Swordtails sexual differences. Reproduction of aquarium swordfish at home

Swordtails are viviparous aquarium fish. They are one of the most popular aquarium inhabitants. To have offspring, you need to know how to distinguish a male swordtail from a female. Let's try to figure this out.

What does a male swordtail look like?

Determining the sex of a swordtail can be problematic. There are a number of differences between representatives of opposite sexes.

The male swordtail has a sword-shaped tail

Let's consider distinctive features males:

The tail is sharp, that is, the caudal fin is elongated, in the form of a sword. In the female it is shorter.
Males are active and aggressive. If a small aquarium is dominated by male representatives, then fights are possible.
The fin at the end of the abdomen is elongated, in the form of a tube. It is the reproductive organ through which the female is inseminated.

The photo shows that the male swordtail is slightly smaller than the female. It grows up to 11 cm in length. The colors of both sexes are the same. Standard color is green. There are also red fish with a black tail, yellow and spotted ones. There are a lot of varieties of swordtails, so it’s problematic to describe everything.

Errors in identifying a male swordtail

When identifying the sex of a swordtail, there are a number of problems that lead to an incorrect conclusion, namely:

Do not try to distinguish fish by color. They are the same. When swordtails are crossed with other viviparous fish, hybrid species with a completely new color appear.
Sexual characteristics are formed in fry at the age of 2 months, but until 4 months it will not be possible to accurately determine the sex of the fish. Before this period, secondary sex reassignment occurs; a female can become a male.

Don’t rush to conclusions, observe the behavior of the fish.

Determining the sex of a swordtail is difficult, but possible. First of all, pay attention to the tail fin. If you cannot determine whether it is a female or a male, contact a pet store. They will tell you there.

Latin name:

Xiphophorus helleri.

Class: Ray-finned fish.

Squad: Carp-toothed.

Family: Poeciliaceae.

Conditions in the aquarium:

Water temperature: 22 - 26 °C.

(tolerates a temporary drop in temperature up to 15 ° C)

"Acidity" Ph: 7,0 - 7,5.

Hardness dH: 6-20°

Aggressiveness: non-aggressive 10%

Content complexity: light.

Everyone knows swordtails, even those who have never encountered the aquarium world. Swordtails gained such fame due to their wide distribution (one could say that they were included in the kit of every young aquarist of the former USSR), as well as due to a special feature - a sword-shaped caudal fin. Actually, it is for this tail that swordtails got their name.

The homeland of swordtails is Central America (Southern Mexico and Guatemala). They live in reservoirs with stagnant and slowly flowing water, densely overgrown with a variety of aquatic plants.

Swordfish (Xiphophorus helleri) belong to the family of platyfish. Xiphophorus helleri is translated from Greek as “xiphos” - sword, “phoros” - to carry. The prefix “Helleri” was assigned to swordtails after the German naturalist Karl Bartholomeus Heller, who first caught these fish in Mexican lakes and safely transported them to Europe.

In 1848, these fish were first described by Dr. Johan Jakob Heckel, a preparator at the Museum of Natural Sciences at the Imperial Natural History Office of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Vienna.

The body of the fish is elongated and laterally compressed. The mouth of swordtails is upturned and adapted for taking food from the surface of the water. The fish can reach a size of 10 cm (without the sword). Females are somewhat larger than males and are similar in shape to all other poeciliids. In addition to the presence of a “sword” on the lower edge of the caudal fin, the male has a gonopodium - an anal fin transformed into a sexual organ.

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Compatibility of Swordtails

Swordtails are non-aggressive. They are compatible with almost all small peaceful fish. Among the best neighbors are , all, etc. They are compatible with almost all bottom fish:, etc. They get along well with “peaceful” cichlids, for example, with.

Swordtails are incompatible with aggressive and large fish that will hunt them, for example, cichlids (acaras, astronotuses, diamond cichlids, etc.). In addition, it is not recommended to add them to “veiled” fish, because the latter are slow and swordtails can “pinch” them by their fluttering fins.

