Breeding Swordtails

[PaBucsFan]

I know the magic will not immediately start as the male swordtail needs to court the 2 female swordtails that I have in the tank but I would like to know what can I do to help encourage the swordtails to mate and produce fry. I guess I mean what tank parameters do I need to have. My current tank parameters are 7.4pH, 0's for ammonia and nitrite. Nitrate is at less than 10ppm as I have a planted tank. Tank temperature is about 76 degrees F. Thanks for the input!

 

[OldMan47]

It looks to me like you have good conditions in your tank for the fish to breed. The only thing I do not see in your list is good food. The better the food quality and abundance, the more likely your fish will decide to bring in more fish by breeding. That means you need to feed the adult fish plenty of good quality foods and keep in mind that swords are a bit more vegetarian in their nature than tetras or similar fish. That means that a good quality vegetarian food will be a good thing to include in your food mixture if you want them to breed. I have tons of success by using a fish food that is heavier in vegetable matter than most generic tropical foods. Our most common livebearers are not the avid eaters of animal protein that tetras or many cichlids are. Lots of food with good variety is the key to placing your fish into "breeding condition".

 

[PaBucsFan]

Okay. So you are suggesting using vegetables such as lettuce and fish food that is higher quality than Tetramin?

 

[helterskelter]

Tetramin is a good food, but feeding frozen or livefoods twice a week dose help.

Daphina, bloodworm, white/grindle worm and tubefex (if u can find it) are all great additions.

As for the water, ye it's perfect. Just make sure you do plenty of water changes.
Remember swords are very active fish and need plenty of room.
Also young males can take a very long time to mature, I've known some males take upto or even over a year to mature.
These "Late developers" are the very best males as the much larger and stronger then the young developing fish.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Okay, I do have krill and crab that were flash frozen I think. I do feed the Swordtails that 1-2 times a week. I will look into the frozen live foods when I head to the LFS today. Both the females and the male are quite small still about 1.75 inches. The male already has his gonopodium and is developing his swordtail. The LFS I buy from also sells other pet supplies and their "fish expert" was not there the day I bought the swordtails so I don't know their exact age, but I am happy to have a LFS that isn't a Petco or Pets-mart.

 

[OldMan47]

I think you may have found the problem yourself PaBucsFan. If your fish are that young, they need to grow up before they will be fit to produce fry of their own.

 

[PaBucsFan]

Very true, I am going to take the advice everyone has given and hope that a fresher diet plus time to mature is what I need to do. Thanks everyone!