Acidic: A reading below 7.0 on the pH scale. Activated carbon: A manufactured form of carbon that is highly porous. Adipose fin: A small fin between the dorsal and caudal fins, most notable in tetras and other characoids.
Glofish 70 gobies 260–261 breeding 230, 231 suckerlike device 261 goldfish 74, 332–343 breeding 326, 327, 328, 341 designing ponds for 300 diseases 324 feeding 316, 337 hand-stripping 326 indoor tanks 312, 313 origins and ancestry 22, 334 pigmentation and sheen 333 scales 16
These popular fish are characterized by their breeding habits. The eggs are fertilized internally; in most species, sperm are transferred to the female via the male’s gonopodium—a tubelike projection of the anal fin—and the eggs subsequently develop in the relative safety of the female’s body.
In common with most domesticated livebearers, the Swordtail’s color and pattern are very different from those of the wild type. Many of these fish have a hybrid ancestry, thanks to earlier crossings both with other types of swordtail and also with platies.
The Platy has a broad body and naturally rounded fins. Spotted patterning on the caudal peduncle and dorsal fin is common in the wild, and it has been maintained in a number of domestic strains.
Fish can be divided into two broad categories on the basis of their breeding behavior. Egg-layers, which form the majority, practice external fertilization, while in livebearers the eggs are fertilized in the female’s body and emerge as fully formed young. Some species show little regard for their offspring and cannibalize their own eggs or fry. Others display surprisingly high levels of parental care.
One of the most challenging yet rewarding aspects of fishkeeping is to breed your own fish. Think carefully about which fish you should breed and where you will house the spawning fish, and decide how many fry you can comfortably cope with and how you will feed them. Make a record of your successes and failures so that future breeding attempts go more smoothly.
The knife livebearer has two rows of scales along the lower edge of the caudal peduncle which look like the blade of a knife. Pale in colour, the iridescent sheen on the bodies of healthy fishes makes them well worth keeping. Males grow to about 5 cm (2 in) and females 7.5 cm (3 in)
Now to one of the more spectacular members of this family, the sailfin molly. There are three species of sailfin molly of which two are common in the hobby, Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia veli-fera. As with the cultivated platies and sword tails, they have been hybridized over the years to develop more colour varieties.
