Getting fry in fry box?

I'm completely new to breeding fish, but I just ordered some pretty swordtails and I'd like to get babies. I always see "put the fry in breeding/fry boxes" but I've never understood how. Do you put the pregnant female in the box and let her give birth there? And if you do that, how do you know when she's close to giving birth?

 

Putting a pregnant swordtail in a breeder box for it to have its babies is going to stress out the fish. I will always advice against doing this.
What you can do is have a densely planted tank and keep an eye out for any fry. Any fry you find, you can put into a container where they're still floating in the main tank but safe from any larger fish. If your tank doesn't have many plants or decorations in general chances are the fry will get eaten very fast and you might never see them.
If your tank has lots and lots of hiding places you might be able to let the fry be in the main tank and see some of them growing up, but definitely not all.
Depending on how many fry you want to raise and how much work you'd like to put into it, any of the above methods could work.

 

Have not kept Swordtails, but have raised Guppy, Platy along with Bolivian and Electric Blue Acara. I have always left the female live-bearer and eggs in the tank. As mentioned it depends on the tank mates and hides the fry have. Survival of the fittest. As far as removing the female, no real experience. I know coralbandit breeds Swordtails, he is one of the "Best" breeders here on the forum. I am sure he has some advice.

Good Luck!

 

Keep in mind I don't have fish that give birth to fully formed fry but if I did what I would do is set up a nursery tank. I would plant it well and would keep the perimeters in it as close to the parent tank as I could. I would run a sponge filter in this tank. Running a sponge filter in the nursery serves a double purpose. It is gentle filtration and also microscopic food will be on it for the fry.

In the meantime I would be teaching my mother fish to eat from some kind of container I hold at the top of her tank so I could easily scoop her from the parent tank and deposit her in the nursery with. I have done this with a net when I knew I was going to relocate a fish. Once it was used to coming to the net for food it was a simple task of just waiting for the fish I wanted to go in for a bite.

I wouldn't want to use a net on a very pregnant female. There is too much of a chance of upsetting her and causing her to hold on to the babies or abort them. Some kind of small clear container would work best. This way she is never out of the water nor have any kind a pressure on her fragile body.

Once she has given birth in the nursery tank you can repeat the process and move her back to the parent tank. This will take some of the massive amount of patience we have had to practice in all aspects of this hobby.

 

Putting a pregnant swordtail in a breeder box for it to have its babies is going to stress out the fish. I will always advice against doing this.
What you can do is have a densely planted tank and keep an eye out for any fry. Any fry you find, you can put into a container where they're still floating in the main tank but safe from any larger fish. If your tank doesn't have many plants or decorations in general chances are the fry will get eaten very fast and you might never see them.
If your tank has lots and lots of hiding places you might be able to let the fry be in the main tank and see some of them growing up, but definitely not all.
Depending on how many fry you want to raise and how much work you'd like to put into it, any of the above methods could work.

My tank is already fairly well planted, and I also have a ton of hortwort I can throw in from another tank. Just need to find a fine sponge to put over the filter intake then, thank you for all the good info!

 

I try not to move mom till last moment . Some are very hard to tell but they often Square off noticeably .
I pack the breeder net full of live plants to keep her from easily eating fry ..
Some swords are easy and others near impossible ..
What color did you get ?
Pics !

 

I try not to move mom till last moment . Some are very hard to tell but they often Square off noticeably .
I pack the breeder net full of live plants to keep her from easily eating fry ..
Some swords are easy and others near impossible ..
What color did you get ?
Pics !

Just got em in today, koi swordtails! My danios did not want me to get a pic of them lol but heres the best one-

 

They're nice looking swordtails, good luck with the breeding.

 

Nice koi swords .
Make sure to keep your eye on her ,the danios will get fry before she or he may !