# female swordtail



## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hey guys i have 2 pair of swordtails a orange and green.the orange male swordtail bullys the other green swordtail and runs it a way from the female s i bought a few months back.i went to the fishstore yesterday and wanted to get a pair of black swordtails but did not know if i should get another male because of whats going on with the other two males so i just got a female.my question is a female swordtail just a mollie or not?i told them when i got to the petstore about the problem i was having with the two males so i decided to just get a black female swordtail.as i think back i think the persion said lets get you a black mollie i think so is there a different?if so how can i tell any pictures of the two side by side would be nice if any one has it.thanks alot all.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

male swordtails can be and (for me) are usaully brutal towards each other.Although all swords are genetically the same(sword is a sword) I found and read that the black males are the meanest.I have no explanation of this and my blacks have been bred up to where they are now(coming from all or multiple different colors).I consider the stocking of male swords to be similiar to african cichlids;the more there are the better.Any number of males under 5 and possibly even double digits will have an "alpha" who most certainly terrorises the others if not beats them down all the time.This was in a 75g with many females(my final grow out tank).As for your black female if you could post a picture I'll do my best to tell you what you got.Mollies won't(can't )cross with swords.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Just remember that with buying all the different varieties of Swords, the males wiil mate with all of them regardless of color.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

i will try and get one?thanks all


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I just loaded picture of some of my swords.There's some black adults and many other colors.The orange/white black are called showa and are the most desirable(hot) sword right now.I got them by (as jrman said) allowing different colors to breed together.Specifically for the showa I used kio(orange and white),marigold(orange) and some blacks.To much black on black brought out melanoma(skin cancer) for some of my fry.They're in my gallery in swordtail album,enjoy.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

i uploaded 3 if you see it.[Aquarium Gallery - black female swordtail http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=15755&size=1&filefix=.jpg] 

(credit [Aquarium Forum - View Profile: rtmaston rtmaston])


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

looks a mollie,female.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

thanks that is what i thought.i guess my orange male swordtail will mate with it.im going to the petstore friday and will try and find a black female


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

swords and mollies won't crossbreed.He may still have great interest in her but no fry will come from sword mollie mix.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

thanks i do have a red male mollie and a red female that will have some frys before to long so i guess i just keep it.if my red mollies breds with the black mollie what colors would the frys be.thanks for all your help.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

if red breeds with black you could get solid red/solid black/a mix of both ,no real telling.The fun begins with those fry;Regardless of what color the fry from red black is,they have both colors in the genes now so the fry from them is where you could get a nice mix(or more than from initiall red black).If one fry is nicely colored red with a little black taking it back to a black agian will mix up colors even more.It took me 2 years to get the showa,but now about 50% of my fry are multi colored,although their mother is still solid orange.The color mix will be there whether it shows up right away.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

what do you do with all of them?how long does it take to put them in with the the mother so thay wont get ate?i have several goopies frys that are 6 weeks old now but are to small still to put back in my big take.how old do you thank thay will be before i can move them to the big tank?thanks


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I have many (maybe a few too many) grow out tanks.But if your adults are well fed(2-3 times daily{this means changing water much more often also}),and you have a good amount of live plants(all my tanks have anacharis,hornwort and java moss at least) then the fry really stand a good chance of surviving in with the adults completely.I change a lot of water and feed heavy.Otherwise fry from most live bearers could go back with adults in 4-6 weeks.The fry even if seperated from adults do need to be fed heavy(3-4 times daily) and thus have water changed often(I average 15-20% daily).Without ample food and clean water fry will grow slow.My adult swords are about 4-41/2 inches long.I changethe water in adult tank at about 15% daily.Heavy feeding means changing water,no filter takes the place of clean water,and clean water makes filters last longer inbetween cleanings and really,really promotes faster,fuller growth.Breeding/wanting to be a breeder means you work a little harder than avg. keeper.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

thanks for that info.i now have a bunch of goopies frys
I was thinking how long before i can put the frys i want t9 keep back in my bigger tank.you think about 4 months?thanks


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

depending on what else is in tank ,how hungary they are,and plants;you should be able to put them in big tank anywhere from 8-10 weeks.Possibly sooner if they grow well.All fry grow better in larger aquarium(if they can still find their food) as water quality and"room to run" really help.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

its now 26 days and my orange female swordtail has not had her frys yet.i hope it will be soon.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

If she is large it will be soon and usually they give birth at night or evening(not a hard fast rule).


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

she is perty big and black.its her first ones how many should i expect?thanks


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

That depends on the size of her.Probably 20-50 if she is of good size.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

she is not hugh but real black in the back.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hey guys my orange female swordtail. had her fry's during the night..28 days to the day.i turned the light on to feed her in the breeder cage and seen 7 fry's.I was watching and 2 came back up and got ate so I put her back in the tank.i think I still have 4 or 5 fry's.if she still has more I would say thay will get ate.I guess its better with 4 or 5 and not have any.I was afraid. thay all mite come up and get ate if I waited..


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hey guys an update to the orange swordtail fry's.I put my glasses on and took another look.I have 14 now.thay are so small..she had at least 16 fry's,I'm glad I went back and looked.i feel even better now.I feed them after pulling the female out and trap.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

Thanks Guys For All The Help.i May Have More Questions In A Few Days.


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## tcdsv (Dec 16, 2012)

goodluck with the frys


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