Swordtails

[Fishyfishfish2010]

i have a prego neon sword...once the fry is out should i seperate her from them or leave her and the father with them?

 

[hughessomefish]

They will eat the fry no matter what, till the fry are at a size bigger then the parents months so I usally let my juvi neon swords back in with my parents or community tank around 2 months- 3 months, so what I Recommend is getting a floating trap or one that clips on the side. so only seperate the fry from the mother and father if you want to keep the fry if not one or two may survive in the tank if its well planted. I don't keep any of my fry I just let them stay in the tank were there born and if they survive then they do and I have a new adult fish.

 

[OldMan47]

If you really want to keep your swordtail fry, you should start by isolating the female away from other predators to give the fry a chance. Then, as you have already been told, the female herself is a fry predator so added cover is needed. One possible answer is a "breeding trap" but I find them unsatisfactory for the larger fish like swordtails. That leaves me using lots of plant cover instead. In my own case I use najas grass or java moss in most of my livebearer tanks but other plants can also be quite effective at providing cover.
This is a large clump of java moss in a guppy tank.

Another clump in a Heterandria formosa tank. The fish in front of the clump are adult Heterandria.