Adding More Swordfish

[James Bond the fish]

I've recently bought a swordfish for my community tank which currently consists of six corys, six black widows, two guppies and a shrimp. I'm really pleased with how he looks, and would like to buy him a couple of tankmates. I'd like to get a couple of females to keep him happy, but I'm really not to fussy on breeding them. I've only room for the one tank, and it seems a little cruel to just let my other fish eat any fry that find their way in.
That said, would I be safe getting two more males? I'm concerned that there may be some territory issues between them, or that they might pine for a female and be a little unhappy. My current swordtail spends a lot of his time hiding inside my root and minding his own business, so I really want to get him some friends. Which is recommended, two females or two males?

 

[Peacelover]

Hi, yes if you get more males they will fight, and if you get the females they will have babies regularly, I had two males in my 215 ltr community tank and had to remove one as the bigger of the two would of ended up killing the littler one.
Peacelover.

 

[James Bond the fish]

I really seem to have a peaceful balance between all my fish right now, so I don't want them fighting. I think I will go with two females, then, and just consider it free live food every month.

 

[lilfishie]

how big is the tank? and what are the stocking numbers? normally you can get away with more than one male if each has there own 1ft footprint of surface area i think

 

[James Bond the fish]

The tank is 3' x 1'.

 

[Peacelover]

Good choice, I think 2 females will be great, my tank is a 3 foot Aqua One and it is heavily planted but that did not stop the bigger male wanting to kill the little one, maybe I was just unlucky with an extra aggressive one, it's up to you if you want to take the risk or not but every book you read will tell you that two males will fight together.
Peacelover.

 

[lilfishie]

will be a lot safer to go down the female option, if fry is an issue just let them go down the survival of the fittest route

 

[James Bond the fish]

Going to get two more females tomorrow. Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Biulu]

I don't know whether it is common for all swordfish, but here in Mexico, they are known to change sex. If you have a tank with only males, the dominant male will stay male, but some of the others will convert to females. Their tail is slowly being absorbed. It is the only fish I know that does this.

 

[Peacelover]

I should of told you the whole story James Bond, Biulu is right, the reason I ended up with two males in my tank was the big female changed sex, I never knew this until just recently, I started off with one large female and a male about half her size, the male used to mate with her and all my fancy male guppies took a big interest in her also, she never chased anything at this stage then after about 2 months she started to grow a tail, I asked at my lfs if it was possible for them to change sex and they just looked at me like I was strange, but when the tail was fully developed she/he started chasing the other male big time and I ended up putting the little male into my other tank, I have now bought a female for the big male and they are a great pair. LOL crazy isn't it, I have been dong lots of reading on fish lately from borrowing books from my local library and in the book "Aquarium Fish" by Dick Mills it says ( REMARK: Males may quarrel among themselves. Occasionally females may switch sex in later life. ) I was so glad that I had found some information that had explained what had happened in my tank and that I was not going crazy, LOL.
Peacelover.

 

[James Bond the fish]

Well, we got two beautiful pineapple swordtails today. One of the guppies is almost identicle in colours, and looks like a mini-swordtail. So far, they've both remained females... one of them is HEAVILY pregnant... I kind of want to pinch her and see if the fry will pop out. (Joking!)

The male seems happy enough, seeing as he's spending every moment harassing them. Do they calm down after a while, or are they likely to be this way indefinately? I feel sorry for the poor girls already. Luckily the guppies are mostly indifferent to them, though mini-swordtail likes to poke the fat belly for fun.

Took a picture of the heavily pregnant one, who we're going to call Clair (Clair from Lost, aka "The Pregnant Girl").

 

[lilfishie]

they may visually change sex, but they will not be fertile ie. a male that has 'changed' into a female cannot give birth or carry fry