BlackSwords11
Fish Fanatic
I got myself a new pair of swords. Lyre-tail swords. Just one question. Any advice with breeding.
Posting pics soon!
Posting pics soon!
New Swords!
- Thread starter BlackSwords11
- Start date
5teady_2012
Here to help
make sure you have plenty of room so you dont end up with a overcrowded tank
Maybe setup a 10G tank for fry to raise them in.
Swordtails have fry every 4-6 weeks
Females store sperm packets for up to 6 months.... So even without a male she will continue to have fry every 4-6 weeks for 6 months.
You should have 1 male to every 2-3 females so they dont get constantly harrased by the male.
Have plenty of fry food at hand for when they are born (crushed flake, baby brine shrimp, high protein food, liquify,)
Have a breeding trap so you can save fry being eaten at birth (only leave female in trap for 48 hours max) if she dont drop then release her again.
A well planted and tank and plenty of hiding places for the fry is good incasde the females drop the fry in the mian tank.
A well maintained tank makes healthier and happy fish so dont overstock and dont over feed and do regular 25% water changes, and clean gravel once a month.
If i have left anything out, other feel free to add
Maybe setup a 10G tank for fry to raise them in.
Swordtails have fry every 4-6 weeks
Females store sperm packets for up to 6 months.... So even without a male she will continue to have fry every 4-6 weeks for 6 months.
You should have 1 male to every 2-3 females so they dont get constantly harrased by the male.
Have plenty of fry food at hand for when they are born (crushed flake, baby brine shrimp, high protein food, liquify,)
Have a breeding trap so you can save fry being eaten at birth (only leave female in trap for 48 hours max) if she dont drop then release her again.
A well planted and tank and plenty of hiding places for the fry is good incasde the females drop the fry in the mian tank.
A well maintained tank makes healthier and happy fish so dont overstock and dont over feed and do regular 25% water changes, and clean gravel once a month.
If i have left anything out, other feel free to add
OP
OP
BlackSwords11
Fish Fanatic
Sorry I meant for the species in particular not just livebearers in general.
5teady_2012
Here to help
The info i gave you is for your particular species
OP
OP
BlackSwords11
Fish Fanatic
Oh I guess its the same for all livebearers then. Is there any way to keep sword fry, though. I've kept all sorts of livebearers and I have not gotten any swords to reach adulthood. Any ideas how to keep them alive?
5teady_2012
Here to help
Simply follow the guide a gave you
sykogngsta
Fish Crazy
You can add some live plants to the tank ot provide hiding places for the fry. Also, it makes the quality of teh water much better, so the fry will have a much ebtter chance of surviving
5teady_2012
Here to help
As stated in my post
Steady has hit the nail on the head.
The only thing I would add is that Xiphophorus fry tend to hug the bottom of the tank for a while after birth until they are confident enough to venture out so my rule with xiphophorus, phallichthys and other fish which do the same is to use larger grade gravel and small stones in the substrate which gives the fry somewhere to hang out without getting eaten.
This makes catching them more difficult, both for the adults and for you.
The only thing I would add is that Xiphophorus fry tend to hug the bottom of the tank for a while after birth until they are confident enough to venture out so my rule with xiphophorus, phallichthys and other fish which do the same is to use larger grade gravel and small stones in the substrate which gives the fry somewhere to hang out without getting eaten.
This makes catching them more difficult, both for the adults and for you.
OP
OP
BlackSwords11
Fish Fanatic
No, catching them is not the problem. Keeping them alive is what I have trouble with. I give them proper care, space and food but they always die. I keep them and my other fry in the same tank and they are the only one's to ever die off.
kribensis12
I know where you live
^ Frequent water changes should take care of that. What do they die from? Any signs of illness before death?
OP
OP
BlackSwords11
Fish Fanatic
It seems like they tend to quit eating. Not sure why though. They seem very touchy. Whenever the ammonia or nitrite goes above 0, I seem to lose several.
kribensis12
I know where you live
^ thats your problem, you shouldnt have your ammonia or nitrite go over zero in a normal cycled tank. I would work on the tank not getting a ammonia or nitrite reading, as fry are very frgaile, as you have experinced!
I think krib got it right. If you feed your fish and give them good water at all times, they will grow. We don't really look after fish, we look after water. The fish will look after themselves.
LauraFrog
Fish Gatherer
Something important seems to have been left out.
