Some people obtain live-bearers because they are the easiest fish to breed. Pregnancy in females is easy to detect before feeding. Pregnant females have rounder bellies, and sometimes you can even see the silvery eyes of the fry before they are born. If this is the case, it is time to move the mother to a breeding tank. This can be a separate holding tank or another apparatus that can divide the current tank, separating the male from the female.
Gestation lasts about four weeks.
If a female is about to give birth and doesn t, it helps to raise the temperature a few degrees. If you do not separate the male and female, the fry will have a minimal chance of surviving because the male will regard them as a midnight snack. You will also want to feed more often. There are several commercial fry foods available. The most common diseases of live-bearers include ick, cotton wool disease, fin rot and intestinal worms.