# Black Swordtail Female



## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

Hey Guys I Have A Black Female Swordtail.I Had It About 6 Weeks And I know Its Was Not Going To Have Any Frys When I bought It.It's Has Been In A Tank With 4 Other Black Swordtails Females No Males In Tank.I Brought It Home And Put It In My Tank With A Orange And Green Swordtail Male.Couple Days Ago I moved The Black Female Swordtail To A 2 Gallon Tank For A Few Days.Yesterday Morning I Did A Water Change In The 2 Gallon Tank And A Couple Hours Later I See Something At The Left Back Corner Of The Tank And I Could Not Believe It Was A Fry And Only One Fry.The Female Did Not Look Like It Was Going To Have Any It Was Not Big At All And After Having It Still Looked The Same Small.I Have No Idea How Many She Had But I Think Not Many. The Fry Is So Small You Have To Look 2 Or 3 Times To See It.I Never Seen Any Frys That Small.Has Anyone Else Had This Happen Before Or Have Any That Small.I Know Thay Are Small When Thay Are Born But This One Is Much Smaller Than That?.I Guess Ill See How It Grows Up And See What It Looks Like.The Father Is A Green Swordtail.I Guess I Will Know When She Is Due Again In About 28 Days Or So.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Oddly enough(or not so odd) the size of the female really plays a role in the size of fry and the number.Only one fry is very odd but if she was small then the fry could be fairly small(for a sword).My large females(well over 4 inches)have some pretty decent sized fry,but I do place some of my younger good lookers in the breeding tank and often end up with some fry that are half the size.
On a side note mixing colors is awesome and you never know what you'll get.Next you raise your mixed color fry and breed that to anything and the sky is the limit with what you get.Truely the fry you get from mixed color can shoot anything in it's genetic make up which if pedigreed(family tree) could be anything.Most of my mixed(showa,painted and kio)come from marigold colored females(the colors are in their genes although not visably obvious).


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

thanks so much.does the swordtail frys has there color thay will be when thay are born or will thay change?the fry that was just born the female was black and male was green.i cant tell yet the color it will be any idea?am I right it will be black or green.thanks for the help


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

They pretty much show main color right away.So if not showing really black then you'll probably have green,very possibly with black mixed in.Now that does not mean that even if it is green it won't shoot black or a black mixed with what ever you breed it with.The black is in the genes even if it stays full green.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hey colarbandit where is a good place to buy swordtail from.my local fish store has 2 or 3 difference colors.thanks for the info.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

All my swords came from LFS and were all"normal" in color.I've been breeding them(mixing colors) for the last 2+ years.I basically sell/trade them now and haven't bought swords in about 2 years with the exception of a Kio trio about 2 months ago.When the weather gets better I may offer some of my better color patterns here.Check some of them out;http://www.aquariumforum.com/f33/some-my-swords-42007.html


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

very nice.is your black female swordtail have a little purple in it and not solid black?thanks


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I have almost solid black,black with orange on edge of fins,black with a good mix of orange,black and white,and black with a metallic blue.I started with the standard black,looking a little peppered.I mixed them with orange and green mostly and they got a little kio in them along the way.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

hello coralbandit im think im right.once a female swordtail is breed she has frys for several months without a male being in the tank right?how long does it take when breed from another male to show its colors is its several months.thanks for your help.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

You are correct that the female can retain sperm possibly for 7 months.Now if she is hit by another male I really can't say whether or not it would have immediate results or if it would take a cycle or more.Possibly even it would depend on the potency,and age(how mature) the male is.Since my swords are grouped it's very diffacult for me to know,the only ones seperated are my kio tio,but even they have a few additional females in with them.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I guess its hard to tell about the cycle.thanks so much for your info.im going to see how long it take to break the cycle.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I thought I give an update.my 1 black swordtail is now 4 days old and I have been feeding first bites and that food looks like its to big for it to eat.i have not seen it eat yet but I guess its eats from the bottom.im thinking about moving it to my other tank and put it in a breeder cage.the only problem is I thinks its to small and would go through the cracks plus I don't know about moving it if it might kill it.i never move any that small.what do you guys think?i like to free that tank up so I put a female swordtail in that's due next thurday.thanks all in advance.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I net my newborn fry and move them to the growout tank without any problems.Since all my water is the same I don't even acclimate,I just net and place in other tank.NEVER a problem.
Crumble up some flakes for it to try.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I also have the same water in my 2 gallon tank as my big tank.when I do a water change in my 2 gallon tank and put the water out of my big tank to fill it back up and then do a water change in my big tank that way both tanks has the same water and temp.thanks so much.any other advice is welcome.i just hate to lose the one swordtail fry if I can help it.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I thought I would give you another update on my 1 black swordtail fry.i moved it today to my big tank and put it in a breeder cage.i think it is still to small and might be able to get through the bottom holes so I put a little gravel out of the tank and put in the bottom of the breeder cage and hope that will take care of that problem.i feed it a few minutes ago and seem to be eating fine and doing fine.thanks all for you help.


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