The lyretail gene extends the length of all the fish's fins, including the gonopodium on male fish. This means they are unable to mate. They will try but they can't quite do it. You either have to put some regular fin males in the tank to make the females pregnant, or else use artificial insemination. Yes, it is fiddly and can be dangerous - it's definitely a two person job.
If the female is prehit, they have had her with a regular fin male. I'm not sure on the genetics, but I believe the lyretail gene is recessive. So if the regular fin male was a carrier she will throw 75% lyretail fry, if he was not she will throw 50% lyretail fry. If she's not pregnant you might want one that will cause her to throw 75% lyretail fry - lyres are worth around 3x the regular sword price in Australia at least. There is no way to tell if a male is a carrier or not if you don't know his parentage. If you can go back to the shop and get some fry from another lyretail female, a regular fin male fry from her will make your female drop 75% lyretails.
Or you can use AI (if the female is virgin) using sperm from the lyretail male. Basically you clove-oil the male and put him in a wet tissue. Somebody drips clove oil water through his gills with a syringe. You rotate the gonopodium backwards and forwards a few times then hold it forwards with a Pasteur pipette* at the tip. Then you rub the fish from just behind the gills to the base of the gonopodium. I'm not sure exactly how this is done. I haven't tried it. White milt comes out of the gonopodium. Suck it up with the pipette and wash the tip of the pipette in a drop of saline solution. Put as much of the fish milt as possible into the drop of saline. Put the male in a recovery container. Clove oil the female. Same deal - wet tissue, somebody holding her and dripping water over her gills with a syringe. Basically then you suck up the saline with the male's sperm in it and stick it inside her. Pregnancies for up to six months have been reported with this method. It's often used for hybridisation when the male won't mate with a female of a different species.
Some people have reported better results extracting milt using chlorbutol/chlorotone as the anaesthetic instead of clove oil but I know from experience how hard it is to get. It's a banned organic compound and well nigh impossible to come across. If you ever find any stockpile it. It can be very useful.
*You can make a pipette small enough by getting a glass eyedropper, holding the tip over a blowtorch, drawing it out with a pair of metal pliers. Snap it through the narrowest part, ensure water can pass through, sandpaper it.
The lyretail gene extends the length of all the fish's fins, including the gonopodium on male fish. This means they are unable to mate. They will try but they can't quite do it. You either have to put some regular fin males in the tank to make the females pregnant, or else use artificial insemination. Yes, it is fiddly and can be dangerous - it's definitely a two person job.
If the female is prehit, they have had her with a regular fin male. I'm not sure on the genetics, but I believe the lyretail gene is recessive. So if the regular fin male was a carrier she will throw 75% lyretail fry, if he was not she will throw 50% lyretail fry. If she's not pregnant you might want one that will cause her to throw 75% lyretail fry - lyres are worth around 3x the regular sword price in Australia at least. There is no way to tell if a male is a carrier or not if you don't know his parentage. If you can go back to the shop and get some fry from another lyretail female, a regular fin male fry from her will make your female drop 75% lyretails.
Or you can use AI (if the female is virgin) using sperm from the lyretail male. Basically you clove-oil the male and put him in a wet tissue. Somebody drips clove oil water through his gills with a syringe. You rotate the gonopodium backwards and forwards a few times then hold it forwards with a Pasteur pipette* at the tip. Then you rub the fish from just behind the gills to the base of the gonopodium. I'm not sure exactly how this is done. I haven't tried it. White milt comes out of the gonopodium. Suck it up with the pipette and wash the tip of the pipette in a drop of saline solution. Put as much of the fish milt as possible into the drop of saline. Put the male in a recovery container. Clove oil the female. Same deal - wet tissue, somebody holding her and dripping water over her gills with a syringe. Basically then you suck up the saline with the male's sperm in it and stick it inside her. Pregnancies for up to six months have been reported with this method. It's often used for hybridisation when the male won't mate with a female of a different species.
Some people have reported better results extracting milt using chlorbutol/chlorotone as the anaesthetic instead of clove oil but I know from experience how hard it is to get. It's a banned organic compound and well nigh impossible to come across. If you ever find any stockpile it. It can be very useful.
*You can make a pipette small enough by getting a glass eyedropper, holding the tip over a blowtorch, drawing it out with a pair of metal pliers. Snap it through the narrowest part, ensure water can pass through, sandpaper it.
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