Swordtail Birth

txO4

So, I got home from work around 11:30pm CST and noticed I had about 6 fry hiding in the birthing tank. As this is my first fish pregnancy, I was wondering appx how much longer it will take her to drop them all, as I can still see some of a gravid area, but the fry droppings have decreased. Just need to know when I should separate her from the fry, I don't want to disrupt the tank until she is done. So far I count appx 10 baby fishies

Jakiebabie

First let me say... Congratulations! And I'm thrilled you have used a birthing tank and not a breeding box. Swordtails HATE breeding boxes, being confined and will jump the box to get out/away. Mine even bashed the lid right off the breeder box to get out.
Now, Momma... likely she is done by now.
She could easily eat her fry so if it were me I would remove her today if you haven't already. If she is going back with her mate, she will drop again in 35 days.... and next time it might be 50+ fry. Hopefully you have a Local Fish Store who will take some of these fry?

Assault0137

my first Swordtail birth gave me 31 little angels, but all but 2 survived until the next day . one of the two survivers died 2 days later, but i still have the other Swordtail. he lives on to be more than 1.5 years old now, still alive actually.
edit: i like how baby fry look like little freakshows, with their big eyes and tiny bodies, but you cant help admitting that they are so darn cute!

txO4

Thanks for the replies. I removed her shortly after into a spare 10gallon I have, to give her a day or two rest before bringing her back to the community. The little buggers sure can hide, I would guess there is around a dozen fry give or take 1. I'm too excited to give my first batch away, so I think I will raise them separately for awhile and gradually introduce them to the community when they mature.

But you are right Jakie, I should plan ahead for the next batch and arrange something with my LFS. Perhaps my local mom n pops, they seem to take pretty decent care of their fishies.

Assault0137

Well, good luck!
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Jakiebabie

Yeah for babies!!!!

txO4

48 hours after birth, and 12 of them seem healthy and are more social by the minute. Unfortunately, their seems to be 1 runt of the litter. He is confined to the floor as he can't seem to swim up. Almost like his fin growth was stunted. I sure hope the little guy makes it

txO4

Just wondering how long it takes the fry to start showing their true colors? Some were born with some black tails, but after just 1 week of age they look as if they are starting to tint orange (color of both mom and pop).

Assault0137

A few weeks for me. I keeP them in a breeding tank for 1-2 months.
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txO4

Mine are in the 5G birthing still right now. I got a better count of them last night and there are 15 with no found casualties (knock on wood). Some are already noticeably growing at a faster rate than others, which I think after a little more size, the larger fry will go into a 10G grow out for now. Do you think they will all inherit the orange/black color from their parents? Or is it possible to get colors from the parents' previous generations if there were any?

I am also in the process of hatching brine shrimp for them, about 3/4 or more look as though they have hatched,
but when I filter the bbs and clean them, is it ok if I can't separate all the eggs?