Why is my female sword tail getting bullied?

Question

60 L tank

2 female sword tails

1 male sword tail

2 female guppy's

1 plec

My male sword seems to be bullying 1 female, he has only just started doing it over the last day or two now she seems to just hide behind the heater.

also when is the best time to take guppy fry out of the nursery and putting in to my main tank, they are now 3 weeks old, i put a half a dozen of the larger ones in but had to take them back out as all fish (besides the plec) was nipping them and unfortunately killed one but didn't eat it, when i was taking the fry out i found 3 new fry (i think they might be guppy's but its hard to tell).

I am quite a novice so any help would be really appreciated

Answer 1

I've bred swordtails in the past and all females have the ability to change into males. Once the change starts its irreversible and the first indicator is the forming of the gonopodium. When you come to sell the fry to pet shops, the males sell better, but as soon as you upset the tank balance females turn to male to redress it. If they had sold to many males from the shop you bought your female from and she was turning, that's your problem. You can only have one male per tank and the alpha male will eventually stress the other male to death.

The other thing you need to watch for with swords is their ability to jump, so you do need to keep the tank lid on.

I wouldn't add the baby guppies till they are at least 25mm as swords are aggressive with fish they consider food size.

Check out the anal fins of the female behind the heater and I bet they are fused:0)  You will have to rehome it if they are.

Answer 2

hehe. He's not bullying her, he's mating with her. If you need more info on it, When he's doing it, the female just seems to stay in one place and he keeps pecking around her. Then she might start floating a little on her side. And if you'll notice the fin on the male's bottom, it should be pointing forward, or at least not where it normally does. Don't worry, it's just the circle of life.

On the up side, this means you've made good enough conditions for you fish to start mating. On the bad side, you're gonna need to do something about all the swordtails you're gonna get.

Answer 3

Well, the male will constantly harass the females because he wants to mate. It's just what they do. There's not much you can do except get him a few more females for his "harem" and that will keep him too busy to harass just one of them lol.  I find that it's ok to put the gupsters in when they're about 1/3 the size of the mama fish. That ensures that they can't fit in anyone's mouth ;)

Answer 4

older male swordtails could become bullies. i would put in the fry when they're big enough to not be eaten