Swordtail hunting behaviour

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warthog76za

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
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243
Location
Germany
Ive now had my fish over a month and you get used to behaviour of a fish and I do know the big male and female swordtail, call the shots in the tank, though sometimes they have this shark-like behaviour and is on the one hand amazing to see but does shock one to a degree.

The reason I brought this up....after breakfast this morning, I noticed an uneasiness in the tank, saw one fry swimming for his dear life, I managed to net it out in time, a swordtail baby. Then my wife said she still saw 2 in there and I tell you those swordtails were ferocious, I have the whole back of the tank fully planted with FW plants, the swordtails were nearly pulling that stuff apart to get to the remaining fry, I have Mopani wood in there, one of the fry hid under there, both swordtails in tandem, buried their heads in that small gap to get at it, literally trying to shift the wood with their heads....and remember they were fed a few hours ago. They eventually chased the last one into the coconut house and nabbed it in there. Just wonder how many fry my female swordtail actually gave birth to this morning!
 
Most fish will eat their young which is fairly common. There are some exceptions but swordtails are not one of them.

As far as fry it will depend on how large she is but I would guess minimum of 7-10.
 
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