Why Wont My Swordtails Breed? Help! Need Advice!

[swordtail_king83]

I have only swordtails in a 29 gallon tank. large female red wag, white lyretail female, brick red lyretail female, reg finned white female and a brick red reg finned male. my male swordtail wont even try to court the females. he just eats and swims about. I even added a 2 female platys to the tank thinking he didn't like swordtails.. so now he has a bounty of females.. still nothing. so im stuck. I was just gonna go out and buy like 3 or 4 more male swords and let them have at the females-ones bound to mate with all the females. OR I was just going to take out the male sword and put in a dominant male platy as I noticed platys are very eager and persistant breeders. the females I have I just want them to get pregnant cuz I think with there colors it will be cool to see a mixture of fry colors/patterns. so any thoughts on how I can fix this problem?? (take out the male sword and and a nice active dominant male platy, OR just add a bunch of male swords and let them have at the females-and each other lol) let me know your suggestions please.

 

[fish48]

IT is possible your females are giving birth and the fry are getting eaten by the adult fish. There is no need to add more males if you separate male from females keep separated for 2 or 3 weeks feed both male and females with live food , feed at least 4 times a week and plenty of it. females will of had a rest from males. After 3 weeks of feeding on live foods they should Be at their very best conditions for breeding males will mate with the females whitin no time. To get any fish into breeding condition feed them on live foods.
 

 

[swordtail_king83]

I don't think that the fry are all being eaten. I have a thick mass of floating plants about 2 "thick covering the aquarium waters surface. I could sit by the tank for a few hours and not even see the male even try one courtship display. he just swims around, pecking food off the bottom, that's it. I used to have a white male a long time ago, he wud always mate and perform courtship displays, this brick red male is useless, and yes I feed frozen omega brine shrimp 4x a week, supplemented with beefheart flake, and earthworm flake. im not a rookie by any means to xiphophorus species, as I frequently hybridize to look for new variants, and creating new strains. just lately I hit a weird snag in that my male swordtail now does not mate or perform courtship displays it is weird. all the male swords I have had in the past never had this problem. just the last 2 I have had did (brick red, and a marigold male). So I am turning to people on here for advice if they had this problem before, and what they wud suggest, but by the LACK of replies it looks like im solo on this issue that I may be the only one out there having this male swordtail infertility issue lol.

 

[fish48]

ok you have 5 adult  swords 1 male with 4 females and non producing fry how long have you had the male with theme
how old are the females  have you kept any other males with them ? if a fish is hungry enough it or thay can get in the plants and eat
the fry , feed them some live foods as in living ]  keep adult fish well fed at all times. 99% of the time the fry are geting eaten by adult
when feeding live food females will fill out  and show more obvious signs of pregnancy,live foods will get them in there very best conditions for breeding, also live foods are far better than prepared foods
 
All livebearers should be fed on some sort of live food in there diet
 
 

 

[swordtail_king83]

thanks, ive had the females for almost a year, they are huge! (in length). almost 4 inches. I feed them omega brine shrimp 4x a week, supplemented with earthworm flakes, and beefheart flakes. maybe my probem is not enuff plants anchored to the gravel? maybe I shud cram the plants too in the tank so theres half the swimming room? kinda like how I sacrificed the whole water surface with a matt of floating plants cuz I know fry love to hide in floating plants. maybe the male I have is sterile?? maybe my females are all sterile??. I came across an interesting article which explained fertility in xiphophorus based on body shape (for females) and behaviour (for males), it applies to all species of xiphophorus including swordtails and platys. www.xhifin.org click the breeding tab to the side and scroll down to indentifying fertile females and males. I have since tried about 6 more females, still nothing, the male doesn't even court one bit even when I feed them omega brine shrimp 4 x a week, I bet you I cud live infront of my tank a week straight and not witness one courtship dance. somethings messed up, im just tempted to say eff it and just throw in 4 more male swords, a few male platys with all the females and just let everyone have at the females-and let the males fight for dominance over the females that way im sure out of 5 male swords in a tank im sure one knows how to breed and he cud show the rest how to breed.

 

[fish48]

 may be the  male  is sterile.you would be very unlucky if all females were sterile,
 soon after  the fry are born thay go to the bottom of the tank so the more plant you can anchor to the gravel
the better, i find it's good to use pea shingle it makes it easier for the fry to hide in the gaps,
 
 
by the way that is a very interesting article

 

[swordtail_king83]

so I fixed the problem why there not breeding. when they were in the 29g tank they didn't breed, the male would ignore the females, and just eat. last night I move them into my cycled spare 30g. and today the male is trying to court the females finally!!! after 3 months of doing nothing in the other tank. so im guessing maybe something wasn't right with the water quality in the 29g because in the new 30g tank he is now courting the females. so with the 29g they were in im going to do small daily water changes on it to make sure if it is something wrong with the water gets "diluted" and that way when I add fish back to it one day it will be good to go