Swordtails

[manduup]

Hi, I have a 46 gallon tank. I have 1 Chinese algae eater, 3 giant danios, 4 long finned rosy barbs, 3 long finned zebra danios, 2 kissing gourami, 1 rainbow shark, 1 thai flying fox, and 3 neon tetras. The tank has been running for about 2 years. All the fishes are 4 inches to an inch. I was wondering if I could add a pair of swordtails in there.

 

[OldMan47]

I would say that you do have room. If you are adding swordtails, add 2 or 3 females and only one male. Pairs don't work well with most livebearers.

 

[Annastasia]

I suppose you could get some Swordtails, but there are a few things to think about that I am seeing. First, the size of some of your fish. Your Chinese Algae Eater should be at least 4" when grown, your Rainbow Shark can get to about 6", and I have a Kissing Gourami who is about 9" right now. Plus your Flying Fox which can get fairly large (though sometimes they are confused with Siamese Algae Eaters). There is more information about that here. So if you have two Kissing Gouramis and the other fish, you are talking about some very large fish, probably more than can fit in your 46 gallon especially with everyone else. I would try to figure out your plan for them first, before you add anything else.

Also, you might want to add a few more Neons, as they like to be in slightly larger groups.

All in all, I think Swordtails would fit in okay, I would just be a little worried about what you are going to do with all the other fish as they get larger, much larger in some cases.