Pregnant Swordtail?

[bobbyami]

Hi, not sure if anyone has had the same thing or if they know is going on but, we have had our black swordtails for at least 5 weeks. after about 1wk we realised she looked pregnant. she has got bigger and bigger. we put her in the breeding tank then she kind of lost her bolge so let her back out and now she looks pregnant again. this has happend twice now. any ideas? do u think it could be a phantom pregnancy? i was worried that the breeding tank had scared her and the babies had stopped growing?

in total she must have been pregnant for a good 4 weeks now.

any ideas would be excellent coz im clueless.

thank you

 

[lilfishie]

sometimes the breeder traps stress them causing them to abort, i'd try leaving her in the main tank and get plenty of hiding places and some fry should survive, of or you could always net the fry as you see them

 

[bobbyami]

sometimes the breeder traps stress them causing them to abort, i'd try leaving her in the main tank and get plenty of hiding places and some fry should survive, of or you could always net the fry as you see them

she has got bigger this week, so i think shes ok. we will leave her in the tank and hopefully we can catch some fry before they get eaten.

cheers

 

[fishlette]

sometimes the breeder traps stress them causing them to abort, i'd try leaving her in the main tank and get plenty of hiding places and some fry should survive, of or you could always net the fry as you see them

she has got bigger this week, so i think shes ok. we will leave her in the tank and hopefully we can catch some fry before they get eaten.

cheers

if you provide plenty of places for hiding then you might be surprised just how many survive

 

[donna123]

if you add some live floting plants you will find a lot of fry hide in this,
then you just scoop them up , all the bets with them

 

[iairj84]

In my experience swordtail fry for the most part swim to the top of the tank. Adding some java moss or any other floating plants will greatly increase their chance of survival. You will surely get some that will live and you can always transfer those to a temporary tank or your breeder net. a 5 gallon rubbermaid tub makes great storage for all my fish supplies and made a pretty decent fry tank when I had an unexpected batch. If you really wanna keep the fry then invest in a 10 gallon tank and you can always use it as a hospital tank when you're done rearing the fry.

 

[bobbyami]

thanks for all your tips. she still hasnt dropped! this must be at least 5 weeks now?! i have invested in plenty of plants and floating plants, so fingers crossed some will survive!

 

[donna123]

thanks for all your tips. she still hasnt dropped! this must be at least 5 weeks now?! i have invested in plenty of plants and floating plants, so fingers crossed some will survive!

they can take up to 6 weeks to give birth

 

[bobbyami]

i think she has to be on her final week! if not there must be something wrong with her?!

 

[vinylman]

If you notice when the round bulge starts to go squarish in shape at the rear end, that usually means they are very close, usually within a couple of days.

 

[bobbyami]

OK THANK U.

 

[bobbyami]

she finally dropped on friday night/sat morn, but only 8 fry! and about 3 or 4 eggs unhatched! and only 4 have survived! dont think this is normal. spoke to the man in local fish shop yesterday and he said could take 48 hours for her to have them all, but havent seen any sign of anymore! gutted i wanted a few more than 4! fingers crossed for next time!!