Anyway To Get My Swordtails To..err Do It?

[Ogrt48]

I want some babies lol. I have a 10gal with a male betta, male sword tail and a female swordtail. The swordtails get along great with my betta. I've had them about 2-3 days now and the beta since July.. Is there any special way to speed up the swordtails producing some babies for me?

 

[Annastasia]

Not really...except the one thing that may stop them is stress. A 10 gallon tank is really small for Swordies, and the correct ratio is 1 male per 2-3 females. I'd upgrade the tank size and get more females before you can really expect them to be breeding happily. Also, beware, that Betta can turn on the Swordtails anytime and attack them. 3 days is not enough time to judge on.

In that small of a tank, you'll definitely need to keep up on the water changes. What were your latest water stats?

But still, I'd say you definitely need to upgrade the tank size and get more females, soon.

 

[Ogrt48]

Ah, no way I can upgrade the tank at all. I'm a broke college student, after I pay my rent each month I'm left with $45, that has to pay for my monthly food, dog food and some fish food.. so yea.. I got days on noodles =\ I don't see why 10 gal is small for swordtails though, they're maybe an inch and a half, or 2 inches at the very most each.

The first day I had them the betta chased the male swordtail around a little bit but couldn't catch up to him, haha.

 

[Annastasia]

Hmmm...you might do better off taking them back to the store, then. They may be 2" now, but they can get to around 4". And the males can get to almost 7" with their sword. I'd take them back or give them to a friend with a bigger tank. It will just be better for them.

Even if you do keep them for a while...you might not get fry. I'm personally most worried about the one male to one female thing. Even if the female does get pregnant, the male's constant harrassing her could make her abort fry.

Any way you could take the Swordies back and get a smaller Livebearer more suited to your tank? Like Platies?

 

[Ogrt48]

Is there any other name platys go by? I've never seen that on the tanks at the fish stores I think.

 

[Annastasia]

Mmmm...not really. I have seen them reffered to as "Moonfish" once...but go figure.

They look basically like this, just in case they aren't labeled as Platies. They come in all sorts of colors, but this is the general body shape.

Just be watching the Betta with the other fish, no matter what fish, all the time. Often Bettas will be fine for a while, then all of a sudden turn and kill tankmates. I speak from experience, unfortunatly...

 

[dwarfgourami]

Just adding my tuppenceworth: if you do manage to get your swordtails to breed (or platies for that matter) what are you going to do with the babies if you cannot afford to buy a tank for them to grow out? Swordtails can have up to 50 fry, you know. And go on giving birth every 4-6 weeks. Those fry will be your responsibility. If I were you I would save any breeding experiments until your financial situation improves.

 

[tank212]

The most common name I find in my petstore they call platies is Variatus which I don't know the difference between moon and variatus but both are other names for platies.

 

[Annastasia]

The most common name I find in my petstore they call platies is Variatus which I don't know the difference between moon and variatus but both are other names for platies.

Actually, they aren't other names for Platies. There are two types of Platies, Xiphophorus Variatus and Xiphophorus Maculatus. The Variatus Platies you are seeing are probably Xiphophorus Variatus but I've also heard Variatus Platies being called Moon Platies before. Hard to say, each fish store names them something different.

 

[the fishman]

The most common name I find in my petstore they call platies is Variatus which I don't know the difference between moon and variatus but both are other names for platies.

Actually, they aren't other names for Platies. There are two types of Platies, Xiphophorus Variatus and Xiphophorus Maculatus. The Variatus Platies you are seeing are probably Xiphophorus Variatus but I've also heard Variatus Platies being called Moon Platies before. Hard to say, each fish store names them something different.

in the states, we call thum micky mouse platys. cuz the shape of the black mark on the cuddl pedunkkal.

 

[Somethings Fishy Here]

Ogrt48, I'm a college student with a 10 gallon too. Ive got two sowrds among other fish and have had this particular pair for 2 months or so with two batches of fry. If you want to breed them you might want to get a small one gallon aquarium to put the fry in (only 10-20$ with air pump at petsmart) and on top of that, have a LFS or friends on hand to give the fry to as they will outgrow the one gallon rather quickly. I've never had problems with swords in 10 gallons before but I do make it a habit to do a 10-20% water change each week.

 

[Squid]

I want some babies lol. I have a 10gal with a male betta, male sword tail and a female swordtail. The swordtails get along great with my betta. I've had them about 2-3 days now and the beta since July.. Is there any special way to speed up the swordtails producing some babies for me?

Turn the lights down low and play 'em a bit of Barry White.. a bit of the poshest fish food you could buy, the tetrafin equivallent of Oysters..

also.. stop watchin' them.. they might be shy..

Squid

 

[osteoporoosi]

...just add water

 

[fatguppy]

How to encourage them?

How to STOP them more like!

We have two swordie females and one male and they never stop!!!! This of course is not jealousy just admiration!!!

Believe me, if your water is healthy, your swordies will breed!

 

[osteoporoosi]

As long as you have hard and alkaline water there should be no problems. Just remember that swords grow huge, 30-40 gallons would be more appropriate tank size.