How do you know?

[Zenn]

Ok, this is on breeding, but i would like to know how do you know when a swordtail is about to give birth, because the breeding book i have say you should put the in the trap breeding tank just before they give birth, the only way i have babies, is they survived in the tank itself long enough for me to notice and i hooked them out and put them in the breeding tank, so how do you tell?

 

[tstenback]

The first time is a real guess. If you put the sword in the breeder to soon she will stress out and abort the babies. So let her have a brood in the tank and do the scoop thing. Mark the day on the calendar and 28 days later put her in the breeder (if she's pregnant of course). Also another method i use is that i watch the angle between the anal fin and the tail and when this get close to being straight up and down i put the fish in the breeder. I am usually within 18 hours when i do this, but you have to know your fish to be sure. HTH

 

[fishy frenzy]

have to say i like the idea about the calinder

 

[Zenn]

When her Back fin is on end, most of the time, is that a sign as well?

She is getting pretty large now, and i dont have anywhere to put her, i have 5 fry in a net tank in the aquarium, and one that is getting large, but aint large enough yet to release, in a plastic breeding trap, so i might have to let her do it in the tank...

 

[gto_cowgirl]

If you watch your fish often you will begin to tell what their normal behavior is. When the mother is near to giving birth she may and probably will do several different behavior issues that you will notice. One is she will start to swim up and down the aquarium and could be breathing a bit rapid. Another is she will get very annoyed easily and may nip at the others as a warning. Also she could be starting to chill at the bottom of the aquarium near some plants more and more.

Some physical ways to tell if the mother is pregrant is of course the gravid spot is big and black. Sometimes when the fish are stretched from pregrancy then you can see the pattern on their body which is small diamonds. When they are really big you can see the diamond shapes much easier. The most famous method is to wait for the bottom part of the body behind the gills to become square shaped.

Letting the female give birth in the community tank is fine but you will probably lose at good percentage if you don't have enough plants (floating and rooted). Another method that i have heard of but haven't tried is to use marbles instead of gravel that way it gives the babies enough room to hide but not enough room for the adult fish.

I use a regular 1 gallon which i float in the 10 gallon. It has its own little bit of gravel for bacteria and an airstone along with lots of floating plants. Last month was a guess for me when the mother was giving birth but i marked it down in the signature and then 20 days from that date i put the pregnant mother in there and boom babies in like a couple of days. I was able to save them all by taking out the mother when she was done and putting the babies in a breeding trap.

I think those breeding traps are to small for adult fish. Many people say you will have problems with the mother giving birth in them, and i did but none (no problems) with the 1 gallon. It gives them plenty of room to swim and its in the 10 gallon so the temperture is the same.

I leave the newborns in the breeder trap for about a week or so as i feed them fresh hatched baby brine shrimp to grow them quickly to catch up to last months fry and then i'll put them in the 5 gallon with the others.