Xiphophorus helleri aka Swordtail

[phuakokhong]

yup, can be breed through


CHeers..

How many fries did you manage to get?

[skaer]

yea.. interested to know

[Interestor]

How many fries did you manage to get?

not sure how many, cause was breed in pond.

not very less though

CHeers..

[phuakokhong]

Managed to get a friend to take a few close shorts on my hi-fin red swordtails.

The male:


The female:


Togetherness:

[hwchoy]

they don't seem to have any eyes?

[phuakokhong]

they don't seem to have any eyes?

Their eyes are red. everything red!

[hwchoy]

I'm sorry I just couldn't dig all these selective bred strains. I think the original wild form is so much more graceful.

[harnsheng]

yeah, agree with hwchoy. Somehow, the wildies still have the charm. But it's hard to obtain any wild swordtails in this region. I only managed to get X.nezahualcoyolt and X.montezumae. Might be getting X.kallmani soon!

Anyone have sources for wild swordtails?

[stormhawk]

Damn you also got the nezahualcoyotls. Those guys.. I doubt we've seen them here. The latest oddball livebearer that Scope brought back from Taiwan was probably the Micropoecilia parae that another hobbyist is breeding now I think. My dream swordtail is X. pygmaeus.

As for a source, unless you visit Taiwan or Japan, it might be hard to come by other wild livebearers.

[harnsheng]

I got M.parae melanzoma blue and red. But no fry's yet..
X. pygmaeus? i remember our importer bring some before... if im aware that time, i would have taken all..

Yeah, i guess i need to pay a visit to Taiwan soon!

[swordtail_king]

can anyone help me out on how to produce swordtail platy hybrids?? ive tried male sword to female platy NOTHING they didnt even acknowledge each other. male platy to female sword NOTHING, all the articles on the net say "they freely interbreed" lol. well when i set up the pairs i only use 1 pair. thats it in 20 gallon tanks. anyone have luck? can anyone suggest me the best setup? (male sword to female platy or male platy to female sword) thanks

[Shi Xuan]

It is highly plausible for the interbreeding of these 2 species, especially when they are of the same genus. Setting up male swordtail to female platy & vice versa will yield the same result whether they produce any fry or not. The only difference from the outcome of these 2 setups is probably the phenotypes that they will produce. Perhaps, if you want to know more about the genus xiphophorus, you should ask tobi aka wagtail of Germany, he is quite knowledgeable on livebearers. He even has a blog;

http://guppyfocus.blogspot.com

or you can visit the German xiphophorus breeder, Günther Schramm's webpage, he's got everything you want to know of;

http://www.xiphophorus-zuchtformen.de/

[Phineasborg]

I'm a swordtail fan too, for many years. I love green swordtails - so difficult to find them now - they were so common years ago. For those older, you may recall that some markets used to sell a bag of 4 swordtails (1 m, 3f) for like a $1. They were all big and red. and there were the giant ones too. sigh. can't find them now.

[stormhawk]

Many old "bread-n-butter" fish like the old tuxedo, red swordtails are no longer found easily. Maybe in the feeder tanks. It's a pity when I see young Tiger Barbs being sold as feeders. Looking back at this thread, I think I should go get me some swordtails.

[Shi Xuan]

Speaking of swordtails, I don't have any domestic strains at the moment but I'm hoping some juvenile Xiphophorus cortezi 'Vinasco' comes this way from Japan though. A pity wild livebearers are not popular in Singapore where they are so common in many other countries.

[stormhawk]

Last "wild" livebearers seen were a few Xenotoca eiseni, Characodon audax? and the known colour forms of Micropoecilia parae. Aside from those that I saw, the rest were pretty much fancy strains like the show guppies and such.

[Surfari'sAquariumSupplies]

can anyone help me out on how to produce swordtail platy hybrids?? ive tried male sword to female platy NOTHING they didnt even acknowledge each other. male platy to female sword NOTHING, all the articles on the net say "they freely interbreed" lol. well when i set up the pairs i only use 1 pair. thats it in 20 gallon tanks. anyone have luck? can anyone suggest me the best setup? (male sword to female platy or male platy to female sword) thanks

Hi, when you are breeding livebearers, you must always keep the ratio at (M:F= 1 : >3). One male should only be kept with three or more females. This way, the male's attention will be diverted, and will not chase after the only female in the tank, stressing her out, causing death in some cases. There will also be a higher chance of more females being inseminated, the male will also have more partners to choose from instead of only one. Good luck!

Hmmm... sadly the Singapore aquarium trade do not focus that much on Swordtails and Xiphophorus livebearers anymore. Even if there was, they do not come cheap. Few years back it was rather abundant, platies and swordtails of all variations could be seen almost everywhere. Been trying to breed some bread and butter variations of such Swordtails and even Platies, hope to cater to some of the fellow members here.

[Shi Xuan]

Jianyang, I'm still keeping a small breeding colony of Micropoecilia parae melanzona 'red' but I'm thinking of giving them up to anyone who wants to propagate them. They are very slow-growing & spend 6-7 months maturing before they can be sexed & produce only a dozen fry. Highly cannibalistic, so planting the breeding tank generously can save a few babies from being gobbled up by the hungry adults & I use lush plants, Ceratophyllum demersum & java moss for that.

Characodon lateralis is a nice goodeid species. I would be elated if I can find a breeding pair or group in our LFS but my favorite goodeid species would be Giradinichthys multiradiatus. It's so rare that I could hardly think of anyone keeping it anywhere else.

[stormhawk]

Hi Shi Xuan,

Yes you mentioned that in the PMs we were exchanging. Sadly, I have no space for these fish at the moment. It is a pity that we can't find nice livebearers locally. Fancy strains are all the rage and hence, people won't care so much for the wild ones, especially the drab species. I last saw the Characodon at C328 but that was many months ago. I figure a trip there once a month might be worthwhile. I remember the Xenotoca were in a puny betta tank for weeks until I came by and didn't see them again. I figure they either got purchased, or died.