Poecilia vivipara
Poecilia vivipara is found naturally in South American reservoirs, from Venezuela to La Plata. Fish can be found in almost all bodies of water located in the area, even in those where there is an admixture of seawater. These fish are unpretentious and recommended for keeping as the first aquarium fish for beginner aquarists.
Poecilia vivipara has a moderately elongated body shape is slightly compressed in the front part and quite strongly in the rear. Also slightly flattened in the upper part and the head of the fish. The coloration is gray with a slight admixture of yellow. At the root of the dorsal plumage there is a small dark spot. At the root of the tail plumage of males have little noticeable transverse dark stripes Females are almost twice as large as males, in addition to their more rounded abdomen, their size reaches up to 7.5 cm in length, while the maximum size of males is about 4 cm. The fish spend most of their time in the middle layer of water.
Like all representatives of viviparous fish Poecilia vivipara does not require a large aquarium, for the content of 3-5 fish will be quite enough aquarium volume of 25-30 liters. These fish are calm and peaceful, so that they can be kept in a common aquarium with almost any peaceful fish. The aquarium around the perimeter should be densely planted with aquarium plants, on the surface of the water is also desirable to place several bushes of floating plants.
Water parameters: temperature 23-26° C, hardness dH 2-15°, acidity pH 6,5-7,5. Need weekly replacement of 1/4 of the aquarium water fresh, as well as filtration and aeration. As a soil can be used coarse river sand or gravel of dark color.
Lighting is not too bright, the intensity of about 0.4 W / L. duration of daylight hours about 10 hours a day.
Feed the fish can be both dry and live food. They eat well artemium, trubichnik, moths. In the diet of fish it is desirable to add plant food in the form of chopped leaves of lettuce, spinach and algae. Feed the fish should be 2 times a day.
Reproduction
Poecilia vivipara reaches sexual maturity at the age of 3-4 months.
Poecilia vivipara - a fish is very prolific and under good conditions spawn every month, with spawning fish in the same aquarium where they live permanently. During one spawning period, the female hatches up to 150 fry about 8 mm in size. Fry from the first days lead an independent life and with a balanced diet grow quite quickly.
In the first days of life fry are fed specialized dry food designed for fry and egg powder.
Life expectancy of Poecilia vivipara in aquarium conditions is about 3-4 years.
