SwordFish Babies

Question
Hi,

I recently got couple of Sword Fishes and one of them laid around 30 babies. As of now, I have kept those 30 babies in a separate tank with sufficient food and stuff. But I want to make sure that these swordfish babies can be in the same tank as the grown ups or they have to be in separate Tank as safety??

I'm completely new to this and any help guidance would be of great help. Also it would be great if you could provide general tips for breeding these swordfishes.

Thanks in advance
GeeKay

Answer
Hello!

Congrats on the babies! Its generally very easy to care for livebearer babies. Finely powdered fish flakes are very good. As a special treat, frozen baby brine shrimp or Daphnia is good for variety as well as specially-prepared baby fish food from your petstore. But a good quality flake food will make them grow and be healthy otherwise. Frequent feedings are always important with baby fish. Feed them as often as you can. Six times a day is great. Make sure its small meals and be careful to not overfeed. Water changes help fish grow almost better than a good diet. Try to change at least 20% everyday.

Once the babies have grown too large to fit into the swordtails mouth they can be returned back to the main aquarium. Usually when they've at least tripled their size they are safe. But its best to use your own judgment.

Swordtails can have as many as 80 fry at one time! Dense floating plants can provide hiding refuge for the fry to hide from the adults. Once the gender of the fry can be determined, the males are best seperated from the females. They can breed at 3 months of age. Like many livebearers, they can quickly overpopulate an aquarium.

Best of luck!
Karen~