how many swordtails?

[lornajane89]

Hi guys i have a 30g with a fluval u2 and u4 filter (the u4 is seeding and the u2 will be removed) currently stocked with
10 kuhlis
3 swordtails
1 ctenopoma acutirostre

I intended on buying 1:2 male/ female swordtails but recently noticed one of my "girls" growing a spiked tail and is getting pushed about by my other male. I dont think my lfs will swap him for a female. but do you think id get away with adding 3 more girls to balance it out? cause at the minute ive got 2 males 1 female

 

[tonyf1971]

I keep swords 1 male to four females (hopefully no tail extensions appear), your girl is a male obviously. I would ask the LFS to take the male firstly, if not it may work but I have heard of the dominant alpha sword bully the sub male which leads to stress, lack of feeding then death.


Your u4 is well up to the task for a 30g-60g so I if you did try then it could manage the bioload but swords do grow quite large and require a lot of space, I would try the LFS firstly.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Swordtails

Hi guys i have a 30g with a fluval u2 and u4 filter (the u4 is seeding and the u2 will be removed) currently stocked with
10 kuhlis
3 swordtails
1 ctenopoma acutirostre

I intended on buying 1:2 male/ female swordtails but recently noticed one of my "girls" growing a spiked tail and is getting pushed about by my other male. I dont think my lfs will swap him for a female. but do you think id get away with adding 3 more girls to balance it out? cause at the minute ive got 2 males 1 female

Hello lorna...

I keep "Livebearers" too and when I started, I kept three or four females for every male. If you're willing to commit to removing and replacing half the water in your tank every week, then you could add a few more small fish.

B

 

[lornajane89]

It has a 50% pwc every sunday anyway so thats definatley possible i dont think having 4:1 is a good idea tho thats 10 fish. The lfs will take it back but they wont refund or swap so ill just have to buy some more. I think ill get 3 more girls and return my male. I kno how to sex them now anyway with the anal fin rather than the "fool proof" tail fin method the store uses.

Im tryin to keep stocking low as possible cause i read my ctenopoma is sensitive to dirty water

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I had a ctenopoma and it never ate anything. What do you feed it and does it eat regularly? I think it will eat any sword fry that come along.

 

[lornajane89]

He is ace he comes up to my pipette when i feed em and gets grouchy if i put pellets or flakes in (for the others) without putting something in for him. He eats everything from live or frozen blood worms, glass worms, daphnia, tubifex, cyclops the occasional meal worm and the occasional earthworm. I did feed 4th crickets for a while but my african butterfly fish died recently and i suspect that was from eating too many crickets so i dont recommend insects with tough shells. I have fed with the occasional guppy fry from my community tank and as u say im sure he will be inundated with swordtail fry soon.

Fortunatley i took my swordtail back and the girl who originally served me was there and allowed me to swap as it was her mistake. I also bought a few more so now ive got a male orange wagtail sword and 4 females: 2 koi swords and 2 mary gold swords

 

[lornajane89]

Just interested but when u had ur ctenopoma what other fish did u have with it. they are very submissive fish so chiclids will bully them into hiding and fish that are overly energetic and skittish can create an overwhelming environment for them. My kuhlis and swords work really well my old butterfly was good to cause he didnt bother anybody

 

[tonyf1971]

Fortunatley i took my swordtail back and the girl who originally served me was there and allowed me to swap as it was her mistake. I also bought a few more so now ive got a male orange wagtail sword and 4 females: 2 koi swords and 2 mary gold swords

Nice one, out of my four females i only have one Koi and they are stunning.

Hopefully you will have trouble free Swordtails now and your male will be happy

 

[lornajane89]

My new koi seems to be getting picked on. It looks like a female... It better had be after all that they only had 5 left in the shop aswell. Im sure my wagtail (male) will be made up, he was checking em out in the bags when i was aclimiting them and hes not left the 2 mary golds alone. I like having a mix cause if i do manage to save any fry you never know what they will be like.
I had an "golden sunset" guppy breed with a flame tail one and the female fry turned out silver with blue tails the males were all like there dad.

Will different types of swordtails breed aswell. The lfs said they might. Im not bothered if they do or not as i only got a breeding group for my ctenopoma to eat really.
Its funny to hear peoples mixed opinions on feeder fish i can understand why people think its cruel but personally i think its natural and a great source of food. Its only the same as feeding live insects or worms etc.

 

[lornajane89]

Not happy... i think my new koi may be a male. His anal fin opens out when he stops sometimes, but it folds up like a males does alot.... It looked right in the store.. I only suspected cause my other male keeps pushin it about and is fine with the others. Ill give it a few days and see what i think or if i can get a picture for a 2nd opinion and see what u think. i wouldnt mind but i like the koi swordtails and theres hardly any left in the store ill be p***** if theres none left. Im tempted to put it in my community tank if it turns out to be male. Would a single male be ok in another tank with no girl? I could always try and save a few fry in future and keep a female.