Any Experts On Swordtails Or Breeding? Please Read

I’m sorry this is long… But please read! I really need help/advice.

So for as long as I can remember, I’ve been dealing with a nightmare fish situation. Basically, my ex left me with dalmation mollies and red velvet swordtails—this turned into such a disaster because of the fry constantly being born. Up until yesterday, my 60 gallon had more fish than I could count. It was getting close to 150 fish. Mostly younger juvenillres but horribly overcrowded. Yikes!

I did 60-75% water changes every single day just to keep the ammonia out of the tank. Never missed a day. It was miserable for both me and the fish. And I couldn’t find anyone to take them... I tried everyone and every store near me. No luck.

Then, I found an answer (when I was about ready to give up)— a fish sanctuary about 2 hours away.

I didn’t think I’d be able to get these fish out of the tank and transported there myself so I wanted to ask them if they could pick up my fish, get them out of the tank and find them new homes. This seemed like way too much to ask, so I decided not to contact them until I had something valuable to offer in return.

So, for the past eight months, I put money aside with every paycheck and finally came up with $1,000 along with various fish food, decor, air stones, gravel, etc. which I offered as a donation if they would come take my fish. They agreed! I was thrilled (but also sad to be losing all my fish).

However, I’m starting to think I did all that for nothing because I made a huge mistake. Here is where I neee help. Please!

I kept seven fish. 4 dalmation mollies (all males) that have something wrong with them, and a fifth male dalmation mollie (my favorite). There were females I really wanted to keep, but knew I couldn’t because they could’ve been pregnant and this would start all over again.

I also kept the smallest male swordtail. The one that was always hiding and is just so thin and weak looking. He was always scared and hiding because of the 2 other males 3xs his size. I thought it would be nice to keep him so he could feel safe with the other fish gone.

The last fish was a mistake. A female swordtail had jumped up and got into my filter somehow (we turned them off to see the fish better). She must have been scared and did this to get away but we didn’t notice. I found her in there 45 minutes later alive. I should’ve turned my filters on sooner but I had the fish I was keeping in a temporary 10 gallon and wasn’t really thinking with all the commotion. But nevertheless, I accidentally kept a female swordtail—who seems unharmed and surprisingly normal and happy for what happens. So now I have a problem... I think.

First, going back to how I told you I had 150 fish… Only seven of them were swordtails. There were never any swordtail fry. I just assumed they were infertile. I guess it’s possible the fry were all being eaten, but I find that very hard to believe since there are so many hiding places and I would find new mollie fry almost daily. I always kept my fish well fed—to a fault. Overfed is probably more accurate. Sadly, I would also gravel vac dead molly fry from the gravel frequently. I never saw a dead baby swordtail.

Here are my questions:

1. Could there be a fertility issue and this swordtail female won’t get pregnant? Or do you think the stress from an overcrowded tank is what caused them not to breed?
2. Is it possible that in an entire year, swordtail fry were being born and eaten before I could see a single one? I’m not sure how that would even be possible. Considering I was in that tank every single day.
3. Is it possible that 2 swordtails will not breed, even if she is fertile?
4. Is it possible this male never attempted to breed with the females because he was so scared and now maybe he will start once he gets comfortable and feels safe?
5. What should I do?

It’s been over 24 hours since all the other fish were removed and the 7 fish were put back into the tank? I was so upset when I found the female. However, the male does not seem interested in the female whatsoever. And it doesn’t look like she’s pregnant. So I need to know if perhaps the male isn’t mature enough yet (even though he has to be at least a year old)? Or if he can sense she’s infertile? Or perhaps he just doesn’t want to breed with her and never will. That would be amazing news!


The only other tank I have right now is a 10 gallon uncycled. And after everything they have been through, I feel horrible about the idea of having to move one of them out of this huge tank (and for a 3rd time in 2 days) into something so small alone. But I didn’t spend all that money and go through all this for nothing.


So what would you do? If you think I need to separate them… Which one should I remove. I can get a bigger tank and cycle it, but not until I can save more money.


I’m hoping there’s a chance they could stay in his tank together and not have babies. So I posted 3 YouTube videos of them interacting. Can you please watch and share your thoughts/opinions/advice? Even when the swordtails get right next to each other, the gondofin (spelling?) never

moves toward the female. I’m hoping this is a good sign. Here are the YouTube video links:

Thank you!

 

Seriously for $1000 you could have bought four+ other tanks and sorted them all out into male and female separate tanks and dealt with it yourself.

That aside - you have created two problems for yourself.
Male swordtails will fight with each other if they don't have females to occupy them instead. Bu removing all females and keeping only males, you are now setting those males up to fight each other until eventually they stress each other out and kill each other.

