Fry growing up

[Jen21]

My swordtail fry are about 4 months old and are pretty big, about the size of a small platy. When are they old enough to have fry of their own? Are they still considered fry??

 

[specks]

We had a swordie give birth when she was about 13-14 weeks old. Strange thing is that since she had the fry SHE has become a HE.

 

[Polardbear]

Around 3-4 months is when they usually hit sexual maturity though some can take a little longer. I've read that blacks are especially slow to mature and sometimes take up to a year to mature. I've been seeing males developing tails at about 3 months and my girls that have had babies were about 4 1/2 or 5 months old. A few of my girls that are 5-6 months old have not gotten pregnant yet even though they are with a male.

 

[mlee0332]

We had a swordie give birth when she was about 13-14 weeks old. Strange thing is that since she had the fry SHE has become a HE.

I didn't know that was possible???

 

[wrs]

We had a swordie give birth when she was about 13-14 weeks old. Strange thing is that since she had the fry SHE has become a HE.

I didn't know that was possible???

it is, if there are not many males, a female will become a male so that they will be able to keep the species alive.

 

[specks]

The swordie who changed sex was wasting her/his time because there are no others in the tank at the moment. We took the fry to our lfs after I had taken some to put in another tank & this one somehow got missed.

 

[platyperson]

OOH!!! I suppose those fry came from the same parents right? I dont think your fry to breed with each other, that would be inbreeding and their babies will be weak. Its thanks to inbreeding that guppies arent as hardy as they used to be I would reccomend giving any of them that become males back to your LFS, or separate them from the females. Trust me, you might even get overpopulated when these breed.

 

[Jen21]

No, they aren't inbreeding... I have a lot of other swordies and platies in different tanks...

 

[mlee0332]

yea, I looked up breeding gupps on the net, and a pro said that if you want a specific color, like the fry to be the same color as mom and dad (well original), then you should inbreed them with their daughters, granddaughters, great grands, great great grands,etc. He said to get a fancy, that's how you do it. You r supposed to breed the same male with his kids, grands etc until you get the desired colors, or until he dies!!!! How disgusting!