Swordtail breeding

[petman6611]

Hi I have had 7 sword tails for about 2 months so far bought from pets unlimited chain store . about 4 males and 3 females. They were in a 30 gallon with some tiger barbs but have since been moved to a 20 gallon to themselves. None of the females have shown any gravid spots or any sign of being pregnant . should I try to get a few more females to even it out ? And I think there are some platies on sale in my area would it be ok to go with some platies if there cheaper? Thank you . oh and could it be there still too young to breed ? Will upload a better picture after.

11 tanks freshwater fishroom

 

[dcutl002]

A good rule of thumb is 2 females to 1 male. Platys will breed with swordtails.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[petman6611]

Thanks . I think at the time of purchase i had 2 to 1 ratio but a few femals died off . Just didnt want to pay off sale prce of 5 bucks a swordtail.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[petman6611]

Theres a little better picture and 3 together to kind of give the general size . They look pretty much full grown to me .

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dcutl002]

They look nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[petman6611]

Thank you any idea why there not breeding though ? Too young ? Or too many males ? Will get more females tomorrow .


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[dcutl002]

Thank you any idea why there not breeding though ? Too young ? Or too many males ? Will get more females tomorrow .


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

Probably too young. Before too long the tank will be inundated with Swordtails.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[petman6611]

Yeah i checked pet store and they have female platies so ill fix my male to female ratio today

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[henningc]

If you can provide some live baby brine shrimp or daphnia. Live foods get the fish conditioned and jump start the breeding behaviors. You can get any live food on Aquabid. With my large brooder Swords, 4"-5", I always keep 2-3 large female Endlers livebearers in the tank with them as a food supply. The Endlers can't interbreed with Swords or Platys and drop 20-40 fry like clock work each month. The Swords eat the fry as they are only 1 / 3 the size of Sword fry. This tends to make your Swords much less likely to eat their own fry as fry for food is always available and it is not like introducing a pinch of fish flakes.

If you mix the Swords and Platys they will interbreed and you will end up with muts. Just wanted to make sure you knew that.

 

[petman6611]

Thanks for the info

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Aquarium Advice mobile app