Glossary · 🥚 Breeding
Livebearer
A livebearer is a fish that gives birth to free-swimming young rather than laying eggs — guppies, platies, mollies and swordtails — which means a mixed-sex group will breed readily, often faster than you expect.
Their productivity is a blessing and a warning: keep only males (or plan for the fry) if you do not want a population boom. Most fry hide and only a few survive in a community, but numbers add up.
Livebearers generally prefer harder water, which is worth checking against your tap water before buying.