One female sword is not sufficient for 7 males. She will be endlessly harassed and they will all fight over her. Seperate her out into the 10 gallon. It is infinitely better for her to not be harrassed in a smaller space than to be in the larger tank with those boys.

Now whether or not she can breed? Wait two months with her in the 10 gallon by herself. If fry appear, she obviously isn't sterile. Swordtails tend to give birth every 28-32 days so in two months you will definitely see fry. And yes, she's already been bred. Its that quick if she's in a tank with male swordtails.

 

6 of the males were mollies I think.
I would move the female into the 10 by herself. I would say get her another female at the store, but that would only end with more babies. So I would just put her in the ten by herself. Even though the mollies can't breed with her, they still might harass her.

 

Seriously for $1000 you could have bought four+ other tanks and sorted them all out into male and female separate tanks and dealt with it yourself.

That aside - you have created two problems for yourself.
Male swordtails will fight with each other if they don't have females to occupy them instead. Bu removing all females and keeping only males, you are now setting those males up to fight each other until eventually they stress each other out and kill each other.

One female sword is not sufficient for 7 males. She will be endlessly harassed and they will all fight over her. Seperate her out into the 10 gallon. It is infinitely better for her to not be harrassed in a smaller space than to be in the larger tank with those boys.

Now whether or not she can breed? Wait two months with her in the 10 gallon by herself. If fry appear, she obviously isn't sterile. Swordtails tend to give birth every 28-32 days so in two months you will definitely see fry. And yes, she's already been bred. Its that quick if she's in a tank with male swordtails.

No, I couldn’t have solved it myself—the females were all pregnant. So separating them would’ve done me no good. Where would it end? I would just end up having 4 overcrowded tanks eventually.

And you didn’t read my post at all. I have 5 male dalmation mollies, one male swordtail and one female that I didn’t intend to keep. Please don’t respond if you aren’t going to even read my post. If you could read it again and pay attention to the details, I would love to hear your advice. But what you just said doesn’t relate to me at all

 

6 of the males were mollies I think.
I would move the female into the 10 by herself. I would say get her another female at the store, but that would only end with more babies. So I would just put her in the ten by herself. Even though the mollies can't breed with her, they still might harass her.

The male mollies I kept are all peaceful and have their own issues. They were bullied, which is why I kept them. They’re all getting along great right now. I don’t see them harassing her now or in future. So you think I should remove one of the swordtails though? So it isn’t possible for them not to breed given all the information? I just feel bad because they went through a lot over the past 24 hours. Plus, the 10 gallon is so much smaller in comparison and not cycled. It seems mean. Do you have any idea why the male swordtail is showing zero interest in the female? They get along they just aren’t attempting to breed. I’m guessing you think this will change? I’m so frustrated after what I just went through to fix my problem.

 

If I had to guess, I would think that with the new big tank all to their selves, they would get more comfortable in it. If the fish were shy, and there were 150 fish in the tank, then I could definitely see them not acting normally l. I would remove the female swordtail.

 

Less dominant swordtail males can hide their sex. Could be a male.

 

Less dominant swordtail males can hide their sex. Could be a male.

?

 

If I were in your shoes I would move the female over to the 10 gallon tank. They aren't schooling fish like a lot of others so being alone shouldn't stress her. If you have a filter on the 10 gallon you could move some of the media from the filter on the big tank over to seed the smaller tank. I would also move some of the gravel if you have gravel in the big tank to help speed the cycle along in the 10 gallon.

The bacteria lives mostly on the filter media but also grows on all the surfaces in the tank so move what ever you can over to the smaller tank and you could very well end up with an instantly cycled tank for her. It is possible that she is already pregnant and if so you should find out in less than a month.

I was sorry to read about the dire situation that you found yourself in but am proud of the way you took care of it and hopefully all the fish will end up in a forever home before long. You done good.

 

?

To avoid harassment, they can hide male characteristics. It's really common for 'female' swords to turn into males later in life.

 

I would honestly just leave and finishing up by stocking the tank appropriately - like a small pleco or two.

From personal experiences, swordtail fry aren't really smart and need a lot of hiding places to increase chance of successfully rearing them to adulthood. And your tank is pretty sparse, so it wouldn't offer a lot of hiding places leading to decreased chances of fry making it past the early days. So I think its fine.


It could also be that the male swordtail is just too young, therefore hasn't started breeding yet.

