can get hold of either) which would you choose?