14 baby swords :)

[Roop]

i got home from work an hour ago. i notice a couple tiney fish in my 55gal. i noticed my big female sword had deflated. an hour later my girlfriend and i rounded up 14 babies into a floating baby tank. there are a couple more that i haven't cought. i figured if i can't catch them, neither can the other fish.

my gf told me that 50% of the babies would die. she's had a few experiences with live bearers. is this true? what do you guys recommend for raising the babies?

last time we had swords, there were quite a few babies. we let nature take it's course and two of those babies made it to adulthood.

 

[Coyote]

My female swordtail just gave birth two weeks ago. So far, I've found four babies.

Last time when a female gave birth, I put some of the babies into the breeding trap just like yours and left some in the planted tank. I noticed that those inside the trap grew slower than those outside. Anyway, 7 out of 18 survived.

This time I don't bother to put them into the breeding trap and let them hide among the plants and rocks. Now, they are brave enough to come out and swim in the open space.

 

[JKO]

is it just your pic or is that water a little mirky?

 

[nosidam]

I woke up one morning and my female swordtail was a lot thinner than the night before. I looked around but couldn't find any fry. Must have eaten them all.

A few days later, as I was watching my cory's eat, I noticed a very small, gold colored, spec that seemed to be swimming in and around an anubias plant...it was a fry!

That was 120 days ago. The little girl is now about 2 to 2.5 inches long and is not afraid of anything in the tank. When I vacuum the gravel and some food flakes get sucked up, she will bump into the siphon trying to get it, while the other fish just kind of keep their distance.