Swordatail fry

[nynikki]

This is going to sound horrible, but reality just set in. It is becoming obvious to me that my female Swordtail is probably pregnant. I have 2 males, and one female (I know bad ratio, but I suppose better then the 4 males she was alone with at the LFS) I really wasn't thinking long term, overwhelmed by everything else I needed to take into consideration at the time, a female seemed like a great idea. Also, getting to see and raise the babies, I was looking forward to the experience.

The reality is my tank is new, and not finished cycling yet, only put it up two weeks ago. (I have done two WCs but today is really the first time that I have a .25 ammonia reading, planning another WC today.) I was planning to correct the male/female ratio after cycling was complete, and didn't think that they would mate in less then perfect conditions. (though she may have already been pregnant when I got her.) I know that I can devote what ever I need to, time, space, food, etc, to help the fry along to becoming happy adults. But what do I do with them all after that? As much as I would like to, I can not get another tank (space issue, and potentially moving into a house in April).

A small part of me is thinking that I could just leave them in the main tank with the other adults. I know that most will be eaten, but that is what would happen naturally in the wild anyway. The tank is very well planted, so there are spaces to hide, but I wonder if that is just cruel. But nature can be at times.

I'm sure you all have your opinions out there, but please do not judge to harshly, I'm doing the best I can.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kimmisc]

Unless you're lucky enough to catch her in the act of having the babies, or if you have LOTS of plants, you may never see the fry. Most people take their fish offspring to their LFS and trade them in for store credit. If that isn't an option for you, just let the adults handle the population control. It's not cruel. People feed their fish other live fish and shrimp all the time... letting the adults have the fry is no different.

I let my livebearers have their fry in the tank. The more fish in the tank, the faster the fry get eaten, so it works itself out. Just keep an eye on her and make sure the guys aren't harrassing and stressing her out too much at delivery time. You might want to buy a breeder box/net just incase.

 

[nynikki]

Thank you

Thank you so much for helping me with that moral dilemma. Actually while at Petsmart I did pick up a breeder box. I will call my LFS too - thanks for that suggestion, I know my Petsmart won't take the babies, but the LFS may.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Your problems are just starting. She will drop fry about every 28 days. It wont matter if you remove the males since fms store the males sperm and will continue to have fry for several months- as many as 6 or more. Before she has reached the end of her potential to spawn w/o a male present the offspring from her first spawn will have spawned themselves.

Don't count on your LFS being able to take as many offspring as you might get. Most want them well over an inch and that means you will need growout space to get them to that size.

Welcome to the wonderful world of live bearer math.

 

[nynikki]

Well, once the tank has finished cycling, I intend to add a pair of angels, I assume they will help to keep the population down. And I guess, save money on brine shrimp!