I Need Help

[leslie1856]

Hi, i have a pregnant swordtail, which i bought pregnant, I have no idea how far along she is. When I bred mollies, right before they were going to give birth they swam up and down in the tank. Well my pregnant swordtail is doing this only she still has a slim body. She has a gravid spot but it's not very big. Is she ready to give birth??? Please help me!

Leslie

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Leslie.
The swimming with their nose against the glass is pretty common in almost all small livebearers. I don't keep large numbers of other types of fish so it may be common with them and just not part of my experience. A sword can be a bit hard to tell if she is a young one that is pregnant for the first time. An older mature female sword can often give birth to many times as many fry as a molly so it is quite easy to tell on an old experienced female. Their belly will get quite large and take on a squarish shape. There are behavior changes as fish approach a drop such as hiding and staying away from other fish. Sometimes they will also just hang somewhere in the tank as if they have no energy.
There is a thread with lots of pictures that gives examples of different stages of pregnancy. There is a link to it in my signature area called "ready to pop".

 

[leslie1856]

Thanks so much.

 

[leslie1856]

I read the "ready to pop" link and I have a pregnant black molly and she hasn't squared off yet. I figure she still has about 1.5 weeks left. But she's had the white dot near her anal fin for about a week now. When is the white spot supposed to show. Does it show near the end of the pregnancy or what? I'm not very good at judging when I should put the pregnant ones in the breeding trap. Plus with the black mollies you can't see any gravid spot. haha. Oh well I guess I'll have to wait it out.

 

[OldMan47]

I usually just go by the shape of their belly. After a while you get a feel for what looks close. The females also start acting very shy and seek some quiet area as if they know something needs to be done to save the fry. As you say, there is no judging a black fish by looking for a gravid spot and I have found it a very unreliable indicator anyway. I don't care for breeding traps because of the stress they cause a female. Instead I try to isolate the female for the last week or so in a birthing tank. It lets the female relax and get on with things and doesn't restrict her movement very much. It also lets the fry not be cooped up in a small space when what you want is for them to grow bigger.