Here at the Fish Room, We are asked a lot of questions. Some relate to our products but a lot of the questions we get from the Fish Room Family are all about fishkeeping.

We decided to start sharing some of the more popular questions with you here so we can all brush up on our knowledge for maybe even learn something new.

This month we answer the common question "How do you tell the difference between male and female livebearers?"

There are slight differences with each species of livebearer but once you learn the common differences, you can identify the different sexes fairly easily when you know what to look for.

The easiest livebearer to sex would have to be the Guppy. Fancy guppies are really easy to separate. Males tend to be colourful yet smaller with a long narrow anal fin while the females have a fan shaped anal fin. You will also find females will have a dark spot on the underside of their bodies. This will become darker when they are pregnant.

When it comes to other livebearers, we look for the same differences in the fins and body shape. If we look at the Platy, the quickest way to tell the difference is by looking at their anal fins. Again, males show a longer and narrow fin while females have a triangular fan shaped anal fin.

Generally, female livebearers are larger with rounder bodies and their male counterparts are smaller

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