Help!! Stop The Breeding!!

Looking for help! I all of a sudden have 22 baby swordtail fish! And only two adults. That is all that is in the tank. I have a heater, but wondering if removing it will keep them from breeding more. How can I stop the breeding??

 

You need to remove one gender of swordtail. They're livebearers, they'll breed nonstop almost no matter what you do.

 

Honestly, with livebearers, if you have a male and a female in the same tank there is almost no way to keep them from breeding. I’d say identify the females and see if you can give away the males if you want. If that’s not your cup of tea however, you could just wait because most of the fry will unfortunately be consumed by their parents.

 

If you don't want them to breed you need to separate the male and female. And for the future, if you want to keep males and females together you need to keep them in a 1:5 ratio (male to female).

 

You need to remove one gender of swordtail. They're livebearers, they'll breed nonstop almost no matter what you do.

Thanks! I have to set up my other tank tank and cycle it, hopefully I won’t have twenty more by then! How many do they usually have at once??

 

If you don't do something soon those babies are going to start breeding too!

 

Thanks! I have to set up my other tank tank and cycle it, hopefully I won’t have twenty more by then! How many do they usually have at once??

Ime they have 15-30 ina batch

 

Thanks! I have to set up my other tank tank and cycle it, hopefully I won’t have twenty more by then! How many do they usually have at once??

It can be anywhere from 20-100 depending on the size of the female. Chances are, she'll have a similar amount to what she had previously. Maybe you could find a divider for the tank if possible to stop them from breeding in the meantime?
Best of luck

 

Separating the males from the females is the only way to stop the breeding.

 

They need fishy birth control!! Lol

 

Looking for help! I all of a sudden have 22 baby swordtail fish! And only two adults. That is all that is in the tank. I have a heater, but wondering if removing it will keep them from breeding more. How can I stop the breeding??

The only way to stop the breeding is to have only males or only females. This type of fish will just keep going.

 

They need fishy birth control!! Lol

Fishy vasectomy

If you don't do something soon those babies are going to start breeding too!

They are barely a 1/4” long. Hard to tell which are males and females. How old do they have to be before they can breed? Ugh!!!

 

You have about 2.5 to 3 months

 

They are barely a 1/4” long. Hard to tell which are males and females. How old do they have to be before they can breed? Ugh!!!

It will be hard to sex the babies until they are a couple of months old.

 

Look online, there are good drawings and actual pictures showing what male and female swordtails look like. Pretty much as soon as you can tell them apart is when they become fertile. That doesn't mean they will immediately breed and become pregnant, it just means the possibility is there.

 

Look online, there are good drawings and actual pictures showing what male and female swordtails look like. Pretty much as soon as you can tell them apart is when they become fertile. That doesn't mean they will immediately breed and become pregnant, it just means the possibility is there.

Thanks! I can kind of tell but they are so small. How come they don’t breed at the Store! The big ones I have started out looking like both males. I know the gestation is about 28days. But how soon after giving birth can the female get pregnant again?

Thanks! That’s good news! How soon after the mom gives birth can she get pregnant again

You have about 2.5 to 3 months

 

Thanks! I can kind of tell but they are so small. How come they don’t breed at the Store! The big ones I have started out looking like both males. I know the gestation is about 28days. But how soon after giving birth can the female get pregnant again?

They can get pregnant immediately after giving birth. In fact live bearers like sword tails can store sperm for up to a year which means that a male is not necessary for another batch.

 

They can get pregnant immediately after giving birth. In fact live bearers like sword tails can store sperm for up to a year which means that a male is not necessary for another batch.

If only humans could do that!! Yikes! Thanks for the info. I have a new home for my mature male.