Sword Tail Pregnancy

[jessagraham]

Well every time my swordtail have babies, they slurp em up. I want to know before hand so that i can catch the mom before the gives birth. It's just hard cause they r nothin like guppies, cause they don't show signs that i can see.

 

[BerryAttack]

well you can make sure that the tank is well planted, and has tons of hiding spots. that'll give the fry a better chance of survival

 

[fluttermoth]

Swordtails will square off in exactly the same way as guppies when they're within a day or two of giving birth.

 

[coyemuse]

My swordy that births regularly will square off a day or so before. But I know shes really close when she gets a white spot by her anal fin. Ive caught her twice when she was like that and she gave birth within 8 hours the first time and 3 hours the second time. Bute shes had 4 batches of fry in the 10 months Ive had her, so Ive gotten use to her appearance close to birth. heck, when I caught her about a week and a half ago, she wasnt square, BUT, she had her white ball spot. and sure enough, three hours later there were 20 fry. I had moved her to the fry tank, and she actually left most of the fry (her own and the platy fry already in there) alone until I was able to move her back to the main tank. But I think each fish is a little different, and it will just take some practice and a careful eye to learn the signs