newbie101

Yay! One of my two orange swords is pregnant! I hope she doesn't die like the silver one did... I let all the other fry out of the net, as they are now big enough, so she's in there now (and not looking too happy about it either)

fish_r_friend

your tanks going to be over poplated soon with all the fry

newbie101

I'm giving them to the lfs as soon as they are big enough.
Anyone know about how long it takes for them to be full grown?

fish_r_friend

I think three months

newbie101

ah ty

vin

I've got sword fry that are about 8 weeks old. The largest is just about 3/4" long. It will take about 3 months to notice the sex as the males don't start to develop their tail extensions until about that age....Also - be careful - they can start breeding at 3 months!!

newbie101

yikes...thanks for the info

I took her out a few days ago, she was getting really stressed in there

0morrokh

I think it takes much longer to become full sized. I've had my Guppy fry for almost half a year, and they haven't even reached half size yet. It's so fun to watch them grow!

newbie101

oh wow...

0morrokh

Actually, I changed my mind, my fry are around half-grown. Ask your lfs how big they want the fry. They should take them less than full size.

vin

They may not want them until they begin to show sex....It does them no good if they can't readily tell male from female.....

0morrokh

Yes, but that makes them only 3 months old, which will be way too small to be sold. Most stores don't bother separate m and f livebearers anyway.

vin

How do you sell males and females before they're sexed? I've seen swordtails who have just begun to develop their swords in tanks to be sold.....That would make them in the 3-4 month old range. So it's not necessarily too young for them to be sold. As long as the males begin to show their coloration and sword they can be sold.

0morrokh

I think we're getting each other confused... :P
Oh well...Emma, have you asked the lfs how old they'll take them?