New Sword Tails. Possibly Preggo?

[Ethos]

I bought 2 pinnaple swardtails from the notorius WalMart this evening. I was looking into the tanks, and saw what I thought was a preggy female.
I bought one male, one female. They're alittle blandly colored, but I'm happy with them just the same.
How do I know if she's really preggo?
I added a "breeding pad" that I bought a year ago, hoping to spawn dalmation mollys, then they died.
So any info on these guys, would be greatly appreciated.
Right now they are in a 10G with 7 minni white clouds. I'm going to be getting rid of the white clouds soon, atleast I hope.
I have not yet made plans for this tank, but I guess they'll now be centered around the swords.

I was looking at bettas, telling myself I could not afford space for another betta!
Then all of a sudden another tank cought my eye...I couldn't keep my eyes off this pair! Their colors are just dull white and silver, but maybe with some decent treatment they'll color up alittle better. I was going to get some live plants, but I didn't want to spend much money in the walmart fish department, plus I didn't have the money in my pocket.

So yeah, any info on the swordys that'll make me sucessful with em would be appreciated!

 

[dwarfgourami]

"How do I know if she's really preggo?"

eerrr...if she gives birth within the next 6 weeks...if she grows really fat...if her gravid patch (above the anal fin) grows darker and clearly marked (doesn't always happen).

"I added a "breeding pad" that I bought a year ago, hoping to spawn dalmation mollys, then they died. "

What is a breeding pad when it's at home?

So any info on these guys, would be greatly appreciated. any info on the swordys that'll make me sucessful with em would be appreciated!"

well. ideally they should have a little more room to move around in than a 10 gallon; a 20 gals would be better if you have one

As for the pregnancy, you don't really need to do much- you will not be required to act as a midwife. Don't put the female in a breeding trap or net, swordtails are too big for that and need to move around. just let her get on with it; stick some plant in for the fry to hide in.

 

[Ethos]

How can 30 people look at this and I only get one response?

How do i tell if they are mature of still juvi? Can they be preggo when they're still juvi?

 

[Ddraig Goch]

Most Swordtails, IMO, are more difficult to judge as to when they are pregnant. If as you say she is very fat then she probably is pregnant. Does she have a gravid patch? This is more visible on some colour fish than others, if she does then she is mature in that she can get pregnant.

It would be advisable to have a larger tank for them, especially if you are going to breed them. You could end up with hundreds of fish within a few months!

You should try to get another female, as the male will stress her out by chasing her constantly. When she is heavily pregnant, or just after she gives birth, this could stress her so much that she could die. A ratio of 3 females to 1 male is preferred, but one more female would help ease the strain.

And I want to know too, what is a breeding pad??

 

[Ethos]

Does it matter if the 2nd female is a different color? I dunno if I could get another of the same one....anyways, a breeding pad is basically just a patch of grass that adds hiding spots, and a protection for smart enough fry.
I'd add a pic, but I'm at my dads office, and I dont have any pics of it on photo bucket...

 

[paulthegreat]

Check out the pinned article at the top of this forum and you will get a lot of your questions answered. I would definately add one or two more females as mentioned for the harrasment issue. It does not matter if it is a different color as long as they are Swordtails. You can even get an interesting color variation from having different colored females for the male to choose from. In a Pineapple there should be a fairly visable gravid spot when she is getting close. Swordies are just about always pregnant!

 

[Ethos]

I think I might try and get a red pinnaple female, and did you suggest adding two more?
How long does it take for the first fry to appear? Should I be setting up a 5G for it?

 

[paulthegreat]

2-3 females is kind of a minimum guideline for livebearers. Right now I have one male and five female adults and about 25 juveniles. I have a 54 liter(14.25 US gal) growout tank. A 5 gal would be okay if you are only planning to raise a few fry to sale size. The four stores I sell to all want the fish to be big enough for sale right away. With Swordies that is about 4cm(1.6").

 

[Ethos]

I most certainly do not want 100 little sword fry swiming around...I'd die from stress!
Can anyone tell me how to keep this to a minamum, yet still have males and females together? Is there a way to make either impotent?
or is it just natures way, and as long as I want them to live toegther, I'm going to have fry?

 

[afireinside]

Yes you will have fry, and I could always take sum

 

[Ethos]

I'd certanly give you some, I just need to know more people with fish tanks! I dont know how to ship live fish, and dont have the means to supply it either, otherwise I'd send it to people who could take some on here. Maybe some of our LFS would take some for free, or a cheap price?

 

[afireinside]

HarMar will usualy take babies, I've seen alot of them.

 

[Ethos]

I've heard that Pet suplly wearhouse buys them for 50cents each.

 

[afireinside]

Ya, but they take horrible care of their fish.

 

[paulthegreat]

If you leave the females to birth in the main tank most of the fry will be snacks so you probably will not have all that many fry reaching the juvenile stage.