The variety of aquarium fish is sometimes amazing. And taking into account the fact that one type of fish has its own varieties, the aquarium world becomes simply gigantic.
swordtails , even those who have never even seen aquariums. We can say that swordtails, the fish of all children of the Soviet Union, were in all Soviet aquariums. The fish is very beautiful and unpretentious.
Such popularity has led to the fact that swordtails have undergone serious breeding work aimed at obtaining various color morphs through hybridization. Morphs, in turn, actually drove all natural swordtail species out of the market.
Where are they from?
Black swordtail fish - selective breeding. It was developed as a result of crossing ordinary forms and aquarium forms. Of course, it was not she herself who turned out black. Aquarium breeders have worked hard here.
What is the difference between a regular form and an aquarium form? You won't believe it - the color. If the swordtail in the wild has an absolutely nondescript appearance, then the aquarium inhabitants delight the eye with a variety of colors.
But enough about color. It is worth reporting: swordtails live in the waters of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. You can find the ugly gray-green fish in Central America.
Description
The body size and shape of the fins in fish of this morph do not differ from those of standard representatives of the species. The main difference is the color.
The coloring of these fish is original and memorable. The body is painted in a rich black color, which under certain lighting casts blue-green. Individual silver-white or red-orange scales are scattered over the entire surface of the body; It is possible for one individual to have inclusions of both colors. The iris of the eyes is also painted silver-white, making the eyes stand out clearly against the general dark background. The fins are transparent, red-orange or whitish in color.
Appearance Features
Below in the photo is a black swordtail. Very unusual in its color. And color is far from its only feature.
Pay attention to the tail. The “ray” on the caudal fin looks like a sword, which is why the aquarium inhabitant got its name. But that's not all. Male swordtails are smaller than females. They grow up to 8-10 centimeters, while females reach 12-15 centimeters.
Did you know that there are lyretail swordtails? The black forked swordtail is one of these. The second name for lyrebirds is forked. If we look at their tail, we will see two long thin rays, above and below. The sword with such a tail is not so pronounced, but the tail itself attracts the attention of amateur aquarists.
Price
Swordtails can be purchased in pet stores in a variety of colors and fin shapes. The most popular remains the red swordtail. This is a classic of the aquarium genre. For such a fish, sellers of branded pet stores ask from 50 to 100 rubles. This is the price of a swordtail that has already grown up.
In simpler trade enterprises or from private individuals, the price of swordtails starts at 10 rubles. It is possible to receive swordtails as a gift. These fish reproduce quickly and fill the aquarium spaces. A caring owner periodically faces the task of transferring excessively proliferating swordtails to other hands.
This is interesting
As mentioned above, black swordtails were developed through selective breeding. And the very first individuals appeared as a result of crossing ordinary male “swords” with a female platie. These fish belong to the same family and genus.
Female swordtails can change sex. It sounds ridiculous, but it's a fact. If only girls live in the aquarium, then sooner or later the fastest and most dominant individual turns into a male. So what to do? Offspring is necessary, there is no escape. The lady's body elongates, a sword grows on her tail and a homopodium appears. That's it, the female has transformed and is ready to impregnate her friends.
Compatibility
Swordtails are quite peaceful and get along without problems in common aquariums. But the male can become a local “bully”. Most often this is caused by incorrect selection of the sex and age composition of the inhabitants of the aquarium. The best option is to keep one male swordtail with several females. If there are several males, then the number of females should significantly predominate in order to disperse the attention and aggression of the males. It is also necessary to ensure that the aquarium is large enough so that the swordtails do not bump into each other at every step.
Almost all peace-loving fish can become neighbors of swordtails. The proximity to platies and mollies will be favorable; peaceful cichlids (for example, angelfish), tetras, minors, zebrafish and barbs, and popular species of catfish (corydoras, ancistrus, thoracatum) will also be suitable.
An unfavorable neighborhood is with large, aggressive cichlids: acara, astronotus, cichlids, and proximity to fish with lush, veiled tails (fins), for example, with cockerels, goldfish, since swordtails are quite capable of biting them.
