Swordtail Issues

[challdog]

i have 2 female swords,
and a male.
in one tank, with intent to breed.
now:
thew females are VERY VERY hungry (they are eating their food portions in seconds)
but my male wont eat. (but he does eat bloodworm...which went off today )

im feeding them "tetra betta flakes" because i was told it's a good generic food.

cheers guys,
iain

 

[Kelly-Jo]

How long have you had the fish? If they have been recently added then it may take a while for your male swordtail to settle in and feel ready to eat. If he will eat the bloodworms then it could be that he simply isn't interested in the flakes. Try a different brand of flakes to see if he's more interested in eating those and supplement them with the bloodworms that you know he likes

 

[OldMan47]

There are lots of questions running through my head Challdog. The first thing that comes to mind is how long your tank and filter have been running with fish in the tank. If it is a fairly new tank, you are probably dealing with an uncycled filter. That can, by itself, badly impact all of your fish. The male may just be the first to suffer in the tank. If that is the case, do a huge water change using a proper dechlorinator for the new water. As others have suggested, the simple stress caused by moving the fish can also impact them.