This is my first pregnent fish and i have no idea what to do. The lady int my lfs said she was anbout 3-4 weeks away. also how will i tell when she's about to give birth and should i get a breeding net as i only have one communtiy tank and i want to keep as many fry as possible to sell back to my lfs, any help appreciated. thanks

Yup get a breeding net, the lady at the Shop doesnt know what shes talking about, you can never tell how far or close a swordtail is till birth.

Generally the female will have her vent open the night before she starts releasing fry, swordtails usually drop in the early morning, should give you a good idea of when to put her in the breeding net.

Fry a re big enough to take crushed flake, better foods are microworms and BBS.

If you have other bigger fish in the tank i would suggest a plastic floater for the fry.

Biggest reason being i have seen Blue ram and Angels litteraly suck the fry through the net and eat them.

Shae

thanks for that. i will get the floating trap asap. how many can i expect , a rough estamite will do. thanks

Sooner or later you will have to get another tank to raise the babies.

So!

Get it now, load it with hairy type plant( I'm gunna cop sumit for dat)for the babies to hide in and spawn her in there.

IMHO breeding traps are no good for the mums to be confined like that.

It scares them and if you aren't aware enuf what to do with a preggie sword, then you will not know when to move her to the net IF ya use one.

She will abort, and you'll loose the family if moved too soon

Get ya next tank.

Haven't you got a spare for a hospital or quarantine tank??

Alan 104

I agree with Alan, i tried putting my swordtail into a breeding trap for her first lot of fry, she hated it and wouldn't release.

Imagine how your missus would feel being put in a small closet and told to give birth, you would want her as happy and comfortable as possible, same goes for fish.

Mine are in a 4' tank with heaps of guppies and good plant cover and they breed fine, i've found you can leave the parents and young together as long as you don't let the parents get hungry or bye bye fry.

As Alan said you'll run out of tank space so it is best to have another tank, there's nothing worse than needing one for a sick fish and not having one, by the time it's cycled ready for a sick fish the sick fish will be a dead fish. (found this out the hard way)

thanks for that. i will get the floating trap asap. how many can i expect , a rough estamite will do. thanks

p.s how can i tell if her vent is open

sorry about the last post i didnt think that it had gone up as i disconected after.

None if you use the trap

Alan 104

I too never use the breeding traps or nets. Just have plenty of fine leaved plants for the fry to hide in.

None if you use the trap

Alan 104

In the days when i was starting with livebearers and had little tank space, i used to have 30-50 swordtail fry, from multiple females, in a six week period useing the trap method. so it deffinatly is possible, but in saying this i did tend to lose a female or so becuase of stress.

Now with more experience i would say to you, plant the tank heavily, feed the fish well, dont stress at all, before you know it, more fish than you know what to do with.

Shae