Swordfish is an extremely popular type of fish in home aquariums. This view is very unpretentious and forgives the mistakes of beginners. However, the owners may have many questions related to the content of these fish. What conditions are optimal for swordsmen? What are the features of this species? How to breed swordsmen? How to feed the fry?
View description
Swordfish - viviparous fish belonging to the family of Peciliae. The natural habitats of the swordsmen: Southern Mexico, Guatemala and Central America. They are found both in swamps, lakes, lagoons, and in turbulent river flows. The life of the swordsmen is three to five years.
The body of the swordsmen is extended, flattened on the sides. Females reach 12-15 cm in length, males - 8-12 cm. In nature, yellow and green individuals are most often found. Males have a brighter color than females. They have a slight elongation on the caudal fin, which can be brightly colored in orange, black, green, yellow, red and other colors.
In females you can see the "maturity spot" - this is a dark spot in front of the anal fin. It happens that swordsmen change their sex throughout their lives: females become males.
There are 23 varieties of swordsmen. They differ from each other in color and shape of the fins.
Content Features
One pair of swordsmen should account for about six liters of water. Aquarium is worth buying with a lid, as these fish are very energetic and can sometimes jump out of the water. Water temperature should be 20-23 degrees. Filtration and aeration required.
It is necessary to change a quarter of the water once a week, and not more often. The aquarium should be kept clean. Fish love vegetation. In nature, they live surrounded by algae and feed on them, which is why it makes sense to plant plants in an aquarium. However, you should not populate the entire space with plants. Swordsmen are active fish, and therefore they need quite a lot of space for swimming. Shelters do not need shelters.
Swordsmen must be fed protein and vegetable feed. As a source of protein can be bloodworms, cyclops, hamarus, tubule, daphnia. Plant food: crushed peas, seaweed, oatmeal, spinach. How to feed the young swordsmen for the first time, consider a little lower.
Propagation Features
The maturity of the swordsmen occurs at the 6-8th month of life. For breeding choose the most active and productive individuals. The male from the female can be distinguished by the presence of a “sword” on the tail. One fertilization may be enough for several broods of fry. The main sign of a female’s pregnancy is an enlarged abdomen.
The gestational age of the female is one month, and from fifteen to a hundred fry can be born.
For childbirth, it is advisable to use a jigger. As soon as the female has given birth to fry, it must be returned back to the aquarium, and the fry should be transplanted into a separate growing aquarium, otherwise in the general aquarium they may well be eaten by adults.
How to feed the swan fry?
Fries are born formed, and therefore immediately after birth they begin to actively eat and move. The food of the swallow fry should contain a large amount of protein. The fry need round-the-clock lighting and frequent meals.
How to feed the swan fry in the early days? In the first two weeks of life there is an increased growth of fish, they are gaining strength. That is why during this period it is worth using only live food.
From the third week, dry and artificial feed can be introduced into the diet, while reducing the percentage of live feed. It is important that before transplanting the fry into the general aquarium, they only use live food as a top dressing (this type of food in the diet should be about twenty percent).
Thus, swordsmen are often found in home aquariums because of their simple content and easy breeding. In the early days, it’s worthwhile to feed the swallow fry with live food, gradually introducing dry food into the diet. Grown and strengthened fish can be relocated to a common aquarium.