need breeding tips
- Thread starter erikpaul
- Start date
Here is an article I found I will look around and see what else I can find 
http://maximwebsite.tripod.com/swordtailbreeding.html
I am just going to copy and paste this I found it at "Aquarium club pages"..
Live bearers are a great fish for beginners of the hobby to start with, Platies, Guppies, Mollies and Swordtails are great livebearers to start with for those who are new to the hobby and wish to try breeding out. Livebearers are generally very easy to breed. To breed swordtails, you use the same method you would use in breeding all live bearers, swordtails like to breed in 73-79°F water. The higher temperature of 80°F will induce the fry to be born sooner. They could have up to 200 babies each time.
Seven Possible Breeding Inducers
1. Changes in water temperature, direction of change dependent on species.
2. Changes in water depth, direction of change dependent on species.
3. Changes in feeding, usually increase in live foods.
4. Changes in tank mates, usually separate and re-join male(s) and female(s) or introduce new fish all together.
5. Changes in water quality, usually cleaner water of a pH more closely matching that found in the wild for the species breeding.
6. Changes in lighting, usually increase in day length.
7. Changes in tank decor such as the addition of java moss or other plant cover.
It may take a combination of the above inducements to initiate spawning.
Live bearers breed much like mammals, the male fertilizes the eggs internally in the female. To find a male swordtail , he must have a pronounced sword on his tail. He should also have a gonopodium, the modified anal fin. The anal fin comes to a point which is thrust into the female to inject sperm. The female should be larger than the male and will get a black spot on her abdomen which along with a more rounded belly will indicate that she is carrying young.
The female carries the fry for about a month before delivering them. Raising the temperature of the water from 75 degrees to 80 degrees will shorten the time. She then gives birth to live fry. After fertilization, the female can produce multiple batches of babies without a male present. Sperm is stored in a special flap in the egg pouch. The number of each batch of fry depend on the species, it can be from 3 to 300 and livebearers can reproduce several times a year. Upon delivery, the babies swim off, hide, and begin searching for food.
Like most other fish, the hard part is raising the fry. Generally the parents and other fish in the tank become predators to newly hatched fry but there are several solutions to this problem. Females and males will eat their fry and so will any other fish in the community tank, so a safe way is to put the pregnant female into a special breeding trap which can be bought at your local pet store, once the fry have been released the female must then be moved back into the adult tank.
http://maximwebsite.tripod.com/swordtailbreeding.html
I am just going to copy and paste this I found it at "Aquarium club pages"..
Live bearers are a great fish for beginners of the hobby to start with, Platies, Guppies, Mollies and Swordtails are great livebearers to start with for those who are new to the hobby and wish to try breeding out. Livebearers are generally very easy to breed. To breed swordtails, you use the same method you would use in breeding all live bearers, swordtails like to breed in 73-79°F water. The higher temperature of 80°F will induce the fry to be born sooner. They could have up to 200 babies each time.
Seven Possible Breeding Inducers
1. Changes in water temperature, direction of change dependent on species.
2. Changes in water depth, direction of change dependent on species.
3. Changes in feeding, usually increase in live foods.
4. Changes in tank mates, usually separate and re-join male(s) and female(s) or introduce new fish all together.
5. Changes in water quality, usually cleaner water of a pH more closely matching that found in the wild for the species breeding.
6. Changes in lighting, usually increase in day length.
7. Changes in tank decor such as the addition of java moss or other plant cover.
It may take a combination of the above inducements to initiate spawning.
Live bearers breed much like mammals, the male fertilizes the eggs internally in the female. To find a male swordtail , he must have a pronounced sword on his tail. He should also have a gonopodium, the modified anal fin. The anal fin comes to a point which is thrust into the female to inject sperm. The female should be larger than the male and will get a black spot on her abdomen which along with a more rounded belly will indicate that she is carrying young.
The female carries the fry for about a month before delivering them. Raising the temperature of the water from 75 degrees to 80 degrees will shorten the time. She then gives birth to live fry. After fertilization, the female can produce multiple batches of babies without a male present. Sperm is stored in a special flap in the egg pouch. The number of each batch of fry depend on the species, it can be from 3 to 300 and livebearers can reproduce several times a year. Upon delivery, the babies swim off, hide, and begin searching for food.
Like most other fish, the hard part is raising the fry. Generally the parents and other fish in the tank become predators to newly hatched fry but there are several solutions to this problem. Females and males will eat their fry and so will any other fish in the community tank, so a safe way is to put the pregnant female into a special breeding trap which can be bought at your local pet store, once the fry have been released the female must then be moved back into the adult tank.
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Put male and female together in a cycled tank and wait. LOL These guys breed pretty easily, its getting the fry before anyone else eats them including the parents!
Mine seem to breed readily. I have a pond full of them. Started with 8, 7 females and 1 male, now in the hundreds and i'm cropping monthly. As long as you have a female and a male and good water conditions, they would pretty much breed readily. A single mating is all you need, and the female can be pregnant several times just from a single mating as they can store the sperm and kinda divide it into multiple pregnancies. A female can give birth every month I believe (or 28 days). Good luck 