Pregnant swordtail

[MangoTango]

So we have a pregnant swordtail by accident lol. The male in the tank is a redwag platy. So for the past couple days our platy has been chasing around our pregnant swordtail. After looking up all i can on google i realized she was preggo. She has the box shape going on. She has been trying to hide and our platy keeps flushing her out of hiding and chasing her. Even in the middle of the night. So i went to petco and a worker recommended i put her in a breading net till she gives birth. That she might be trying to get ready for it but our platy isnt letting her rest. So we have put her in the breeding net with the plastic plants it came with. She has been sitting very still on the ground of the net. Shes not excited to see food. When the food has been on the ground for a while she will eat. So a few questions.... I read pregnant swordtails can get distressed from being in the net too soon. If she was distressed what would that look like?? Is she not eating as well because shes in the net? Or because its typical when they are about to have fry? Is it better to let the male chase her around? I really dont want the fry to get eaten either. We werent prepared for this at all so any help is appreciated!!!

 

[nic1]

She's probably stressed by being in the breeder net.... How big is it? Do you have any pictures of it?
The best thing to do is let her go into the main tank and buy more plants so she can hide, there's also less of a chance the male will see her. You can get some floating plants also and any fry will have a better chance of surviving if they have some where to hide too.
In my experience pregnant livebearer a will still eat when gearing up for birthing.
She's probably not eating because of being netted.
If your that concerned about the male chasing her then buy more plants and decorations/ornaments so she can hide.

 

[fluttermoth]

How big is your tank, and what fish do you have?

 

[MangoTango]

She's probably stressed by being in the breeder net.... How big is it? Do you have any pictures of it?
The best thing to do is let her go into the main tank and buy more plants so she can hide, there's also less of a chance the male will see her. You can get some floating plants also and any fry will have a better chance of surviving if they have some where to hide too.
In my experience pregnant livebearer a will still eat when gearing up for birthing.
She's probably not eating because of being netted.
If your that concerned about the male chasing her then buy more plants and decorations/ornaments so she can hide.

Thankyou! I gave her some blood worm last night and she went crazy for it! I will post a pic of the net she is in. We have a 10 gallon tank for the 2 of them. But we have another on the way this weekend thats a 29 gallon. There are a ton of plants and things in there. I think the tank is probably too small? But like i said this is something we didnt plan for. If she was super stressed would she be swimming around frantically to get out of the net? Shes very calm. Anything i should look for to know when shes ready to drop fry? I might let her back in the tank to see how she does. I just didnt want to let her back in if shes close to having them. The red wag platy we have is super aggressive about eating. If hes chasing her around the way he is i wouldnt feel comfortable even with places for the fry to hide to let her do it in the tank. Im sorry im such a newbie, thanks so much for the reply

 

[MangoTango]

How big is your tank, and what fish do you have?

10 gallon. We have a 29 gallon on the way this weekend. So for now we are dealing with what we have. We have a female swordtail and a male redwag platy

 

[fluttermoth]

If they're the only fish in the tank, then you're going to have a problem. Male livebearers are sex mad, so you need at least two females, preferably three, for each male, or the males will harass the females; sometimes even to death..

Platies and swordtails are very closely related, and can hybridise. Added to the fact that female livebearers can store sperm, so can continue producing fry even if there are no males present, and bearing in mind that each female will produce between 20 and 40 fry, every 30 days, I wouldn't worry too much about the fry. You'll have plenty coming along over the next few months.

I know that sounds harsh, but because livebearers have so many fry, it's just not possible for the average hobbyist to raise them all; you'd need multiple tanks for growing on.

 

[MangoTango]

If they're the only fish in the tank, then you're going to have a problem. Male livebearers are sex mad, so you need at least two females, preferably three, for each male, or the males will harass the females; sometimes even to death..

Platies and swordtails are very closely related, and can hybridise. Added to the fact that female livebearers can store sperm, so can continue producing fry even if there are no males present, and bearing in mind that each female will produce between 20 and 40 fry, every 30 days, I wouldn't worry too much about the fry. You'll have plenty coming along over the next few months.

I know that sounds harsh, but because livebearers have so many fry, it's just not possible for the average hobbyist to raise them all; you'd need multiple tanks for growing on.

Right, thats what ive been reading. We actually didnt plan to have a female my husband bought her out of ignorance lol. So we will be rehoming her after the fry are born. The pet store said they would take her back too. We for sure cant keep up with the demand of all thats involved. Im intrigued by this whole thing and want to see it through. I think its amazing. But wont be going through this again. We are going to keep some of the males and already have people willing to take some fry after we know the sex.