Can swordtails be aggressive

[gwand25 141]

Yesterday, a beautiful full red sword tail arrived from Dan’s fish. This morning, two full red male guppies are dead. The guppies looked fine yesterday. Is it possible that the swordtail killed them? I never had swordtails before.

 

[bgarthe26 43]

Yes…..they can be, especially when in smaller tanks and/or are being territorial. They can do ok in large community tanks with many different fish species as that avoids having the male swordtail single out a fish or two and may neutralize the territorial desires some. What is in your tank, tank size, and how many of each?

 

[GaryE25 140]

Yes, some males can be rough. One in unpredictable. Two is a bad number. Three or more gets better. I haven't had a lot of trouble with them and other species, but I avoided guppies with big tails. They might well appear as targets to a fish just settling in.

 

[Magnum Man26 140]

I mostly notice aggression with other males of the same species… I have a showy high fin sun set platy male( which could breed with the female swords) but no one messes with him, while the dominant sword will chase mercilessly the smaller male sword… this in a 65 gallon tank… maybe in a smaller tank other males would not be safe???

 

[Innesfan24 7]

I agree with my colleagues. And it has always been so. Back in the day, Innes would counsel to have only one male per tank.

 

[gwand25 141]

Yes…..they can be, especially when in smaller tanks and/or are being territorial. They can do ok in large community tanks with many different fish species as that avoids having the male swordtail single out a fish or two and may neutralize the territorial desires some. What is in your tank, tank size, and how many of each?

He is in a 29 gallon tank with a male dwarf gourami, a female Molly, 10 mixed sex guppies and a few endlers. It is the two male guppies that are dead.

 

[Naughts25 97]

Did you quarantine the new fish?

 

[gwand25 141]

Did you quarantine the new fish?

I always do except when buying livebearers from Dan’s Fish. I bought the fish from Dan’s Fish. His livebearers are supervised by an aquatic veterinarian. Dan guarantees healthy livebearers.