Swordtail Advice Please! :)

[FishBlast]

Zach, we never count the length of a tail in standard length. A swordtail will seldom exceed 3 inches SL. Something to be aware of with swordtails is that they are very fast and are prone to jumping. Be sure the tank has a good cover.

Seldom? I've had approx. 4 inch females in my old tank (if not counting the tail), they were quite fat too so they seemed almost as big as my current catfish. My friend who gave me that tank said she grew them since they were babies in the same tank.

I never managed to grow fry over 3 cm though because they ended up jumping overboard at night (didn't have a lid back then) or during the 100% water changes I used to do when I didn't know better.
Hoping this pair I have now can grow to that size, those females I've had were amazing and full of character. Seems to be a trait of all swordtail females, as even my current one seems to be curious, likes to interact but also a bit nippy if some fish annoys her.

Also, sorry for asking this question in this thread but it is swordtail related:
In a 20.2 gal / 76L tank that's 85 cm long, how many swordtails can I keep (in a 1 male, rest female formation)? Only other fish I keep there is the hoplo so with that fish holding a part of the space, how many swordtails can be kept there?

And which is best: to wait for the swordtail to have fry and select some females / give away males to someone and have a small group of swords or to keep like 1 offspring female and buy probably another female of a different color?
I'm not sure my current female would get along with other females though, she's bossy and will nip my catfish too if he hits her with his tail.

Or are the pair already too much for the tank?

 

[OldMan47]

76 litres is plenty to have a few swordtails. I have a breeding colony of nezzy swords in a tank that size and they absolutely thrive. They are a pair of adults and various size fry and juveniles in the tank. My X. alvarezi, upland swordtails, tank is also a 20 gallon tank and presently has about 20 fish at varying stages of development. I placed nothing but fry in that tank when I first set it up but I recently sold off an adult pair at a club auction. That female was dropping fry in the tank.

 

[FishBlast]

76 litres is plenty to have a few swordtails. I have a breeding colony of nezzy swords in a tank that size and they absolutely thrive. They are a pair of adults and various size fry and juveniles in the tank. My X. alvarezi, upland swordtails, tank is also a 20 gallon tank and presently has about 20 fish at varying stages of development. I placed nothing but fry in that tank when I first set it up but I recently sold off an adult pair at a club auction. That female was dropping fry in the tank.

I'm not planning on having more than maybe 4-5 at most. If 5 I want to have different colors and at least 1 of them being a calico (if they ever appear from a blood red + black berlin pair). The formation would be 1 male 3 females or 1 male 4 females. Is that possible while having the bottom dweller there though?

And I'm even more worried about how my female swordie would react if any new fish would be added (or even her own fry for that matter) since she has harassed a female to the point that her rival refused to eat and starved to death even after being separated. The aggression towards that female seemed to be because that one female used to be mean to Bee at first.

Now Bee took all the sand as her territory, will scare the male away, eats the sand constantly, shoos my catfish from her favorite corner (even though they used to be best buddies before he accidentally hit her with his tail) and even though seems pregnant and has that big black spot (that began growing inside her since about 1.5 months ago), she acts like a male, even displaying the typical dance with the wiggling tail and dorsal fin but has no sword-tail or gonopodium.

 

[OldMan47]

A single male with 3 or 4 females is a good start to a breeding colony. The bottom dweller would be fine with them but most of us prefer a group of things like cories. If you start adding a lot of cories, you will start to get crowded.

 

[FishBlast]

A single male with 3 or 4 females is a good start to a breeding colony. The bottom dweller would be fine with them but most of us prefer a group of things like cories. If you start adding a lot of cories, you will start to get crowded.

Well I don't want to breed them more than once to get a mix of black+red swordtail female. The goal would be to always have the same number of swordtails (adult ones) and give to friends any fry that survives unless an adult swordtail died, in which case a fry would replace that one.
If there would be an explosion in population and the adults fail to eat the fry and nobody will take the fry for free, I might have no option but to give them as a snack to the salamander or move the plants a bit so that the adult fish can find the fry.

While I find cory cats adorable (saw a white one all alone in a pet shop, he/she was so sad...), I probably can't afford getting even 6 and they'd cover more space than my hoplo does. Hoplos are cheaper and seem to be able to live on their own too. I've heard that males might fight but mine were always hanging out when I had 2 of them. Plus they like to interact with people and seem to recognize faces, as mine splashes at strangers but knows me and my parents.
Not sure how interactive cory cats are with their owners, but shoaling species seem to lack interactivity in my opinion.

 

[OldMan47]

Advice given large volume swordtail breeders is to use 5 females per male and expect around 20 fry per month per female from mature adult females. If you want a single drop, you will need to leave the tank with almost no cover after that drop.

 

[FishBlast]

Advice given large volume swordtail breeders is to use 5 females per male and expect around 20 fry per month per female from mature adult females. If you want a single drop, you will need to leave the tank with almost no cover after that drop.

Well, tank doesn't have much cover at the moment anyway, just a water sprite plant that is starting to spread (and some branches are falling off of it and floating off). I'd be lucky if any of a first batch survive.

Although I am wondering why my female still hasn't dropped yet. I've had her for 3 months so far with a male.
Is there any way to tell if it is a male in disguise? Can males have such huge black spots that can be seen inside the fish? Or could they be unfertilized eggs and since she's so bossy, the male never got a chance to impregnate her? He does do courtship displays to her every day but she just ignores him and if he gets close she will "spit" at him and he runs away.

I'll probably have the following formation:
- black-metallic green male with red fins (already have)
- blood red female with red eyes (already have, hope it really is female)
- calico (hope that I can get one female from my first pair that looks like that)
- marygold wag (yellow swordtail female, said to stay somewhat small)
- either koi, completely white or if there's any out there, a dalmatian variation that has true black and white color, not transparent and black. (female)

Though considering the hoplo, I might give up on the gold swordtail or the white/koi/dalmation to limit the bioload.

 

[Neptune54]

For the female who hasn't dropped in three months, she might have been dropping but all of the fry were eaten up. You're right, though; she could be a male in disguise. I'd say just keep a close watch on her and see if either of these scenarios fit your female.

 

[FishBlast]

For the female who hasn't dropped in three months, she might have been dropping but all of the fry were eaten up. You're right, though; she could be a male in disguise. I'd say just keep a close watch on her and see if either of these scenarios fit your female.

I'm pretty sure she hasn't dropped, as all other females I've had would have their black spot and belly size diminished, not continually growing and belly very round.
She is quite small though, like 3 cm or so. Maybe she's too young.

 

[FishBlast]

Well, it's confirmed that they are mating. The male got dragged over the sand when he caught Bee by surprise. But if that's a male he's mating with... ouch