 

The tanks does not have enough cover for fry to hide in the video ?
The filters ate your swordtail fry if the parents didn't.
That female looks like a fish that has birthing for a year or so by body posture.
The male is mature enough to breed at less then 4 months.
Both swords look relatively healthy..Female looks older and a little more worn out..
My white albino swordtails gave me no fry for 4 months ..Not one in tank for just them [3 males 7 females] .
Then I placed a questionably pregnant female in a breeding net and gave birth what I would have guessed was 8-14 days sooner then I ever would have predicted.
I get my fry from them by separating females in a net with lots of live plants.
I am not an expert but do breed and sell swordtails .

 

If youve already given them $1000 id call them up and tell them they left a fish behind and ask them if they can come pick her up if you don't want to deal with females and fry.

 

Just get rid of all the fish and get fish you like. You deserve to be able to enjoy the hobby.

 

To avoid harassment, they can hide male characteristics. It's really common for 'female' swords to turn into males later in life.

I got confused because it said males can turn into males little later in life. Sorry about the confusion, it makes sense now

 

To avoid harassment, they can hide male characteristics. It's really common for 'female' swords to turn into males later in life.

Is there a way I can determine the sex for sure? What should I look for? If the female sword was actually a male that would be the best news possible. I had one aggressive male that bit at/off the other male’s “swords”. I didn’t notice anything like that lately but wasn’t looking for it.

The tanks does not have enough cover for fry to hide in the video ?
The filters ate your swordtail fry if the parents didn't.
That female looks like a fish that has birthing for a year or so by body posture.
The male is mature enough to breed at less then 4 months.
Both swords look relatively healthy..Female looks older and a little more worn out..
My white albino swordtails gave me no fry for 4 months ..Not one in tank for just them [3 males 7 females] .
Then I placed a questionably pregnant female in a breeding net and gave birth what I would have guessed was 8-14 days sooner then I ever would have predicted.
I get my fry from them by separating females in a net with lots of live plants.
I am not an expert but do breed and sell swordtails .

Up until yesterday, I had a lot more hiding places. I was trying to help the fish that were stressed by the overcrowding. Also, I had a cover over all of my filters intake tubes up until yesterday too. I got rid of them, because they weaken the strength of the filter and I didn’t think I needed anymore. I thought I was finally done with fry. And never seeing one it in all this time, not even a dead one? I don’t know that’s even possible.

Also, the swordtails are fine health wise. I kept the male one because he was getting picked on by the others. The female was a mistake. The mollies all have something wrong with them. 2 lay on the rocks, another has difficulty swimming. I think they are birth defects because they been this way forever but I don’t think they’re going to be chasing and eating the fry. They wouldn’t be able to catch them. So I hope that’s not what I have to rely on.

Is there a way to know for sure if the fish is male or female? If she’s female how can I determine if she’s pregnant? How do you see a gravid spot on a fish so dark? Any advice? Ideas?

 

Just get rid of all the fish and get fish you like. You deserve to be able to enjoy the hobby.

The fish I kept, I did so for a reason. Because I didn’t think they’d survive the move. They have defects. I’m not about to adandon them now. That doesn’t even make sense. Because if that was the case, I would’ve had the sanctuary take all them when they were here yesterday. And fish aren’t disposable like that to me. Not going to toss them away for something better. If I didn’t care about them, I would’ve never been in this situation to begin with. But every life matters to me —so agree to disagree

 

If youve already given them $1000 id call them up and tell them they left a fish behind and ask them if they can come pick her up if you don't want to deal with females and fry.

You’re probably right. I just feel bad because it was an over two hour car ride. I didn’t pay some random person to take my fish. It’s a fish sanctuary run by this one nice guy and a nonprofit. So my money was a donation. Not technically paying for him to come here. If that makes sense? I don’t think I have the right to demand he comes back because I gave him that money. But I can certainly ask.

But another thing is that this sweet fish has been moved 3 times in the past couple days. And stuck in a filter for almost an hour. Seems cruel to throw her in a bucket for a long drive alone to a new location after all of that. Right? I’m struggling with what to do, which is why I posted this. I have a big heart for all things fish.

I wish I knew that she was infertile or in fact a male. Because she’s an awesome fish and I would just like to leave her in peace. But I’m guessing there’s no way for me to determine that for sure. I’ll give them a call in the morning. Thanks for your input

 

To avoid harassment, they can hide male characteristics. It's really common for 'female' swords to turn into males later in life.

There is a tiny tip at the bottom of the tail. Could that be a good sign (that it’s actually a male)?
I appreciate your input on this.I didn’t know that and would’ve never considered it. Very interesting

 

Female 99.9%
Also probably too late for her to change but it does happen.