Lifespan of swordtails

The life of swordtails, by aquarium standards, is medium-long. At good conditions kept they can live up to 5 years. You can find out how long other fish live

Minimum aquarium volume for swordtails

Many novice aquarists keep swordtails in small aquariums. However, this is not entirely correct. In fact, swordtails are quite large fish. And taking into account the fact that it is recommended to keep swordtails in the proportion of 1 male to 2-3 or more females, the minimum size of the aquarium for them should be from 50 liters per harem family. The aquarium for swordtails should be spacious, it is better to take 100 liters.

See how many fish you can keep in X liters of aquarium (at the bottom of the article there are links to aquariums of all sizes).

Care requirements and conditions for keeping swordtails

In some special conditions swordtails don't need it. In fact, maintaining optimal aquarium water parameters is the key to their well-being. However, do not forget that:

1. Swordtails definitely need aeration and filtration, weekly replacement of up to 1/4 of the volume of aquarium water. It is worth noting that these fish do not need a lot of oxygen, and too frequent changes (replacement) of aquarium water are not as beneficial for them as for other species aquarium fish. Therefore, if you change the water less often, for example, once every 14 days, and not every 7, nothing bad will happen. This rule is appropriate when there is a stable balance and

2. The aquarium must be covered with a lid, because The fish are nimble and can jump out and die.

3. Like many fish, swordtails feel comfortable among vegetation. It is recommended to use other plants for them as aquarium plants. Creating thickets of plants imitates natural natural environment fish habitat.

4. When decorating an aquarium, it is necessary to organize open space for swimming. Swordtails are excellent swimmers. Swordtails do not need shelter at all.

Feeding and diet of swordtails

Swordtails are unpretentious in food, they are omnivores and prone to overeating. They enjoy eating dry and freeze-dried food: flakes, granules, chips. They love live and frozen food (bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia, etc.). The fish take food from all layers of the aquarium water. The food remaining on the surface and falling to the bottom will also not be left unattended.

The diet of swordtails must include plant foods: flakes or granules with spirulina, special algae tablets. In addition, they willingly eat algae from the walls of the aquarium, plants and decor.

Feeding aquarium fish must be correct: balanced, varied. This fundamental rule is the key to the successful keeping of any fish, be it guppies or astronotuses. The article talks about this in detail, it outlines the basic principles of the diet and feeding regime for fish.

In this article, we note the most important thing - feeding fish should not be monotonous; the diet should include both dry food and live food. In addition, you need to take into account the gastronomic preferences of a particular fish and, depending on this, include food in its diet either with the greatest content protein or vice versa with plant ingredients.

Popular and popular food for fish, of course, is dry food. For example, food from Tetra, the leader, can be found on aquarium shelves all the time and everywhere. Russian market, in fact, the range of food from this company is amazing. Tetra’s “gastronomic arsenal” includes individual food for a specific type of fish: goldfish, cichlids, loricariids, guppies, labyrinths, arowanas, discus, etc. Tetra has also developed specialized foods, for example, to enhance color, fortified, or for feeding fry. You can find out detailed information about all Tetra feeds on the company’s official website -

It should be noted that when purchasing any dry food, you should pay attention to the date of its manufacture and shelf life, try not to buy food in bulk, and also store the food in a closed state - this will help to avoid the development of pathogenic flora in it.

Varieties of aquarium swordtails

Swordtails have undergone serious breeding work aimed at obtaining different color morphs through hybridization. Morphs, in turn, actually drove all natural swordtail species out of the market.

With that said, there is a lot of confusion on the internet and among new aquarists regarding the identification of swordtails that live in their aquariums. Well, we will try to bridge the gaps and help the reader understand the issue of the species composition of swordtails.

Natural species of swordtails are as follows:

Heller's swordtail or green (Xiphophorus helleri)

This is the species on the basis of which (by hybridization, mainly with morphs) all artificial breeding breeds were obtained. The name is given in honor of the Austrian botanist and naturalist Karl Bartholomew Heller (1824-1880), who first discovered this species of fish in 1848, during an expedition to study the flora and fauna of Mexico.

