Breeding Swordtails

[tetraman]

I was thinking about breeding some swordtails, as they are supposed to be very easy to breed and my dad used to breed them all the time. I have a new tank and I have got 4 so far and they have all died. All of my other fish have been doing well and the tank is cycled. I'm fine with breeding another type of livebearer. What should I do?

 

[nmonks]

Buy some swordtails!

Have a look for the more unusual varieties (species/subspecies) like Xiphophorus alvarezi and Xiphophorus clemenciae. These aren't very different in care, but have the plus of being wild-type fish, very attractive, and a bit more "cool". I don't know where you are, but in London, Wholesale Tropicals in Bethnal Green usually has these rarer Xiphophorus in stock.

Don't forget swords tend to be a little more aggressive than the average platy or molly. I wouldn't overcrowd them, and keeping a 2:1 ratio of females to male is probably very sensible.

Cheers,

Neale

PS. I'm into breeding halfbeaks. If you want a challenging livebearer, they're well worth keeping.

 

[tetraman]

I don't know. My parents aren't too happy about 4 of them dying with a couple days of arrival.

 

[nmonks]

Sorry, I mis-read your first message. Didn't see that they'd all died.

OK. Run through the basics. Nitrites and ammonium are zero? Have you checked the pH and hardness? I don't know how long/wide your 20 gallon tank is, but a swordtail needs a fairly large tank, at least 60 cm long and 30 cm wide.

Adding 4 at once to a newish tank isn't wise. Try getting just one, and add that. Wait a week before adding one or two more. I'd add females first, and any males last of all. In a small tank like yours, one male is probably the limit or there will be fights.

Swords aren't especially difficult fish, so assuming your filter is working and the water chemistry is right, you shouldn't have problems.

One other thing. If you have more than one tropical fish shop, try buying your fish from another shop. Sometimes, stock in one shop simply isn't as good as stock in another. It's not always the retailers fault, but you'll see from other people's postings that some retailers just don't look after their fish very well. Places like PetCo and Walmarts have a poor reputation, for example, though individual branches of these chains can be good. Depends a lot on the manager, I suppose.

Cheers,

Neale

I don't know. My parents aren't too happy about 4 of them dying with a couple days of arrival.

 

[vancouver]

Did you acclimatize them properly.. maybe your water chemistry was different from that at the LFS, and the shock killed them?..

Could have just been weak stock also..

It might be a good idea to just buy 1 and see if it's ok for a week, then try another and so on.

 

[madmom]

vancouver and nmonks may be right. Could be the fish weren't well when you got them or went into shock.
Definately try one at a time and acclimate slowly. I added 1/2 cup water to their bag every 20 minutes over a 3 hour period and then slowly poured them in. When you visit your LFS check for dead or sick looking fish in their tanks. If everything looks ok pick out the best looking ones. Watch the males though. I have a male Koi that will attack any other sword that goes into the tank. He thinks all the females are his. He barely puts up with the platy male and occasionally chases him.

 

[tetraman]

I had got 2 batches, a male and a female from PetsMart, then a male and a female from PetCo. It was during cycling, so this doesn't come as a surprise. My dad loved them as a kid and bred them often. I'm only 12, which has to be understood since my parents are buying these fish. I lost 5 fish during the cycling, too, so I don't have any margin for error. Next Time I get some fish, Im going to go to a small tropical fish store. It's really cool and I'm guessing the quality of the fish is much better. I have to get ready for football practice. Bye!

 

[nmonks]

12 is a great age to be starting fishkeeping. Trust me, as a one-time high school biology teacher, you're going to learn so much about ecology, bacteria, the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle, taxonomy... the list goes on and on. So welcome to the hobby!

Just get one swordtail next time. A female. Pick a smallish one, but check that it is active, it's fins aren't ragged, and if you can, ask the guys to feed it in the shop so you can see it's healthy. Acclimating the fish to it's new home is half the battle. madmom set you up with some good advice there. Basically, swords are hardy, so once it's settled in, you should be fine.

Personally, I avoid anything too "fancy". These are bred for colour rather than hardiness. With wild-type fish, this hasn't happened, so you have a better chance of getting something sturdy.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[tetraman]

Thanks. I got pretty banged up at football last night. I know this is off subject, but a kid stepped on my lower leg, hurting my ankle BAD! Later on a kid got tackled on the same leg, scratching it and hurting my ankle even worse. That's what you get when you play offensive line. By the way, I'm talking American football here, not soccer. By the way, nmonks, you create your own software? Sweet! I know how to create software too. I was actually thinking about creating an app that tells you compatable fish, how many fish can fit in your tank, and gives you fish profiles. I can use Liberty BASIC and Visual Basic. Sorry that this is completely off topic.

 

[nmonks]

Yep, this is off topic! My programming skills are very basic, if you'll pardon the pun, and I used mostly REALbasic and sometimes Runtime Revolution. If I had the time, I'd work on creating some sort of "player" into which you could download "cards" specific to fish you were interested in. So you could tailor-make your own fish book.

Anyway, good luck with the swordtails. Livebearers really are the best... just wait until you get onto the difficult livebearers like Anableps and stingrays! Oh, and sorry about the football injury.

Cheers,

Neale

By the way, nmonks, you create your own software? Sweet! I know how to create software too. I was actually thinking about creating an app that tells you compatable fish, how many fish can fit in your tank, and gives you fish profiles. I can use Liberty BASIC and Visual Basic. Sorry that this is completely off topic.

 

[tetraman]

So, I got 3 pineapple swordtails, 2 females and a male. You wouldn't believe how much they eat! They are happy and healthy, and both of the females are pregnant, which brings me to my next problem. The only decoration I have in my tank is 1 plastic plant. What should I do? I would love to set up my 20 gallon tanks, but my parents have spent $200 in under a month on my fish and they sure as heck aren't gonna spend another $50 to $60. Will any of my fish eat them? My neon tetras are still only about an inch long.

 

[tetraman]

Ok, so the fry are born now. A little help, nmonks? There's about 40 of them and I need help caring for them and feeding them.