Black Swords

[paulthegreat]

I was a bit put out when I went to the fish store today to find that the Green Swordies I was looking at all summer were sold. They had some nice Blackies though and I was wondering what kind of mix might be likely with placing a black swordie male and one female in with my orange swordies(4 female and 1 nearly developed male)? Anyone had any experience with this kind of mix??

 

[Angry_Platy]

Irt also depends on the color of the fish you want to breed parents. Like if an orange swordy came from a orange male and a white and blue female (for example) then chances are the fry could have some white on it. You may end up with a marbled sword of black and orange (which would look awesome).....

 

[Polardbear]

Hi paulthegreat,

From my experience breeding blacks (which is becoming my specialty) when I cross a black with a solid orange I get a mix of black babies that have the same fin coloration as the black parent, black babies with orange fins (my favorite) and orange babies that look lile the orange parent.

 

[paulthegreat]

Hey Polardbear,

Black with orange fins sounds great!! I am on my way to getting the renovations on my new bedroom done and when it is complete I am going to try to get a 500liter(350 minimum) or so set up and the the 112liter will be only Swords. The 5 Orange and a male Black with at least 1 Black female and then a Green male and maybe 2 Green females. The big tank will be for the Pleco and the YoYos and a group of Clown loaches as well as the tetras. I am also planning on getting at least one more tank in the 60-70liter range for fry.

 

[Polardbear]

paulthegreat - when you pick out your blacks try to pick ones that don't have black extending into the fins. Most of the ones you're likely to find in LFS's will have either clear fins or clear fins with a yellow/gold tint. If there is any of the black coloring in the fins (particularly the dorsal) you will have a higher probability of producing offspring that will develop melonoma tumours.

Here's a couple examples of what to look for in the fins - (nice clear fins with no black).

And here's what to avoid. (Black spotting extending into the fins).

Good luck with them. Black swordies are my obsession. If my little pride and joy "Dion" ever decides to serious up and let me take a decent photo of him I'll show you what a black male hifin looks like.

 

[paulthegreat]

Well its a good thing you sent me that article and posted these pictures. I would otherwise have tried to find ones with solid black fins as I would think that would look neater, but I will definately avoid the black fin varieties.