Mountain swordtail (Xiphophorus nezahualcoyotl)

Clemensia's swordtail (Xiphophorus clemenciae)

Montezuma's swordtail (Xiphophorus montezumae)

Alvarez's swordtail (Xiphophorus alvarezi),

the most expensive and rare type

Pygmy swordtail (Xiphophorus pygmaeus)

There are several more poorly studied species of swordtails. And all other swords are artificially bred breeds. Some of them are imitation of Montezuma and Alvarez swordtails, obtained artificially. Let's say the Berlin swordtail is a hybrid of Heller's swordtail and the red black-finned artificial breed of spotted platie Xiphophorus maculatus.

Types of swordtail morphs

Bulgarian white swordtails

High-winged swordtail

Red-mottled tiger swordtails

Red swordtail

Lemon swordtail

Lyretail swordtail

Hell's Swordsman

Rainbow Swordtails

Calico Swordtail

Black swordtail

All in all, pure species There is practically only one swordtail species in the aquariums of Russia and Ukraine - the mountain one. All other swordtails are hybrids. All - brindle, flag, green, black, white, koi, grey-brown, etc. and so on. These are all hybrids of Heller's swordtail and tricolor and spotted platies.

So something like that, friends! Thank you for your attention. Watch our videos about livebearers and related links on this topic.

Reproduction and breeding of swordtails

Breeding and propagating swordtails is absolutely not a difficult task. It is similar to the reproduction of guppies and other livebearers. And, one might say, it actually happens on its own.

Sexual maturity in swordtails occurs at the age of 5-6 months. For breeding (and for their own comfort), it is recommended to keep fish in a ratio of one male to three females. In the process of “courting” a female, the male performs a kind of courtship dance - shuttle movements back and forth.

Fertilization of mature eggs occurs inside the female. This process may take several days. Interesting feature is that a once fertilized female swordtail can give birth to offspring several more times, even in the absence of a male.

The duration of a female's pregnancy is 4-6 weeks. This period depends on the parameters of the aquarium water, temperature, lighting and feeding.

The pregnant female has a full abdomen and has " black spot pregnancy" under the tail. It is believed that a few hours before the “birth” the female’s belly becomes “square”, the female begins to move more actively, “throwing” up and down along the aquarium glass.

At one time, the female spawns from 15 to 100 or more fry. Spawning usually occurs in the morning.

With plenty of nutrition and a water temperature of 26-27° C, birth can occur monthly.

The photo shows a male and female swordtail

Perhaps the most important rule What must be observed when breeding swordtails is concern for the survival of the young. Unfortunately, the producers eat their own offspring, and given that the fry of swordtails are quite large in size and brightly colored, this process simply turns into extermination. In nature, swordtails never see their offspring, because... The fry is immediately carried away by the current. In the aquarium, the parents mistake the fry for food.

To preserve the offspring, I plant the aquarium densely with aquarium plants. Plants are placed at the bottom of the aquarium, in the water column and especially densely on the surface. Thus, the fry are provided with shelter “from evil parents” and most of the fry survive.

Also, to preserve the offspring, you can use special aquariums, which are designed like a funnel - the female remains in the funnel, and the swept juveniles fall out of the funnel into the spawning aquarium. Thus, initially the absence of contact between the breeder and the fry is ensured.

The third option for preserving offspring is jigging the spawners immediately after spawning. This option is simple, but requires attention and timeliness from the aquarist.

Photo of a pregnant female swordtail, about to give birth

Photos of juveniles, fry of swordtails

After spawning, the female is removed and provided with abundant feeding.

The initial food for juvenile swordtails is live dust (nauplii, brine shrimp, cyclops, microworm, rotifers, cut tubifex).

After a week, the juvenile swordtails begin to be weeded out - divided into strong and “thoroughbred” ones, and the weak and defective ones are destroyed.

The juveniles grow quickly; after two months, the anal fin of the males begins to change, and by the third month the “sword” begins to grow.

An interesting fact from the life of these fish is that the female swordtail can at some point become a male, i.e. change gender This occurs under conditions of a “shortage” of males and is explained by the struggle for the survival of the species. The offspring of a female + former female pair consists of almost 90% females.

Diseases and treatment of swordtails

Swordtails are very resilient fish and can withstand harsh conditions. However, like all living beings, such excellent health does not last forever. The key to successfully keeping fish is to ensure optimal aquarium water conditions.

Swordtails are susceptible to all the typical diseases of aquarium fish and there are no nuances in their treatment.

