Swordtail Fry

[mctypething]

I put a post up a week or so ago about having a fat female swordtail in my 55 gal community tank. It turns out she was pregnant and it was a good learning experience to be able to tell later on when she is pregnant again. I didn’t see her give birth, and I only found two fry. I noticed one when doing a PWC. It was languishing in the substrate just sort of bouncing around aimlessly, I’m assuming that one got eaten but it was strong enough to fight its way out of the Python suction. It was so small I could barely see it. A few days later, I was cleaning out my HOB filter in the sink (not using tap water of course), and a larger fry came out of the filter cartridge! It was alive but died before I could bring it back to the tank. I don’t know how many other fry were born but I’m assuming they got eaten.

I’d like to try to keep the fry if possible but it isn’t really feasible for me to get another tank. I’m assuming the swordtail is going to be pregnant again soon, so I’d like to know what my options are. I am a complete noob at this, so don’t consider any answer too dumbed down for me. Do I have to buy something to separate the female when she is pregnant? What can I do with the fry once they are born?

I just don’t want the fry to needlessly die in my filter or get eaten.

Thanks! I’ve learned so much from this site and it’s allowed me to go from knowing nothing to having a successful 55 gal tank in a little over 5 months! I’ve only had two fish die on me so this site has been invaluable.

[mfdrookie516]

whats the tank look like? plants are a good option to raise fry. mosses, carpets, etc will provide alot of cover... some people like floating plants too, but i've always had good luck raising them from plants on the bottom... i guess if you watched american idol, you could say i like my "pLants on da ground" lol

[meegosh]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

i guess if you watched american idol...

You just lost some man points there. LOL.

Seriously though, you may just want nature to take its course since your tank will more than likely become overstocked in time if you save EVERY fry. If you want to prevent them from getting into your filter then run some type of prefilter. Depending on the filter you have, they might even make one specific to your filter.

My guppy fry used to always hide in my java moss. I would shake it around and watch all the little fry go swimming out of it.

[mctypething]

I have some driftwood, a rock cave, and fake plants. No real plants in the tank. I guess there would be a lack of places to hide if there was a lot of fry.

[dkpate]

Are they getting sucked into the filter through the intake? If so, you could always wrap a piece of sponge or new pantyhose around the intake.