When to put in breeding trap?

[xxxcellarator]

Hello, ive just had one of my Swordtails give birth yesterday. I noticed the night before that she was pregnant and the next day she gave birth. Now i can see at least 2 more that are pregnant and it looks (but im not sure) liek one is about to give birth quite soon, 1 to 3 days probably.

So my question is, if i place her in the hatcher trap (i have a 5 in 1 hatchery, so its quite Large) how muhc is it going to stress her? if she wont give birth in 1 or 2 days, is it going to stress her too much, or should i put her in now? thanks!

 

[Guest]

Swords are like mollies, You can tell a day or two before they are ready to drop the fry. By looking at there anaul area it will start to become square looking in shape. It's always going to stree them out by putting her in a breeding net. But if it's agood size space she wil settly down after a few hrs.
I'd look to see if her belly area by the anaul area was looking squre shaped and if so put her in and if after a couple of days maybe three. If she hasn't droped her fry. Then release her for a day or so and then add her back to it. Most of the time the stree from beig in the net wil case her to drop the fry.

 

[Alshain]

I put mine in as soon as I'm positive they are pregnant. This allows them to calm down and get used to it before the additional stress of giving birth. They will be ok in the chamber for a week or two.

 

[xxxcellarator]

wow, thats interesting. ur mentioning time in terms of weeks, but i was thinking more in terms of days. anyways, ive already placed her in the trap. The reason why i did so was because she is definetly the Largest one in the tank, and the Darkness goes almost all the way to the back to the anal area. i understand the Squarness that u guys are talking about, since ive seen it already (had 2 sets of babies in my lifetime ) so i know what it would look like. She doesnt quite seem to be square, however just like i said, i beilive the fact that she is quite large and that her darkness is almost till the end, may cause her to give birth real soon.
Anyways, THANK YOU BOTH, and we'll see.

Oh and one more thing, pretty much all of the Females (i have orange and silver swordtails that are relatively transparent) have darkness in their stomachs, even when they are not pregnant (ive had one female for 1/2yr all by herself and she had the black stuff right begind the stomach the whole time) they still have the darkness. SO WHAT COULD THAT BE? thanks

 

[Alshain]

Thats probably just the variation of swordtail you have. Not all of them are transparent.

 

[xxxcellarator]

ok.. ive run into a problem. She seems quite stressed out in the trap and she isnt eating any of the flakes i throw into the trap. they all fall to the bottom of the trap eventually. how long can she stay in there like that, and should i keep her in there that way?

 

[Alshain]

If she doesn't start eating (or give birth) within 3 to 5 days then you can release her. Not eating could also be a sign that she is ready to give birth and not eating for up to a week won't shouldn't hurt her. You could alternate foods. Its ok to deviate from a staple diet for a short time during pregnancy (heck, human women do that too). One of my swordtails doesn't eat her flake food when I put her in the chamber but she will eat freeze dried bloodworms every time. Just remember, the blood worms are a treat food to feed once a week when she is not in the chamber.

 

[Zagz]

Doing a water change can also sometimes bring on birthing. Not sure why but sometimes it does.

 

[Alshain]

Doing a water change can also sometimes bring on birthing. Not sure why but sometimes it does.

My best guess is stimuli. This is all a guess but I'm betting that in the wild, many fish mate and lay/give birth during rainy seasons. Its instinct.

 

[xxxcellarator]

hmm interesting. ok ill try to feed it some Blood Worms tomorrow cause right now the ligths are already off. Hopefully shell eat it. ive noticed she has decreased in size quite a bit since shes been in the trap. Probably because of not eating.

 

[Alshain]

So how is she doing? One of mine is birthing as I type this, and the other is about ready to pop. Keep us updated.

 

[xxxcellarator]

Said to say, i had no luck at all with her. ( she was barely moving, not eating, not giving birth to anything, and ontop of all of that, she got some white stuff on the tip of her mouth (not sure what it was) so i had no choise but to release her. I believe i released her yesterday (or 2 days ago i think). But it doesnt look like she gave birth in the tank anyways
i dont think she was quite ready, i think she had just eaten a little too much. im going to keep an eye on her and post back if anything new comes up. Thanks again!

 

[Alshain]

Well I was fortunate enough to get 10 healthy fry from my marigold today. It is her first birth and she is already a "petite" female so I didn't expect the 50 that my pineapple gave me. Unfortunately 4 of them are now unaccounted for. Due to lack of space I put them behind a divider in the fry tank but the larger fry (about a month old now) have been known to sneak around that divider. Its possible they got eaten however there are a few of the larger ones that crossed over in there now and they seem to ignore the little ones, I still count 6. Ah well if they become food then so be it, it was better than leaving them in the breeding trap with the pregnant pineapple.

It is hard to tell sometimes when they overeat. Mine are easy because their gravid spot is clear as night and day but some aren't that way.

 

[xxxcellarator]

Exactly! see thats the problem with my Swordtails.. haha, as ive mentioned they have like black behind the stomach, and i have no idea what that is. All females have, even if they arent pregnant. Even after giving birth instead of being alot of Black, theres just the black right behind the stomach, and thats where my problem is; because of that black already being there, its hard for me to determine if they are getting babies or if they have that Black stuff there and their fat.

Soo far everything is the same, no babies have been given birth to in the tank. She still has the white stuff on her mouth (im kinda worried about it spreading - hope it doesnt). Let u know when anything knew comes up

 

[Alshain]

Sounds like a fungus, I would have to see a picture to give a more accurate assesment. Is it white and "furry" like? If so, go get you an anti fungal treatment and start using it.

 

[xxxcellarator]

hmmm, its really white and its just liek as if it has toothpaste on there. It hasnt spread though and the fish is 100% fine, but it hasnt started to retreat either. ill give it some more time before i take any actions or so.