Pregnant Sword Tail!..

[euroandrew]

Hi there,

First off I have 1x Golden Gourami, 1x Plecs, 4x silver tips, 5x neon tetras, 3 Platys, 2 Sword tails.

My sword tail is pregnant and was acting really wierd today swimming around in a constant circle with
the mail Sword tail all day and when ever a fish got close they would go crazy and start nipping them and
attacking them. escpecially the Golden Gourami.. the Pregnant Sword tail hates her, it literally chases it around the tank.

Anyway after it started to get constant and the Gourami was looking really unhappy and was hiding a bit. Also the other fish seem
to be crowding around her and watching/waiting or something? is this normal? , Just to be safe I went to
the Fish shop and bout a Resun Fish hatchery and put her in it.

The question I want to ask is, How long can I expect until she gives birth (shes really fat and has a really big black bit)?

Also the male sword tail is still really aggressive guarding the fish hatchery and is also trying jump into it..
should I put it the male sword tail in with the female? or leave it in the main tank?

One more question.. how long can I keep the female in there? is it bad for her to be in there for too long.. as i dont have a clue
when shes ready to pop.

Thanks!

- Andy

 

[theotheragentm]

Pregnancy is generally about four weeks. If she looks like she is going to burst, you're looking at birth within the week probably.

I don't like breeding traps for any period of time as they cause stress and may cause fish to abort fry. That's not always the case. Some fish do okay in them. Do you have a way to separate out the female into a separate tank? That would solve your aggressive male problems too.

 

[euroandrew]

Pregnancy is generally about four weeks. If she looks like she is going to burst, you're looking at birth within the week probably.

I don't like breeding traps for any period of time as they cause stress and may cause fish to abort fry. That's not always the case. Some fish do okay in them. Do you have a way to separate out the female into a separate tank? That would solve your aggressive male problems too.

The only way I could seperate them is by asking my local petshop really nicely if I can store her in one of their tanks.

She seems to be acting a bit wierd, she has sat floating in the same position with fins going for about 6 hours now.

I will take a picture of her for you guys to have a look at.

- Andy

 

[theotheragentm]

She may be ready to give birth. My fish tend to withdraw and stay very still as they give birth.

 

[euroandrew]

The poor thing is going crazy.. she is now jumping up and down and trying to swim out.. I dont know if I should keep her in there.

Do you think she will abort it?

 

[euroandrew]

Hi guys sorry for the all the Questions but..

Should I take the sword tail out of the fish hatchery to limit her stress? or leave her in til she gives birth.

I dont want her to Abort but she looks a bit stressed.

Andrew

 

[theotheragentm]

Take her out. She obviously doesn't like it in there.

 

[euroandrew]

She has carmed down again, but Ok.. when should I put her back in?

 

[theotheragentm]

I wouldn't at all. Let her birth in the main tank and if you want to keep some of the fry, hope you get to them before the other fish do. You can put lots of decorations for the fry to hide in away from the adult fish. There's no guarantee for survival, but based on my experience, you should have at least a couple survivors. Then you can give it another go a month later. There are a lot of chances. I wouldn't sweat it so much.

 

[euroandrew]

ok, what about it attacking my other fish?

 

[theotheragentm]

Sorry. Totally forgot about that. She is looking for space in the tank to give birth most likely. It's normal, but the pregnant fish normally find some of their own space in a corner. How big is your tank? It might be overcrowded, not giving your pregnant fish enough room it wants.

 

[euroandrew]

i think its 25 litres I dont know if thats right.. as it is a big tank.

It is a fairly heavily planted tank theres plenty of hiding places.

I have released her back into the tank but shes starting to attack the gourami again but heeps
more aggressivly shes nipping it in the side and pushing it down to the bottom of the tank.

I am going to seperate her again as I dont want her killing my gourami.

 

[theotheragentm]

Unfortunately it looks like you have two fish that are just not getting a long. You can try a screen tank separator to separate the fish and give them each plenty of room, but in the end, the temperament of all the fish in a tank is going to be important as you don't want to keep them separated forever.

 

[euroandrew]

I left the Sword tail out lastnight she was ok over the night but by about lunch time today both her and the male sword tail had
raised their territory again and started attacking everything in sight, which I after that I have now moved her back into the seperating
tank and I will be leaving her until she has her babies. (If she has any now with all the stress shes in.)

Any Idea's on what I should do, anyone?

- Andy

 

[theotheragentm]

Fish tend to give birth at night. Perhaps that is so the fry have a better chance of survival. You said you have a problem with the female in the main tank though, but taking the fish out of net breeders and breeding traps is something people do to relieve unnecessary stress.