Guppies, Mollies, and Platys

by Harro Hieronimus

Another Barron's book on tropical fish, this one specifically about live-bearers including swordtails (which aren't mentioned in the title). It describes the biology of live-bearing fish, how they reproduce, how they are selectively bred to create all the different colors and forms, and how to interpret some of their behavior. There's a profile section that shows lots of other live-bearing fish I wasn't familiar with like goodeids and halfbeaks. The usual care section and information about water quality, aquarium setup and so forth. Each chapter has a helpful question-answer section that addresses things like how to transport new fish a long distance, euthanize a fish that is fatally ill, or what to do with all the baby fish that you'll end up with (inevitable with these pets that readily breed in the community aquarium).

Rating: 3/5     62 pages, 2005