For proper and correct treatment of swordtails, it is necessary to diagnose the disease, and then apply the necessary procedures. The following sections of the site will help you with this: FISH DISEASES, AQUA.MEDICINE.

All of the above is just the fruit of observing this type of aquarium fish and collecting various information from owners and breeders. We would like to share with visitors not only information, but also with live emotions, allowing you to penetrate the world of aquariums more fully and subtly. Register on, participate in discussions on the forum, create profile topics where you will talk about your pets in the first person and first-hand, describe their habits, behavior and content, share with us your successes and joys, share and learn from experience others. We are interested in every bit of your experience, every second of your joy, every awareness of a mistake, which makes it possible for your comrades to avoid the same mistake. The more of us there are, the more pure and transparent drops of goodness there are in the life and everyday life of our seven billion society.

Habitats and characteristics of the swordtail fish

Only green swordtails live in their natural environment.

In nature, the swordtail lives in Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and Central America. These fish live both in rivers with strong flows and in swamps.

But in aquariums they are crossed from the same species, and as a result, fish appear that have a variety of colors: red, lemon, black and even spotted.

What does it look like

In the wild, female swordtails, like other fish species, are larger in size. They reach a length of 12 cm, and males - 8 cm.

The male can be distinguished by his elongated tail, which resembles a sword.

Thanks to this tail, the fish got their beautiful name. In addition, over time, the anal fin in males develops into a gonopodium - this is the name of the male organ of fish, with the help of which they reproduce.

Another peculiarity of the swordtail is that if there are many females in the aquarium, they will change sex, they will also have a gonopodium, and such fish will be able to play the role of dad. It’s just that the brood of this offspring will contain mostly females.

Types of swordtails

Swordtails have several artificially bred species. The most common of them include:

green;
red;
black.

Let's start with the green swordtail, which, as mentioned above, lives in nature. It is also called Geller's swordtail. It was introduced to Europe in the 20th century, and over time, breeders used it to breed other species.

Today, wild swordtails are not commercially available; they are successfully bred on fish farms. Nature has endowed these fish with an olive-gray or yellow-brown color. They have a greenish stripe on their back. Females do not look so bright and are distinguished by a simple silver color.

The artificially bred red swordtail also has an attractive appearance. This fish is either completely red or this color is combined with black and white shades of individual parts of the body and fins.

There are also swordtails that have the so-called carrot color; they are the least valued.

Popular are those with ruby or blood red color.

It was released in Russia in 1946.

And finally, the black swordtail. Breeders G.V. Samokhvalov and V.M. Maranchak successfully crossed a black platie and a green swordtail. The result was an incredibly beautiful swordtail, which has a black velvet color.

Conditions for keeping and caring for fish in an aquarium

Although these fish are not very demanding in maintenance and care, they still have some requirements:

Swordtails love warm water, temperature regime which is in the range of 24-26 degrees. But they will still endure a drop in degrees to 16.
Make sure you have availability covers, because males like to jump out of the aquarium.
Don't forget about changing the water - 30 % the entire volume is replaced 1 time per week.
It is necessary to plant dense areas of plants, since the fish need such cover.
As for aeration, if the aquarium is not overcrowded, it does not need to be installed.
A suitable water acidity level for swordtail is pH 7-8.

What to feed

Swordtails are also not picky in their diet. They eat with pleasure:

bloodworm;
Daphnia;
cyclops;
tubifex;
koretru.

Other dry foods are also suitable for them. If you need to leave for a week or two, then don’t worry, the swordtail will find something to profit from.

These fish eat algae deposits that form on the leaves and walls of the aquarium.

They will also help you overcome the invasion of snails, since swordtails love to pull babies out of shells and feast on such food.

Compatibility with other aquarium fish

Although these are peaceful fish with good compatibility, it is still better not to place swordtails next to fish species that are significantly smaller in size, since they will chase them.

Breeding and reproduction

Swordtails are viviparous fish, so no one will have problems breeding them at home. If you do not want to overpopulate your aquarium, then you don’t even have to put the fish in a separate spawning tank, since the fry hide in the leaves of plants and their survival rate is high.