Content
What is required to keep black swordtails? Let's go in order:
- Aquarium. Previously, there was a simple formula for calculating the volume of a container. For one fish - three liters of water. Now this calculation is being disputed, stating that the black swordtail aquarium fish requires at least 7 liters per individual. And then everything is simple. We multiply the desired number of fish by this figure and get the volume of the required aquarium. We place an important emphasis on the fact that it will be designed only for “swords.” Back to back, let's put it this way.
- The filter is internal. If you have an aquarium of less than 300 liters, then you can get by with an internal filter. When purchasing, pay attention to the manufacturer. Don't buy Chinese ones, they will break in a month. It is better to give preference to German or Polish. They are more expensive, but the quality, as they say, lasts forever. We remember that the filter is taken with a reserve. For example, the volume of an aquarium is 20 liters. A filter designed to work in containers from 0 to 30 liters is suitable for it. If the aquarium is 30 liters, buy a filter from 30 to 60 liters.
- Heater. When choosing it, you should be guided by the same principles. Don't skimp on it, take it in reserve. At least you will have peace of mind that the water is warming up.
- You can buy the simplest plants for black swordtails. Kabomba is a cheap and cheerful option. Lemongrass will work well. In general, each aquarist is guided by his own taste in this matter.
- You can use any soil. Just don't buy the painted one. He is, of course, handsome. But it is quite capable of coloring aquarium water. And it’s unlikely that “chemical” soil will be useful for the inhabitants of the aquarium.
- Water thermometer. There are countless of them on sale. Starting from ordinary alcoholic ones, ending with “self-adhesive” ones. Take the regular one - you won't go wrong.
- Siphon for soil cleaning. Black swordtails are, in general, clean fish. But waste products and food residues tend to settle to the bottom of the aquarium. In order to remove them, you will need a siphon.
This is the most basic thing needed to set up a fish house. You also need a rug for the aquarium, a cabinet (in case of a large capacity) and decorations.
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.
Find out how many fish you can keep in X liters of aquarium HERE (at the bottom of the article there are links to aquariums of all sizes).
Fish care
Breeding and caring for black swordtails has a number of features. First, we describe the conditions of their detention.
Firstly, it is imperative to maintain the optimal water temperature in the aquarium. "Swords" like warm water - +24...26 degrees. But if need forces them, they will survive in conditions close to Spartan - 16 degrees above zero. There is nowhere lower, the fish will refuse to live at a lower temperature.
They are calm about acidity. But it’s better not to experiment, but to maintain it at level 7-8. The range of water hardness is very scattered: from 8 to 25.
Black swordtails are a breeding form. This should be kept in mind when changing water. Special literature mentions that replacement is carried out once a week. Yes, yes, remember: once a week they change the water in a volume of at least 30% of the entire aquarium. That is, we pour out one third. After the old water has been drained, we clean the soil with the same siphon that was mentioned above. And add new water.
This is where trouble can start. The fact is that some beginners, due to inexperience, resolutely refuse to wait three to five days. This is the period of time for the water to settle so that all chlorine and harmful substances evaporate from it. Two days - that's it. Add unfinished water to the aquarium. The sword bearers are shocked. And they float up with their bellies. And the owner scratches his head in frustration, wondering what happened to the fish.
To avoid such embarrassment, we strongly recommend that you purchase a water conditioner. It is added to the tap liquid, wait half an hour, and after that you can add it to the aquarium. It’s very convenient; no time is wasted on settling the water.
Don't forget about normal feeding of the little cats. This is covered in the next section.
Pygmy swordtail
It is also called dwarf. In nature, the species lives in eastern Mexico. The smallest representative of the genus grows to only 3-4 cm , female and male individuals are almost the same in size, girls are only slightly larger.
