I recently acquired 1 pair and 4 fry of X. montezuma. Magnificent specimens. Is anyone familiar with this species and its special requirements.

Guessing from experience with other members of the genus and the collection local in Mexico, I put them into cycled 29 gallon with medium hard water, 7.6 ph and about 1 tbs. salt to every 2 gallons of water with a few Endlers.

The fry are active, but the parents are constantly hiding among the plants--reverse of what I usually see. Any help would be welcomed. Also, any ideas on how to induce breeding? I suspect that the adult male may be the only representative of his gender among my half-dozen fish, but swords sex out late, so I don't know.

Thanks,
Stuart

I have heard of X. Montezuma but never seen one in person. I have a lot of experience with livebearers in general though. Seeing as you are keeping them in a slightly brackish tank I hope that the environment that they came from also had some salt in the water. It can be very stressful for them to have a sudden change in water parameters like that. The adults may be hiding because they are not used to the environment if they haven't been in the tank very long. As long as they are not showing stress they should get used to it in a short time. The fry are usually more active than adults anyways (in fish and humans). How old are the fry? In swordtails it can sometimes take more than a few months before the sword starts to become developed so you may have more than one male in a short time. Sorry I can't help more.