Pregnant swordtail - I think...

[Marcus Fox]

Hi, I have a male and female 1.5" swordtails with a catfish in a lightly
planted 15G (some java moss and bacopia) with gravel substrate. Think female
swordtail is pregnant. For the couple of weeks or so she's had a small dark
patch down near the anal fin, but also two smaller dark spots about 5mm
above the first, completing an upside down equilateral triangle, about the
size of a comma. I know they're supposed to be the fish eyes, but also
thought were all in one place. What's with this?

Marcus

[Robert Flory]

Sure sounds pregnant to me. Swordtails are as bad as guppies + the males
are much more aggressive toward males of their own kind. I could never have
more than one sword male in a 55 gallon tank. The little sucker killed
several males half again bigger than he was.


"Marcus Fox" > wrote in
message ...
> Hi, I have a male and female 1.5" swordtails with a catfish in a lightly
> planted 15G (some java moss and bacopia) with gravel substrate. Think
female
> swordtail is pregnant. For the couple of weeks or so she's had a small
dark
> patch down near the anal fin, but also two smaller dark spots about 5mm
> above the first, completing an upside down equilateral triangle, about the
> size of a comma. I know they're supposed to be the fish eyes, but also
> thought were all in one place. What's with this?
>
> Marcus
>
>

[Marcus Fox]

"Robert Flory" > wrote in message
...
> Sure sounds pregnant to me. Swordtails are as bad as guppies + the males
> are much more aggressive toward males of their own kind. I could never
have
> more than one sword male in a 55 gallon tank. The little sucker killed
> several males half again bigger than he was.

Looking at the other side there are about 5-6 dots in an area about the size
of an "O". The triangular shape is made up by dots on the other side. I used
to have two males in the tank and two females, the dominant male one had a
black stripe for a sword and the other one had just an orange sword, same as
rest of his body. However, he got finrot (he had a bit of a raggedy pectoral
when I got him from the LFS) and died after about a month. Then the last
remaining male got his orange sword turn black, like the other. Dunno what
happened with the other female, she just wasn't eating well and then one
morning I found her on her side at bottom of tank.

How do I stop the swordtails eating the fry when they come? I don't want to
have to use a breeding trap, so I unrolled a plastic pot scrubber and tied
the ends. The fry should be small enough to swim through the netting and
hide inside. I put plastic hoops cut from lemonade bottles inside to hold it
open. Looks like some kind of lobster pot. Will that be good enough?

Suggestions?

Marcus

[Robert Flory]

I always just had lots of floating plants and a local "moss" .

Bob

"Marcus Fox" > wrote in
message ...
>
> "Robert Flory" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Sure sounds pregnant to me. Swordtails are as bad as guppies + the
males
> > are much more aggressive toward males of their own kind. I could never
> have
> > more than one sword male in a 55 gallon tank. The little sucker killed
> > several males half again bigger than he was.
>
> Looking at the other side there are about 5-6 dots in an area about the
size
> of an "O". The triangular shape is made up by dots on the other side. I
used
> to have two males in the tank and two females, the dominant male one had a
> black stripe for a sword and the other one had just an orange sword, same
as
> rest of his body. However, he got finrot (he had a bit of a raggedy
pectoral
> when I got him from the LFS) and died after about a month. Then the last
> remaining male got his orange sword turn black, like the other. Dunno what
> happened with the other female, she just wasn't eating well and then one
> morning I found her on her side at bottom of tank.
>
> How do I stop the swordtails eating the fry when they come? I don't want
to
> have to use a breeding trap, so I unrolled a plastic pot scrubber and tied
> the ends. The fry should be small enough to swim through the netting and
> hide inside. I put plastic hoops cut from lemonade bottles inside to hold
it
> open. Looks like some kind of lobster pot. Will that be good enough?
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Marcus
>
>
>

[Sean]

I started with one male and 2 female swordtails. Very shortly I had upward
of 30 or so. I was giving them aways as gifts.

To stop them from eating the fry, lot's of plants. I have them floating on
the top and on the bottom as well. It seems to do the trick for me.


"Marcus Fox" > wrote in
message ...
>
> "Robert Flory" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Sure sounds pregnant to me. Swordtails are as bad as guppies + the
males
> > are much more aggressive toward males of their own kind. I could never
> have
> > more than one sword male in a 55 gallon tank. The little sucker killed
> > several males half again bigger than he was.
>
> Looking at the other side there are about 5-6 dots in an area about the
size
> of an "O". The triangular shape is made up by dots on the other side. I
used
> to have two males in the tank and two females, the dominant male one had a
> black stripe for a sword and the other one had just an orange sword, same
as
> rest of his body. However, he got finrot (he had a bit of a raggedy
pectoral
> when I got him from the LFS) and died after about a month. Then the last
> remaining male got his orange sword turn black, like the other. Dunno what
> happened with the other female, she just wasn't eating well and then one
> morning I found her on her side at bottom of tank.
>
> How do I stop the swordtails eating the fry when they come? I don't want
to
> have to use a breeding trap, so I unrolled a plastic pot scrubber and tied
> the ends. The fry should be small enough to swim through the netting and
> hide inside. I put plastic hoops cut from lemonade bottles inside to hold
it
> open. Looks like some kind of lobster pot. Will that be good enough?
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Marcus
>
>
>