# Some of my swords



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The first two picture are of one of my SHOWA females.I've been working on these for two years,and got them from crossing ;black,orange and kio multiple times.I now have enough to breed to each other and see if they come "true".Everyone is like a snowflake in that they are each truely unique.I'm very proud of them.I recently gave a pair to my LFS owner who placed them in his personal tank.He said"they're hot!" and I agree.
The second is a PAINTED lyretail.You never know what will come when you cross and mix.She too is particulary beautiful I think also.
I've been breeding swords for several years and get some exceptionally different looking fish.I still get alot of marigold,pineapple and some that are mostly black with orange or a little blue.
They really chose me more than I chose them,and for that I thank them.
I'll post more of my sword creations in near future.


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## CAM (Jan 27, 2013)

Awesome coloration you created! Must take a lot of patience to produce the fish you had in mind when you started.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Some of my boys.I decided to take them out of my 180 to use them in a more dedicated tank.
The first male is my very first showa.I didn't even know such a fish existed and thought I had created a calico.Further research would help me find that showas were already in existence and considered the most desirable sword of today,and fairly rare.
The second could probably be consirded showa(having orange,black and white),but I look at him as mixed.Truely a beautiful fish.Over time I've found that my lyres don't breed true and regular fin shape are 85% of most fry from them.Genetics says that even with regular fins if lyre is in them they can still produce lyre.That's a 3x5 card on top of carrier to show size of him.
The third is a beautiful red/orange lyre.His color is fantastic.


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## KMoss (May 7, 2011)

Thanks so much for sharing pics of your amazing swords! They're so beautiful. Even though I'm just an "accidental" breeder, I can see how very rewarding breeding these lovely fish can be and I watch with excitement how mine are growing and developing. To note is the number of tanks, frequent care and extensive time you've dedicated to achieve such specimens. It makes me understand why the rare swords are so expensive on aquabid. Anyway.... awesome pics!


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## KMoss (May 7, 2011)

One question for you... what kind of lifespan do you usually see in your swords?


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## CAM (Jan 27, 2013)

I'd like to adopt that third one!


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I expect 2-3 life spans at least.It's hard to tell how old my common looking swords are,but they are where these beauties come from!Common swords with mixed genes.As I said before even if a fry is marigold in color it stands a very good chance to produce any of what I've shown so far.Sword genetics is rather interesting.Not always what you see is what you get.I had kio swords two years ago that seemed infertile and eventually died.6 months later I got kio fry from a marigold female.Now I get like 10-15% kio fry from my common swords(their parents must not have been common).
When the weather changes back to favorable conditions I will possibly sell some through this site.
For now my LFS takes a good chunk of fish from me(200 in last 2 weeks).


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## skiffia 1 (Oct 3, 2012)

very nice swords keep up the good work


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