Is it possible all of my Swordtails are pregnant?

CrystalE
  • #1
Pretty much all of my female Swordtails are pregnant. I have 2 younger ones(presumed female) with flat/small stomachs, and my males(2) have flat stomachs, so I'm assuming it's not overfeeding or swim bladder? I guess it could be swim bladder? I hope my pictures are clear enough to help me out.

Pic 1: is that the gravid spot? I have 2 this color, and they both have this very dark spot on their behinds.

Pic 2: my other silver/orange one, has a belly, not as big though.

Pic 3: my 2 not pregnant/normal females

Pic 4: I think circled are pregnant

Pic 5: my 2 biggest females. The all orange one has been this size since I got her 8mo ago. I've put her in quarantine twice, and both times she's had babies(8 fry, then about 15). The fry in quarantine are big enough I can move a female in there again to give birth without her being able to eat current fry(3wks old about). I'm not sure which of these females I want to move first, I've only ever moved the orange to give birth. Should I try silver/orange to see if she gives birth?
Even after giving birth, the orange female doesn't get much smaller, if any at all. I leave her in fry tank for 3ish days when giving birth to give her a chance to let them all out.



Am I just doing everything wrong? Someone please give me some direction here
 

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BPSabelhaus
  • #2
They’ll come out when ready. She might have 50 babies in there, but only 3 were ready.
 

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emeraldking
  • #3
They seem pregnant but not all at the same stage...
 
CrystalE
  • Thread Starter
  • #4
They seem pregnant but not all at the same stage...
That's what Im thinking. I think I'm gonna move the silver/orange one to my hatchery tank today.
 
Fishfur
  • #5
Where livebearer females have males living with them, it’s generally safe to assume that the females are pregnant all the time. The females can store the genetic contributions from their mates and use them when needed and can be fertilizing a new brood not long after they drop a brood, so even if they don’t look obviously pregnant, they almost always are.

In pic one, yes, that’s the gravid spot, though it is not visible in fish of certain colours. It’s just an area where sometimes we can see some of the interior of the fish through thin, translucent skin and as pregnancy advances all the skin has to stretch to make room for the fry, so naturally the spot gets bigger too. But it’s tells you nothing about the pregnancy and has nothing specific to do with pregnancy.

All the circled fish look pregnant but I’d bet every one of those females is carrying fry.
 

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