Swordtail fry

Emmilyy

Okay - so, thursday i brought home 5 swordtails. (2 males and 3 females) and they're in my 10 gallon tank (though i hope to set up my 30 gallon for them sometime soon)..

well, two of the females had fry within the second day. and there were ALOT of them! i was not expecting it to happen so soon, and i dont have enough plants for them to hide in, so i caught as many as i could and moved them to my three gallon tank (filled with water from the ten gallon) I got about 50 into the smaller tank, but there were still some in the ten gallon. That was last night, this morning, all fry seem to be doing good. (Meaning none have died) i bought some fry food for them, but it seems to be too big and they can't eat most of it, and they seem to be having an easier time eating the crushed up bloodworm and flake i gave them. But i can't find any of the fry left in the big tank, so I think they've been eaten. (makes me glad i moved the others!)

Now, my questions :

1) At what age should the fry be big enough to be put safely back with the adult fish, without risk of being eaten?
2) right now, they don't have a filter going because i need to find some kind of material to put over it - i dont want them to be sucked up. Is that okay?
3) is what they're eating okay?

Austin

1. Depends how good of a care you take of them. If you feed them often and feed them foods such as brine shrimp and change the water daily, that will promote optimal growth. Also if they are in a large tank they will grow like weeds! In a tank smaller than a 10 gallon I'm not sure. But at the age when they are not big enough to fit into the adult fish's mouths is when you will be able to put them in with the adults without the risk of them being eaten. Though, if they are small they may get nipped at and this could cause them to die.
2. Hmm, it should be alright. My filter was breaking for a while and would not run for a while sometimes. Maybe 1/2 a day to 1 day. A filter is necessary to keep the water healthy and clean which promotes growth of the fry. Though, it's fine to not have a filter for a little bit until you can get a net or something to cover the intake. Or buy a sponge filter.
3. Crushed flake food is a good enough food for livebearer fry. Freshly hatched brine shrimp would make them grow the quickest, but flake good will do.

Goodluck with your baby fish and congrats! :)

Emmilyy

Thanks for replying! Alll the fry are doing good!(Meaning i haven't lost any yet! lol) I got the filter going, with some material over it so they can't get sucked up. I'm in the process of trying to find another tank for either them or the adults so i can move them into a bigger tank! They seem to be eating good, too!

How much water should i be changing everyday?