SEXING SWORDTAILS

[dennishenz]

Hi, I've just had swordtail fry (9) and i've read that if kept alltogether only 1 will develope into a male. firstly is this true? secondly if it is, can i seperate them into 3 floating breedind traps and float them in the 1 tank? (3 fry in each) Or do they need to be totally seperated to develop into males? hope i didnt confuse anyone! lol [/b]

 

[Mamaschild]

No, leaving them all together will NOT result in only one male. I have always raised mine together and always ended up with a prety fair male to female ratio.

It seems to take much longer for male Swordtails to develop then other livebearers. I've had some that I SWORE were females until they were 6-7 months old. Than, over just a couple weeks, the males start to develop and I was obviously wrong )

Just be aware, if left in the breeder, thay won't grow as fast as they would in a regular tank set-up. They really need space to grow.

HTH

 

[dennishenz]

Thanks alot! I've got another tank (10g) but its not properly cycled yet its nitrite is peaking at the moment (about 2.0) so hopefully it wont be too much longer!