Commodore1

I've just bought two swordtails (male and female of course) and would like to breed them. The problem you ask. I don't know how to.

I would appreciate it if anyone can give me tips on breeding these two.

Here are some questions:
Do they need caves or something to breed in?
Do they need plants to breed in?
What conditions do they need?
How many eggs do they lay?
and How long does it take for eggs to hatch?

by the way they are in a community tank with a golden catfish, Bristle nose catfish and two fantail goldfish.

Thanks

swords3711

first of all swords are livebearers therefore meaning they have live babies that are alreday capable of swimming
you really don't need anything for them
if you notice the male chasing the female that means that they are breeding
it might be good to get another female so the male doesn't harass one female
this also seems to increase the chances of the female getting pregnant.
if you notice that the female is getting fat, put alot of cover in the tank
plants large rocks etc
when you see that she is thin
use a thin net to look for the babies
it would be good to get a breeder cage to keep the babies in.
this will allow you to keep the babies in the tank with the adults without the adults eating them
feed the fry crunched flakes that are very small
what kind of swords are they?
send me a private messages when and if it is successful

Commodore1

They are red swords as my dad calls them.
I've noticed that she has a black triangle shape near her but. Is that the babies?
Also she was fat when I bought her and shes still fat now. She might already be pregnant.

Chief_waterchanger

Swordtails as with most livebearers are best kept in trios (1 male to 2 females) or quads (1 male 3 females). Swordtails need a lot of vegetable matter in their diet. I would suggest veggie flake, tropical fish flake, blood worms (frozen or freeze dried) maybe once or twice a week, and algae pellets or wafers.

The diet is a major contribution towards getting a fish ready to breed, and keeping it healthy, that is why I included the previous bit about food.

The swordtails commonly kept in the hobby have a gestation period of 28-32 days under normal conditions. The purple/black crescent moon shape at the back of the belly/near the vent (anus) is the gravid spot. The gravid spot is the developing fetuses showing through the translucent flesh.

A lot of people will suggest aquarium salt in a swordtail tank, but I would suggest AGAINST the use of it. Aquarium salt aggrivates the fish' flesh, which causes the slime coat production to increase. The slime coat is what keeps disease away, kinda like our immune system works. Sounds nice on the surface, but I look at it like if your water conditions are proper and you take proper care of HOW MUCH food goes into your tanks your fish' slime coat will be just fine without aggrivating the fish. That is like saying scratching yourself until you form scabs is good, because the scabs are thicker than normal skin so they will protect you more.

If you provide enough floating plants with a lot of hanging down roots, or bunch plants with lots of stems and leaves will aid your fish in enjoying life and baby's survival rate. The females can run and hide from the males in thick plants, when they want to be left alone, as well as multiple males, if present, can have their space. Breaking the line-of-sight among fish is the ultimate goal to keep fish calmer, unless dealing with schooling fish, of course.

If you have a seperate 10-20 gallon tank for the babies to grow to subadult size that would be great, but if not there are several products on the market to keep them away from the adults.

Best of luck.

swords3711

that black triange is known as a gravid spot
it is seen on fairly ripe feamles.
it i s caused because the fry are pushing her organs and strtching her body
put lots of cover in the tank, large rocks plants etc.
check every day until she has them
let us know how many she has

Commodore1

Thanks guys, I'll have to buy some plants real soon so they have cover and I like plants in the tank anyway as it looks good. I'll keep checking her. She's been attacking Hectre (male) so she must want him to stay away.

Chief_waterchanger

Yep, a lot of livebearing females (guppies, swordtails, mollies, etc) will try to move away from the other fish, and hide in thick plants if they are provided, before they start dropping fry.

Schmidty

You can also buy a special birthing contraption. I bought one years ago and was thankful I did. There are two compartments. One is about twice the size of the other. You put the mama in the bigger compartment. There is a little V-shaped piece of plastic on the bottom and a tube running underneath connecting the sections. You connect an airhose on the bottom. The system works because mama gives birth, the little fry go to the bottom and get sucked into the other compartment, away from mama. This way the mom is separated from the other fish AND from her babies shortly after birth. This way mama doesn't eat the babies and she is protected and not stressed. Here is an example: Breeder

swords3711

if you have a log or some other enclosed area, she may go in there to have her fry

Commodore1

She is in her own 28L tank right now. The dark spot is a bit lighter and there's no fry so I hope she didn't give birth then eat the fry while I was at school today. maybe the colour is the same and I'm just blind. I hope so anyway.
Thanks for the info Schmidty. My dad was telling me about the breeding nets as well so I'll have to buy one.

How many babies can a mother have at one time?

Chief_waterchanger

That depends on age, amount of food she is eatting, size, and probably other factors.

We don't feed our fish as much as most people do (most people overfeed their fish) so ours produce less, but a higher percentage of them survive and are quality fish.

Most livebearers can commonly have 10-30 or so. Numbers have ranged extremely high in rare instances of 50-80, but like I said, that is rare and probably would kill the female involved due to the nutrient pull from the unborn fry.

Commodore1

It turns out she did have the babies, I just couldn't see them. She's back in her other tank now so my fry are happy in their own tank. I've counted them over and over and have come up with exactly 20 fry. I hope they all survive

Chief_waterchanger

Congrats on being a grandpa.

Commodore1

Thanks I'm so happy

swords3711

Congrats
moniter the water carefully
swords arent very hardy with higher nitrite levels so whatch for it

Commodore1

Thanks for the warning about the water. To make sure waste is picked up and uneaten food is picked up I put in my very young BN catfish Glove (G-love). He is the uncle lol.

Commodore1

I came accross food called Liquifry. I have bought it and just used it. Do you guys think its a suitable food.

susitna-flower

How are your fry doing? Something I always feed mine, besides the crushed flakes are frozen baby brine shrimp. The fry need several very small feedings. Remember, they won't find most of the food, so this means you also have to do frequent water changes, but be sure to put netting over the syphon tube so you don't suck up and away all the fry! Let us know what's happening.....