When it is necessary to breed fry for sale, then the pregnant female should be removed and provided with good nutrition. If you don’t even notice that the fry have been born, a well-fed female will not touch them.

All types of swordtails can interbreed.

Pregnancy in an aquarium fish lasts about 5 weeks. Then a large female representative can give birth to about 50 fry.

Babies are also not picky eaters; they can be fed:

chopped tubifex;
nematodes;
Artemia;
mashed food;
chicken yolk.

Temperature influences the development and sex of fry.

At high temperature the brood will produce more males, and if low, more females. Sexual maturity in fish occurs at 5-7 months.

Diseases and treatment at home

Although swordtails are more resistant to diseases than other fish, they are still susceptible to fungal and viral diseases.

White plaque on the swordtail is evidence of a fungal disease

Remember, to prevent the infection from spreading, you should be especially careful with newly acquired fish. They should not be immediately introduced into a community aquarium. You need to quarantine for a couple of weeks.

If you notice that a white coating has appeared on the body of the fish, this means that the swordtail has been exposed to a fungal disease. To treat it, salt or manganese baths are used.

Things are worse with viral diseases. There are a lot of them, so treatment depends on specific disease, which can only be installed by a specialist.

If you properly care for your fish and provide them with a balanced and nutritious diet, then nothing will threaten them. You will have strong and healthy offspring that you can admire for as long as you like.

Due to their unpretentiousness, swordtails are one of the most popular aquarium fish. The inhabitants of the aquarium quickly adapt to difficult conditions and have good survival rates. Active reproduction of swordtails at home is an advantage of the fish, because many capricious species refuse to give birth to offspring in captivity. In aquarium swordtail fish, reproduction occurs with the help of a bizarrely shaped fin, which is also a decoration. Before you start breeding these wonderful inhabitants of the aquarium, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the basic rules, recommendations of experts, find out what measures need to be taken during the preparatory period, what features distinguish swordtails, reproduction and further care of the fish.

Fundamental points

An important condition in breeding swordtails is to maintain or even improve all the species characteristics of the fish. To do this, it is recommended to decide in advance which pair will produce offspring. Be sure to ensure that the male and female have good health, had no developmental defects.

Before breeding swordtails, it is necessary to create the most favorable conditions and satisfy the simple requirements of the fish. There will not be any particular difficulties here - the inhabitants of the aquarium are perfectly suited for reproducing offspring at home.

Unlike many representatives of the aquatic family, female swordtails do not spawn - fry are born, prepared for survival and a full life. To get numerous offspring, you don’t need a large container - a three-liter jar is enough. Only after the fry begin to grow up will it be necessary to move them into the aquarium.

Required condition in breeding swordtails at home - understand the life expectancy of fish and the characteristics of puberty. The life cycle of fish lasts for proper care up to 6 years old. Puberty occurs quite early - already six months after birth, males and females are completely ready to reproduce offspring. Experts recommend that before you start breeding these beautiful fish, you need to understand what optimal conditions should be created, how to determine the pregnancy of a female swordtail, and how to prepare the inhabitants of the aquarium for reproduction.

Preparing fish and spawning grounds for reproduction

Reproduction in a community aquarium - bad idea. The risk that the female will be injured by more active aquatic inhabitants or the fry will be eaten by voracious predatory species increases several times. It is recommended to take care of a separate container in advance, even if small sizes. Optimal temperature for active reproduction - within 28 degrees, and you will have to change the water regularly. Intensive aeration is another mandatory condition; the saturation of the liquid with oxygen promotes the active growth of fry, and aquarists will begin to reproduce earlier.

Interestingly, the sex of the young depends on the conditions of detention. Before breeding swordtails, it is recommended to determine what to give preference in further cultivation - females or males. If it is desirable to raise representatives of the stronger sex of the fish family, the temperature in the aquarium should fluctuate between 27-30 degrees. To increase the number of females, reduce the water temperature to 24-26 degrees.

It is not possible to determine the sex of swordtails by the shade of the abdomen; the only difference is the shape of the anal fin. In females it is round and quite lush. In males it resembles a long tube - it is this tube that is directly involved in fertilization. It is recommended to place only one pair in a small container - this will facilitate subsequent care and prevent unpleasant consequences.

