Amphibian Aficionado

betta-butch:

hey fishblr, what lesser known freshwater species are you a fan of? or what species do you feel are under appreciated? this isn’t for stocking plans, just curiosity!

My absolute favorite freshwater fish is the metallic livebearer (Girardinus metallicus)

I saw some for sale at an aquarium club meeting years ago and immediately googled them when I got home. I found the seller on facebook and messaged him and soon after I had my very own!

I don’t have any aquariums currently; I sold my remaining metallic livebearers at an aquarium club auction years ago but if/when I set up an aquarium again it would be for that species.

Here’s a photo I took of one of mine:

They’re also known as black chin livebearers because the males have a delightful black happy trail from their mouths to their gonopodium. The females are entirely metallic yellow.

They’re not too big, not too small, easy to breed but not overly prolific. They love alkaline water so they thrived in my tap. I had my group in a 20 long but I think if I did it again I’d either do 3x1x1ft tank (I forget the volume- it’s a weird size currently housing my salamander until he gets upgraded when I move) or a 40 breeder (3x1.5x1.5) depending on what I have on hand. A 20 long is a good minimum though in my opinion.

There’s also a congener- I forget the species name- that is nearly identical but both females and males are entirely yellow, they lack the black chin. In case monochrome is more your style!