The main color of the scales in males is yellowish, in females it is silver, a brown stripe runs along the body, which in males is paler or completely absent. The fins are transparent; boys have dark spots on the dorsal, forming a longitudinal line. There is no sword as such, only a process 2-4 mm long. The anal fins form gonopodium.
A pygmy needs a lot of space, so an aquarium for 5-6 fish should be at least 80 liters. Other conditions:
- water temperature +24…+27 degrees;
- hardness from 5 to 18 dH;
- acidity 7-8 pH;
Pygmies are sensitive to the purity of water and cannot tolerate rotting excrement and food particles.
Feeding
Do you know what a black flag swordtail looks like? It is clear that this has nothing to do with the topic of feeding. Just information for general development.
Its dorsal fin is large, fluffy and wide. It resembles a flag, hence the name. A very beautiful fish.
So, back to the topic of feeding. How will we feed our aquarium inhabitants? There are several options:
- Dry food. You can buy flakes, or you can buy granules. Only the granules must be small so that the “swords” can swallow them.
- Live food. Bloodworms, coretra, tubifex, daphnia.
- Frozen food. Same as alive. Just doesn't move.
Black swordtails are fed twice a day. The portion should be such that the fish eat everything. If the owner notices food falling to the bottom of the aquarium, the portion must be reduced.
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. Treatment and diseases of aquarium fish and sections of the site will help you with this FISH DISEASES, AQUA.MEDICINE.
Moving in
A burning question for newbie aquarists. With whom can swordtails be combined?
These fish are peace-loving. Although males can sort things out with their sword-bearing brothers. They are the ones fighting for the lady of their heart. Therefore, it is advisable to refrain from purchasing several male black swordtails. One or several females are enough.
You can combine “swords” with:
- guppy;
- mollies;
- platies;
- neon;
- zebrafish;
- zebrafish;
- thorns;
- small angelfish.
In general, black swordtails will live peacefully with any peaceful and not very large fish.
Character
Mechiki are peaceful fish. But they often gain fame as fighters only because of the mistakes of their owners. These are harem fish, therefore, to avoid conflicts, you need to keep 1 male and 3 - 4 females. Then everything will be relatively calm. If you want several families, then the ratio should be the same.
They get along well with almost all peaceful fish. Problems can only arise with cichlids, angelfish do not count, and slow owners of veiled tails and fins.
Reproduction
So we get to the question of the reproduction of black swordtails. Ready? Then we begin to consider it.
"Mechiki" are viviparous fish. And fertilization occurs in them in the same way as in warm-blooded animals. For these purposes, the male has a homopodium - an organ under the ventral fin that resembles a thin tube.
We will not describe the process itself, everything is clear without that. Note that pregnancy in a female lasts about a month. During pregnancy, it swells in size. And it looks like a round ball with a black spot near the ventral fin.
As soon as you notice that the expectant mother has stopped swelling, but the spot is expanding, we transplant the lady into a separate aquarium. It is prepared in advance: the filter, heater and plants must be in the aquarium. Plants will be needed for shelter for babies.
The time of birth has come, the mother has safely given out 50 fry. Don't be surprised, this is normal. Swordtails are distinguished by the birth of numerous offspring. Urgently return the woman in labor to the main aquarium. Never mind, she will eat her cubs.
The baby is fed special food. You can buy it at an aquarium store. That's what it's called - food for fry. Over time, the young animals begin to be fed with boiled grated eggs, tubifex and coretra.
Tiger swordtail, or red-speckled swordtail
The species was bred by crossing spotted and tricolor platies with Heller's swordtail.
The tiger pet is, of course, distinguished by its coloring: black spots are scattered throughout the monochromatic red body. The lateral, pectoral and anal fins are reddish, while the dorsal fin and tail are partly black. The sword of males is two-colored. The size of the fish is average, 7-8 cm.
This species has a lyretail form.
There are fish with a completely black tail and sword, but they are not used for breeding in order to preserve the breed.
Water parameters:
- temperature +23…+26 degrees;
- hardness from 6 to 20 dH;
- acidity no more than 7-7.5 pH.
