Should I Or Shouldn't I

[Sailfin Zach]

I have a 55 gallon planted South/Central american fish tank and my dad suggested that I get two more swordtails. I don't want to make babies so I would like to get two more males.
 
This is what I have in the tank
1xSwordtail (male)
2xAngelfish (female I think)
10xPristilla Tetra
2xBolivian Rams (pair)
7xJulie Corys
A few snails
 
Temporary Fish
2xFlame Tetras
1xLemon Tetra
2xBlack Phantom Tetra
1xBristlenose Pleco (male)
 
The Pleco is getting exchanged by a few Ottos
 
Thanks!

 

[TallTree01]

You should not IMO.

 

[sharknado]

Male swords are one of the more aggressive livebearers in my experience. I would not mix males unless you had a lot of females to distract them from eachother.

 

[ncguppy830]

yea i agree you shouldnt it would add to much to stock and its pretty much useless thing to do if you dont need to.

 

[haleem8777]

so its a no seeming as they will definitely be aggressive to each other and sometimes to other fish in the tank

 

[DrRob]

How much cover is there in this tank? To be honest I suspect you'll get less babies than you expect with the tetras and the angels in the tank if it isn't densely planted.

 

[DerpPH]

No. Cichlids as in rams would just devour them.

 

[Sailfin Zach]

Thanks everyone for telling me before I made the mistake.

 
Oh and dont't listen to the discription below. It needs to be updated.

 

[Ruskull]

Hello all.  Sailfin Zach is my 11 year old son, and I wanted to thank everyone for giving him advice, even if I don't agree with all of it.
 
He wants to add 2 more Swordtails or a trio of Platinum Gouramis.  Of course I told him the Gouramis aren't from Central or South America like the rest of his stock so it'd be a community tank rather than the Central/South American tank he was trying for.  Otherwise Platinum Gouramis are a good choice since they're larger, slower, less aggressive type of Gourami and a nice centerpiece fish for a 55 gallon.  My only question is how they'd do with the Angels, who so far are rather docile as far as Angels go.  
 
In my experience Swordtails are one of the least aggressive Livebearers.  At one point he had 1 Sword, 1 Molly, 1 Platy & 1 Variatus in the same tank.  They were all males and they chased and generally harassed each other, well all except the Swordtail, who just minds his own business.  I also have a few friends on here and elsewhere who swear the Swords are the least aggressive of the livebearers and I've never heard anyone claim otherwise until this thread.
 
This tank is fairly understocked.  He has small Tetras that don't bother anyone, well except the Lemon Tetra goes after the Black Phantom male, but rarely.  The Bolivian Ram pair bother no one, I see no reason they'd try to eat a Swordtail, especially since there's already one in the tank that they ignore.  In fact the most aggressive fish in the tank by far is the unruly Bristlenose Pleco, who we plan to replace because he terrorizes the poor Corries, who of course bother no one.
 
The tank is shown in his signature but the stock has changed a bit, it's exactly what he posted in his first post in this thread.  The plants have grown out quite a bit more than they appear in his signature as well.  I would classify it as a moderately planted tank, as opposed to the heavily planted tank shown in my signature.
 
Sorry for the long post...............
 
 
 
 

 

[haleem8777]

Hello all.  Sailfin Zach is my 11 year old son, and I wanted to thank everyone for giving him advice, even if I don't agree with all of it.
 
He wants to add 2 more Swordtails or a trio of Platinum Gouramis.  Of course I told him the Gouramis aren't from Central or South America like the rest of his stock so it'd be a community tank rather than the Central/South American tank he was trying for.  Otherwise Platinum Gouramis are a good choice since they're larger, slower, less aggressive type of Gourami and a nice centerpiece fish for a 55 gallon.  My only question is how they'd do with the Angels, who so far are rather docile as far as Angels go.  
 
In my experience Swordtails are one of the least aggressive Livebearers.  At one point he had 1 Sword, 1 Molly, 1 Platy & 1 Variatus in the same tank.  They were all males and they chased and generally harassed each other, well all except the Swordtail, who just minds his own business.  I also have a few friends on here and elsewhere who swear the Swords are the least aggressive of the livebearers and I've never heard anyone claim otherwise until this thread.
 
 
 
 

 
 
I am not saying it is impossible as i had a few males swordtails together they never fought until they grew larger, as you said you have keeped them peacefully so you you might be lucky however as a general species they are quite aggressive if kept in male groups. so i would rather be safe than sorry.
 
The platinum gourami sounds like a better choice

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks for that advice, I agree it's a risk we probably shouldn't take.  We've decided not to do any more Swordtails since the one he has seems very happy on his own.  We'll probably try a trio of Moonlight Gouramis instead.  There's only one store locally that sells these and I'm hoping they have them when I visit the store Monday night.

 

[snazy]

I agree with the rest. They may, or they may not fight, depending on how pure swordtails one gets because generally true swordtail males would fight themselves to death. I've no experience either way but I had one female swordtail and she was the meanest thing in the tank, though she didn't do any damage

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks for the advice Snazy,
 
Funny but that's what one of my friends who keeps Swords said, watch out for nasty females!  She also agreed that not all Swords have the same temperament.  We just may be very lucky to have such a happy go lucky male who doesn't bother anyone at all.  Will will try moving the Lyretail Molly male to that tank & keep a close eye on him.  One false move and it's back to the 20 gallon high for him!