Pregnant swordtail, need advice!!

[squidg]

I have a swordtail, who is pregnant again, I didnt know she had the other fry till i found them in my tank when doing a water change.

Any way i noticed she was getting large about 3 weeks ago, she now has a black patch on her tummy, which I have been told could be the frys eyes. She has been hiding the last 2days, but ive not seen anything, I was looking at putting her i the breeding tank to try and give these fry more of a chance to live, as we only got two from the last lot,


What I want to know is when do I know is the right time to put her in the breeder tank???

 

[Newman]

how large is the breeder tank and what else is in the breeder tank? (you'll need some plants, or LARGE marbles for the fry to hide from mom)
I say put her in that tank now. you can predict when she will drop becuase they will drop fry 4-5 weeks from last birth

 

[squidg]

the breeder tank is a small one that floats in the large tank, i do have a small 25ltr tank, that i could put her in if that would be better. i'm not sure how old the other fry are as i only found them in my tank when doing a water change. would it still be ok to put her in the floating tank now???

 

[Newman]

most net/breeder boxes are way too small for swordtails...how big is the female approximately?

 

[beckyd]

I agree with Newman. You can put her in her own tank, but not one of those little breeder floaty things. She may abort her babies and/or die from the stress. I have good success with leaving fry in my heavily populated tank. If you don't have a spare tank, add bigger substrate. Here are some pics showing my pregnant female, some babies from her last drop, and even a cory baby. They are all in the same tank. I am convinced that my large substrate is why my cories even successfully spawn in here. The fry burrow under the rocks and even find plenty of food down there. The cories don't even emerge until they are like a month old. The swords are bigger and only hide when they have to. After a few weeks they don't bother as they are then fast enough to get away from adults. Here are some pics to show you the size I am talking about. Your next question will be where did I get this. Oh boy, this is going to cause a stir, but I didn't know any better at the time and it worked for me, so here goes. I got it at Lowe's. In the garden section. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. There, my secret is out. I hope you keep more fry alive because of me outing myself as an indiscriminate substrate purchaser

 

[squidg]

Thank you very much, I have a 95ltr tank, with 2 mollys, and 2 adult swordtails, and 2 fry swordtails, and another fry we have no idea what it is, we found it 2 weeks ago, and its not looking like a swordtail, I think it came in the plants i bought from a fish shop, as there were fish in tank with the plants.
I have attached a photo of my tank do you think I need to add anything else to the tank to protect the fry???

 

[anshuman]

Thank you very much, I have a 95ltr tank, with 2 mollys, and 2 adult swordtails, and 2 fry swordtails, and another fry we have no idea what it is, we found it 2 weeks ago, and its not looking like a swordtail, I think it came in the plants i bought from a fish shop, as there were fish in tank with the plants.
I have attached a photo of my tank do you think I need to add anything else to the tank to protect the fry???

can you name those plants please? nice tank , love the barrel there.

 

[squidg]

I have twisted vallis, behind the temple, that you cant see, then elodea right at the back of the tank. wisteria, near the barrel. cabomba near the front there are 3 of those plants. I hope this helps!! And thanks.

 

[Newman]

get some tropical horn-wort for $2 and float the mass at the top corner (right) tie it with fishing line if it keeps sinking. some of the fry will hide out in there