Impotent Swordtails

[ripil]

hello. is there anything i can do to get my swordtails to breed? like water temp, a certain food. the females seem to get bigger then nothing. the tank is full of fake moss balls. loads of slate n bogwood. but even with about 8 females i never see any fry. must be doing something wrong.
thanks Richard

 

[random919]

they generally breed by themselves. how many males and females do you have? The ratio i tend to keep is 1 male:3 females Otherwise just give them time. One of my females that i have had now for 6 months that has been in with my male continually still isn't pregnant. she seems to not want to have fry. I would try getting a already pregnant female from the LPS. that should start you off. but bare in mind that they can be pregnant for up to 6 months after the male is taken away.
Hope this helps a bit.

 

[ripil]

the ratio is 1-2 females. so i got 4 or 5 males. they've been in the tank for about 8 months or so n nothing. the idea about introducing fresh fish is a good idea but im not sure how many will fit as the tank is only 33x12x18 inches. n there is already around 12-15 fish in it. you think i could add some more? thanks for your reply.

 

[fluttermoth]

Have you got enough cover in the tank? Swordtails are one of the worst livebearers for eating their own fry, IME.

 

[FishBlast]

hello. is there anything i can do to get my swordtails to breed? like water temp, a certain food. the females seem to get bigger then nothing. the tank is full of fake moss balls. loads of slate n bogwood. but even with about 8 females i never see any fry. must be doing something wrong.
thanks Richard

If they do get bigger, it means they had fry and then gave birth. So the fry got eaten.
I have a female that hasn't been pregnant for 2 months now, but has had 3 batches before. My male refuses to mate with any of the 3 females he has available, even though he sometimes courts the only female he hangs out with.

 

[swordtail_king83]

i have that problem too, i have a beautiful white lyretail female and a red wag female in a 29gallon aquarium. now i had a all white male normal fin, he mated like a jack rabit, but then i got rid of him to my lfs to "change up" colors..well i got a marigold male...he wuddnt even look at my females. didnt even know (i think) they were one of his kind lmao. so after 2 weeks of nothing i took him back and got a brick male whos a dull orange with a darker lateral stripe on the side of his body.. he favours my large red wag female only. he only tries a breif courting dance to her but then he just gives up almost like he is lazy?? other then that nothing really happens. it is depressing, the fish just do their own thing and ignore each other i have a beauty white female lyretail that i want a normal fin male to mate with her cuz i know she wud produce amazing offspring but i have tried 4 males now 1 after another and no male wants her nor acknowledges her so i know ur pain lol. its weird how the male swordtails will become lazy and barely attempt to even court their females.