Tehengo Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Hey I got a trio of sword tails for free and wanted to know how they breed etc if there are any tip from ppl post thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuffy_rana Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 they are live bearers so the male impregnates the female and she gives birth rather then them laying eggs. add some elodea or foxtail or other floating plant mass for the fry to hide in as they grow. the adult fish can in some instances eat the fry as they are born hence the need for plant mass. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubby Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 When a mummy swordtail and a daddy swordtail love each other very much......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tech Den Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Male has the sword the female does not. They are easy to breed. Swordtails are known to change sex too so you could go from a trio to a reverse trio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubby Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Actually the real issue is how do you stop em from breeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Hey I got a trio of sword tails for free and wanted to know how they breed etc if there are any tip from ppl post thanks prolifically! they have batches of sometimes over 200 live babys. females capable of multible batches about a month apart from a single mating (superfetation) Male has the sword the female does not. They are easy to breed. Swordtails are known to change sex too so you could go from a trio to a reverse trio. Has the changing sex thing been proven? I always just assumed menapausal girls just took on male characteristics, but such blockheads were infertile? then again I have not really kept pace with the livebearer world that closely besides raising my own batch of 1! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor4551 Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 D a m n you Les, you told me they laid eggs :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 D a m n you Les, you told me they laid eggs :-) No that's chickens FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tech Den Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Donny you should google it with the changing sex. Apparently your search should bring up 40% yes, 40% no and 20% has both genders. Had a tank of them recently and seemed that the female population was growing and the male was dwindling and remembered back 35 odd years ago there were these blue encyclopedia's and it was either world encyclopedia or animal encyclopedia and there was something there about 75% of them could change sex but only 23% could actually change back and figured what happened recently was just down to what I read many many years ago. I know the boys are more jumpers maybe it was just a slow exodus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tehengo Posted July 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Well the male and the 2 female are in the tank together ATM but nuthin??? Am I doing something wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pk333 Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Give it time. And add some plants as suggested. If nothing has happened in a months time, I'd start asking for help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnexplainedWays Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Livebearers are interesting fish. If you have a female sword who has been near a male, she is pregnant. The sperm can be stored within the body. You will see the female belly expand and almost look squared off when readdy to give birth. If you are seeing a girl get fat and then thin, she has given birth. Normally the female when due to give birth will go and find a very quiet location. Of course any fry is perfect snack size. Once the female gives birth she kinda goes into a hypnotic state that gives the baby a chance to get away from her hungry mother. While that works well for the mother if the others are present and hungry...... If you are seeing the fat and thin stage you may need to set up a seperate tank. You can get various breeding traps, but they do not work well especially for the size of swords. Mother will tend to stress and hold on to her babies and not drop them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 temperature also plays a role get it up to 28degC and they will pump out the batches when its lower than 25 tho things happen much slower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tehengo Posted July 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 thanks for the info guys but the stupid ones xD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 thanks for the info guys but the stupid ones xD! ah but its the stupid ones that make learning fun! ps ~ I still remember being told male swordtails had the long tail so they could jump from puddle to puddle with it! Something that persisted in aquarium lore for many decades after being shot down by the great Gunther! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
