Is It Time?

[arielsworld17974]

Is it time to move my pregnant swordtail to my fry tank. My fry are an inch now. Some slightly smaller and some slightly bigger. I want to move my pregnant swordtail to this tank. She's 3 1/2 weeks now. So I want her to be comfortable before she births. I just don't want her to mess with the babies. Just wanna know if it's OK and time to do so
Also when do the male fry start developing their tails?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Male swords can be problematic...  sometimes a male won't develop a tail if there's a more dominant male around.  That is why some people believe that they can change gender... that's just not what happens with them.
 
 
 
 
How much cover is in the tank?   The more cover the better for the fry...  java moss is best.

 

[arielsworld17974]

Honestly it's not the fanciest of tanks. Just a bunch of fake plants and some natural colored gravel and rocks. I just feel like she's getting harassed by the other swordtails because she's pregnant.

That's a bummer if some males won't show their tales because of other swordtails. Hopefully mine don't have that problem. There's only 9.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

Male swords can be problematic...  sometimes a male won't develop a tail if there's a more dominant male around.  That is why some people believe that they can change gender... that's just not what happens with them.
 
 
 
 
How much cover is in the tank?   The more cover the better for the fry...  java moss is best.

 
I've seen it happen with a tank full of females. There are even saltwater species that do it. If I remember correctly, some gobies and clown fish are capable of the change. Mother Nature has a way of keeping things going that will baffle the mind.

 

[Byron]

There are reports of swordtails changing their sex, but to the best of my knowledge there is absolutely no scientific evidence of any actual gender change (in swordtails I mean). If anyone has reliable references to the contrary, please post and I will take a look.  In some cases this may simply be a slower development, but some adult females have been known to develop male characteristics that might be due to infertility.
 
As for distinguishing male/female, the only reliable way is the presence of the gonopodium on males.  This will be more obvious even before the "sword" extension appears or the males begin to get their colouration.
 
To the harassment issue, arielsworld, you should have more female than male swordtails (applies to all livebearers actually) in the main tank, never the reverse.  Males do drive females hard, and the fewer females the worse this gets.
 
Byron.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

Male swords can be problematic...  sometimes a male won't develop a tail if there's a more dominant male around.  That is why some people believe that they can change gender... that's just not what happens with them.
 
 
 
 
How much cover is in the tank?   The more cover the better for the fry...  java moss is best.

 
I've seen it happen with a tank full of females. There are even saltwater species that do it. If I remember correctly, some gobies and clown fish are capable of the change. Mother Nature has a way of keeping things going that will baffle the mind.
 

 
 
You are correct in terms of the salt water species... clownfish, I believe, are one such specie.
 
 
As for the swordtails, how long were they together as just a group of females?  As I said, they can be suppressed by males, and will exhibit male characteristics after no longer around the males.  
 
 
As Byron has stated, I've also never seen any scientific evidence to suggest that they can actually switch gender.

 

[Byron]

Just a short post to note that some of us continued our discussion/research on the issue of swordtails changing/reversing gender in another thread:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/437888-fish-myths-and-weird-facts/
to avoid hijacking this one, but as the issue is relevant here, I'll just say that we considered data that supports the evidence that this species can reverse gender under certain circumstances.  Check the linked thread if interested.  B.

 

[attibones]

Arielsworld, how large is your main tank? What are your plans with all of these fry? I'm just worried that if you keep saving all the fry, you'll be over run very quickly. 

 

[arielsworld17974]

I have a 55 gallon. But I'm not planning on keeping them. My lfs will buy them off of me. So that's where they will be going. I want to keep a couple more females for myself though.