How long is the gestation period for swordtails? With proper care and optimal conditions, the fry will appear in just a month. In cool conditions, the female's pregnancy will last up to 6-7 weeks.

How many and in what quantity do swordtail fry grow? Often a female gives birth to up to two hundred young, although not all survive.

A question that often arises among beginners is whether and how it is possible to understand that a female swordtail is pregnant? Determining successful fertilization is quite simple - carefully examine the abdomen. If it swells, becomes almost square, changes shade (becomes darker, almost black) - the female is pregnant. It is recommended to change the diet to a more nutritious one, change the liquid in the aquarium more often, and provide a long light regime.

If there is no separate container, place the pregnant female in a jar, having previously planted vegetation on the bottom. Algae will be an excellent refuge for fry, which are threatened even by their own mother - a hungry female is quite capable of swallowing her offspring. To protect the fish, it is better to house them separately soon after birth.

Feeding the young

One of the prerequisites for successfully raising young animals is a properly formulated diet. Nutrition is especially important from the first days of life - a lack of certain substances in the food will cause poor growth and development of the fish. Subsequently, they will be lethargic and weak, often suffer from diseases and even die.

Fish should receive enough nutrients, vitamins. It is recommended to purchase ready-made balanced food. If it is not possible, introduce into the diet:

oligochaetes (crushed);
chopped chicken yolk;
microworms (mix with carrot pulp);
cyclops;
curdled milk;
rotifers.

It is also allowed to use hard cheese for feeding, but in limited quantities. Pre-grind the product with a grater. It is not recommended to give a lot of cheese at one time - there is a risk of spoiling the water and causing the death of the fry.

Powdered milk is another component of the fish diet. It is easy to prepare the product - pour regular milk into a small container with a wide bottom, place it in a water bath and evaporate until dry powder remains.

Despite the nutritional value of boiled yolk, it is not recommended to abuse this type of food. An acidic product is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, which can be destructive for young fish. In rotten water, young animals quickly die and begin to get sick. Frequently changing the fluid will not help here - such procedures usually cause stress in fish.

If young animals are growing slowly, it is recommended to introduce fermented milk products into the diet. The most commonly used is yogurt, and it should first be brewed with boiling water - this will allow the casein to curdle. A large number of This element is harmful to young fish. After brewing, rinse the resulting lumps, put them in a net and send them into the water. The advantage of this food over yolk is that yolk does not spoil the water. It is recommended to store the prepared fish delicacy in the refrigerator. Storage duration is no more than 4 days, after which prepare a new portion.

The quantity and quality of food is the key to the health of the fry

The use of porridge, curdled milk, and yolk is recommended only in the first days after the birth of the fry. Aquarium fish requires a more balanced and nutritious diet. A prerequisite is to use only fresh food, otherwise you won’t have to wait long for the fry to get sick. It is recommended to introduce plant components into the diet (algae is usually used).

Before one week old Over the course of a day, a fry is quite capable of consuming an amount of food that is almost twice its weight. After reaching one month of age, the fish’s appetite decreases significantly; during puberty, the swordtail consumes only up to 5% of its weight.

A prerequisite is to feed newborn swordtails in the aquarium often, but in small portions. Feeding is carried out up to 5 times a day. In the second week, the frequency of throwing food is no more than 4 times. Upon reaching two months of age, three meals a day are recommended. Alternate different types feed - a balanced diet will accelerate the growth and development of young animals.

It is recommended to pay special attention to the fry in the first week after birth. Poor quality of food or insufficient quantity will certainly cause poor coloration of the fish and reduce the intensity of development. A lack of nutrients and vitamins can lead to deformation of the fins. The most preferable option for obtaining good fish is to select stronger individuals and place them in a separate aquarium. It should be taken into account that the fry are capable of jumping high out of the water, so they can easily end up outside the water container and die. To prevent trouble, be sure to cover the jar or aquarium, and make sure that there is no lack of oxygen - provide blowing using a compressor.

Breeding swordtails is a fascinating and quite simple process. The main thing is to understand the peculiarities of reproduction, the rules of caring for fry, dietary requirements and feeding frequency. If you avoid mistakes, in just a short time you will be able to replenish your fish family with beautiful sparkling inhabitants of the aquarium.