Sword tail breeding

[Arch]

Hi all! I have a rio 180 and rekord 70 and am starting to breed sword tails. First time i managed to get ten to survive and they are still going great they are around 1.5cm. Around a month ago she had another 25-30 and none survived and last night i noticed she was ready again and i put her into the small tank in a breeding net. She started having some fry but was eating them straight away which she didnt do the last time. So i let her out of the breeding net and into tank to see if the fry could get away from her but this morning i noticed the older babies were eating them (i didnt think they would have been big enough yet). I also just changed the smaller tank from gravel to sand as i noticed a lot of the fry were going under the gravel and then not able to come back up. I could do with more plants in the tank for them to hide in but if anyone has any tips or info that would be great!!

 

[cutechic]

She will usually be very hungry after giving birth, and the fry are a convenient source of food. She will not generally eat the fry while giving birth, which gives you the opportunity to take her oout of the breeding net before she eats any fry.

After that, you can either separate the mother from the babies (eg. move the mother to a separate tank), or supply lots of plants and caves for the fry. I tried the plants-and-cave method, with 4 adults and 10 fry in the tank. 5 fry have managed to make it by hiding from the adults until they were large. Oh, and a good idea is to have floating plants (either fake or real) because I have found that fry are "mistaken" for food by the adults. Having plants will help protect them.

 

[tstenback]

Even in a breeder net i usually buy a bunch of cabomba or other bushy plant so the fry can hide before mom gets the munchies. I have seen some livebearers eat fry immediately. My platies are famous for this, as soon as the fry comes out the mom turns around and if the fry is still there she eats it. HTH

 

[Arch]

Well my swordtails are just like your platies - shes pops one out, eats it, pops one out, eats it etc etc!! Very annoying as you wait so long for the fry and then that happens. Though what really suprised me was the young babies i have (around two months) eating the new fry - i didnt think they'd have annoyed them so i think they'll be big enough now for going back to the big tank!
Plants in the breeding net good idea never thought of that!

Cheers guys

 

[yhbae]

I have a 10g tank full of java moss. I put one male and 3 females in that tank. Much of the fries survive, and I don't need to even worry about the food when they are very young as java moss provides all the microscopic food you need.

Netting them out when they are about 1/2 inch big isn't as difficult as it may feel given that the whole tank is full of java moss...

 

[Arch]

Do you take the adults out once the fry are born or is that the way you leave the tank always? How often do you get fry with the one male and 3 females?

 

[Aqua_Princess64]

Try putting some food in the tank when the babies are being born. Also put in some plants so that the babies will have a better chance of getting away.
~Aqua~

 

[fishrock]

i wouldnt have thought that the juvinile fish would be big enough to eat the fry i have a platy in with my guppy fry and it is just over a month old maybe i should be moving it before anymore fry come.

 

[yhbae]

Do you take the adults out once the fry are born or is that the way you leave the tank always? How often do you get fry with the one male and 3 females?

I keep the adults in the same tank - I no longer move them from tanks to tanks as enough java moss has grown in the tank to protect the fries.

 

[yhbae]

i wouldnt have thought that the juvinile fish would be big enough to eat the fry i have a platy in with my guppy fry and it is just over a month old maybe i should be moving it before anymore fry come.

When my tank didn't have enough java moss, two months old fries did manage to destroy the new-born group, so yes it is possible...

 

[Arch]

GOOD NEWS!!!

I found two living fry couple nights ago and put the breeding net in again and put them in it (after hours trying to catch them!!) Sounds sad but i'm delighted i saved some from the group and its awful to see them being ate when you can do nothing about it. These two wee fighters were hiding in the bog wood so fingers crossed for them guys!!!

 

[yhbae]

GOOD NEWS!!!

I found two living fry couple nights ago and put the breeding net in again and put them in it (after hours trying to catch them!!) Sounds sad but i'm delighted i saved some from the group and its awful to see them being ate when you can do nothing about it. These two wee fighters were hiding in the bog wood so fingers crossed for them guys!!!

Congrats!

I also had two surviving fries on my first ever spawn of the platies, and they both are currently living in my aquariums. Both turned out to be females.

 

[reiben]

congrats

 

[reiben]

congrats

 

[reiben]

ehhhh i said congrats twice