Swordtail fish...

[Emmilyy]

Well - i went out and got a few the other day.. I've had them before, i think they're cute little fish and i really like watching them..

Well, i woke up this morning - and, wouldn'tyouknowit - the tank is swarming with babies. (well, i might be exagerating.. but really, there's alot of them! everywhere!)

Now, i just watched one of the males try and eat one. My question is - should i catch as many babies as i can and move them to a 3 gallon tank i have that can be set up in about ten minutes? Would they be okay with a filter, or would i have to cover it with something? Would it stress them out and kill them to move them? Should i just leave them? I dont want them all to get eaten, but i dont know if they'd be hard to keep alive in a smaller tank on their own..

 

[birdlover82]

Do you have any plants real or fake you can have float at the top? With Platty's and guppies this has helped when I would have babies. Not just the males will eat them I watched a mother platty turn right around and eat one of her babies. Get them something to hide in.

 

[Emmilyy]

There are a few plants along the bottom - and theres a few small ones floating at the top (not on purpos - somehow they detatched from the larger ones) and the I have some big flat rocks with spaces under then they can hide under. Tomorrow I will see if i can find some more plants..

How old do you think they will be before they get too big for the older fish to eat them?

 

[birdlover82]

A few days or so. Been a few years since I had any babies. Just make sure you crumble up the food really tiny for them to eat over the floating plants for them to eat.

 

[Emmilyy]

Okay. So you think its not a good idea to switch them over to the smaller tank?

I'm going to rearrange my tank a little right this minute. I'm going to put the plant over to the corner away from the filter, and add some length to it so it goes all the way up to the top, that way when they swim up to get food they won't be out in the open where they can get eaten..

I'm thinking about maybe just trying to switch a few over to the other tank, so i can see how they'd do.

 

[Lex123]

Pics, Em?

 

[birdlover82]

Do you have artificial plants? If so you might be able to disconnect them from the base and just let them float at the top. That's what I always did except I normally would have a mix of both artificial and real floating. i'm far from being a expert on this though just this is what has worked for me.

 

[Annie]

I would highly recommend you switching them over to the small tank or divide a section off for them - this is what I do with the green severum babies. It's easier for feeding and monitoring and least fish lost. Also take a foam or cloth and wrap around the filter intake as it's just a big vacuum for them. Good luck!

 

[Emmilyy]

Okay - so, I caught as many babies as i could, and put them in the smaller tank. I wish i had another bigger tank I could have just put all the adult fish in - that would have been so much easier.

I'm going to start looking on kijiji for a ten gallon tank and filter to put all the babies in. I won't put any rocks on the bottom, just some plants and things to hide in and then the babies can grow up in there.

Wouldn't you know it - the other female had babies THIS morning. I can tell because these ones are black. agh! I've had livebearers before, but they've NEVER had babies the days after i'd got them!

 

[hsmoscout]

Yeah, moving them was smart. Now we need pics

 

[Emmilyy]

Lol - i'll try and get pics but i doubt they'll turn out.

 

[Emmilyy]

well. the babies were too hard to get pics of. I got some of the adults, though...

 

[hsmoscout]

Wow, very cute!

 

[Emmilyy]

haha, thanks! The last pic is of the one who had babies last night/this morning. She looks sorta sickly in the pic but she's actually pretty. She's a dark black, and then in certain light and at different angles you see flecks of bright blue!

 

[Hypancistrus]

If you put some fluffy plants in, many babies will survive. I know it's sad, but if you net and save every baby you will soon be overrun. Better to set the tank up with materials so that some babies survive, but not all. Good luck with them!

 

[Emmilyy]

I caught as many fry as i could and put them into a 3 gallon tank - there's about 50 of them.

I hope to be able to set up another larger tank for them as soon as possible.. I bought some fry food today, too, but i still need a new filter, rocks for the new tank, and some plants..