Maintenance and breeding of swordsmen. Aquarium swordfish. Swordsman in nature
The swordtail (lat. Xiphophorus hellerii) is one of the most popular and unpretentious fish in the aquarium. The first swordtails appeared in aquariums back in 1864, and have not lost popularity since then.
A long outgrowth on the lower fin in males, similar to a sword, gave it its name. But not only for this they love the swordsman - he is unpretentious, beautiful, very diverse in color and easily reproduces.
Swordtails are generally quite peaceful fish, well suited for community aquariums. But, they have very different characters, and he can be both quiet and timid, and a cocky bully. Especially males can be aggressive towards each other.
Habitat in nature
Homeland fish in Central America from southern Mexico to Guatemala. There are several colors of the original Xiphophorous helleri, which are considerably paler than the aquarium and breeding forms.
They live in nature in various reservoirs, both with running and stagnant water.
They prefer shallow, abundantly overgrown places where they feed on various insects, algae and detritus.
Description
swordsmen can grow quite large, males up to 11 cm, and females up to 12. But, usually in aquariums they are smaller, it very much depends on the type and conditions of detention. They live in an aquarium from 3 to 5 years.
As for coloration, it is difficult to single out any one form, although the most popular will be red with a black tail.
And so they are red, green, black, albinos, spotted, yellow. Describing them all is quite a difficult task.
But, anyone who has ever seen an aquarium imagines what a swordsman looks like. This fish is so common.
Difficulty in content
One of the most popular fish for beginner aquarists. Unpretentious, not too big, just divorced.
The disadvantages include the pugnacity of some males, especially among themselves.
Like many livebearers, swordtails can live in brackish water, but this is not necessary.
Feeding
You can feed them flakes, live or frozen food, and other aquarium fish foods. Like all fish, swordtails need a varied diet.
It is especially important to feed them plant foods that are high in fiber.
The fact is that in nature, thin and fragile algae make up most of the diet of swordtails and other growths.
In an aquarium, this amount of algae will be overkill, but you can always buy flakes with a plant component.
You can make such flakes the basis of the diet, and live food as additional nutrition. Live food can be given any, swordtails are completely unpretentious.
Swordtails are very unpretentious in content. In an aquarium with a volume of 35 liters, you can keep one swordtail, but this is a very active fish and the larger the volume, the better.
Remember that for breeding you need to keep one male and 2-3 females, but if there is 1 male and 1 female, then the male can drive her to death.
And try not to buy several males in one tank, as swordtails have a pronounced hierarchy. The main male will always drive the rest, and these are fights, injuries, confusion.
Swordtails are quite unpretentious when it comes to temperature and can live at both 18C and 28C. Ideal would be 23-25 C.
Parameters such as hardness and pH are not very important for them, but they feel better in water of medium hardness and at pH 6.8-7.8.
It is desirable that the aquarium has filtration, an internal filter is quite enough. Required water changes to fresh, about 20% weekly.
But keep in mind that in addition to being a very fast swordsman, he also jumps well. The aquarium must be covered, otherwise you risk finding a dried corpse.
How to decorate an aquarium - to your taste.
The only thing is that it is desirable that it be densely planted with plants, since swordtails love such aquariums, and it is easier to hide from the aggression of males in the bushes.
Compatibility
Old males can attack other fish, but it depends on the individual. Some live quite peacefully for themselves, and some become violent.
Aggression is promoted by cramped aquariums without plants. Here's what you don't need to do exactly, is to keep two or more males in the same tank. This leads to guaranteed fights.
Who do they get along with? With viviparous:,. They get along well with a variety of spawners: angelfish, gourami, neon, iris. But it’s better not to keep them with gold ones ...
For gold, colder water is needed, and swords are restless neighbors.
Sex differences
It is extremely easy to distinguish a male from a female in swordtails. Only the male has a sword on the caudal fin, a long outgrowth for which the fish got its name.
Also, in all viviparous, the anal fin of the male is pointed and narrow (gonopodium), and the female is wide.
Quite often it happens that a female swordsman suddenly grows a sword and becomes a male! At the same time, she behaves like a male, cares for other females, but is barren.
The reasons for this phenomenon are not entirely clear.
Reproduction of swordtails
Swordtails are viviparous fish, that is, their fry appear not in the form of eggs, but fully formed. The male fertilizes the eggs inside the female's body, and she bears them until they are fully mature.
Usually this period lasts 28-30 days. Actually breeding swordsmen at home is not easy, but elementary.
The young male is constantly active and chasing the female, in fact, all you need to do is regularly remove her.
As for other viviparous (,), it is very easy to get fry from swordtails.
The female can even give birth to fry without a male, the fact is that she can store the male's milk in a frozen state and fertilize herself with them ...
So if suddenly your female gave birth to fry, but there is no male in the aquarium, then this is exactly the case that worked.
Swordtails are quick to breed and sometimes the only thing to do is raise the temperature in the aquarium to 25-27C.
At the same time, the level of ammonia and nitrates should be kept as low as possible, and pH 6.8-7.8.
When the female gains weight, watch for a dark spot near her anus. When it darkens, and the female recovers significantly, then the time for childbirth will soon be.
This dark spot is actually the eyes of a fully formed fry that show through her body.
You can leave the female in the aquarium, but the fry will not survive very long, as other swordtails eat them very actively.
If you want as many swordtail fry as possible to survive, then it is better to transplant the female.
Whichever option you choose, the main thing is that there are a lot of thick bushes in the aquarium. The fact is that the birth of a female swordsman is best in such thickets.
The fry of the swordtails are large, active and hungry. What to feed fry swordtails? You can feed finely grated flakes and Artemia nauplii. It is better to add to the diet.
The combination of spirulina + live food and your fry will grow very fast and bright.
Post navigationThe swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) is a freshwater species of viviparous fish belonging to the family Poeciliidae (Poeciliidae) of the carp-tooth order. This family also includes Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and Mollies (Poecilia latipinna). The swordsmen got their name for a peculiar outgrowth on the tail, similar to a sword (the word “Xiphophorus” comes from the words “xiphos” (sword) and “phoros” (carry) (Greek). For the first time, the swordsmen were described by Dr. I. Ya. Heckel (Heckel ) in 1848, and in honor of the botanist Karl Bartholomaus Helleri, who discovered these fish, he named them Xiphophorus helleri. Therefore, they are sometimes called Heller's swordtails.
Under natural conditions, swordtails live in the northern and tropical regions of Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, and southern Mexico. Here Xiphophorus helleri are found in high-altitude reservoirs with stagnant or slowly flowing water, in streams and fast-flowing mountain rivers, in their sources and lower reaches, in shallow water bodies: swamps, lagoons, ponds; inhabit fresh and brackish lakes (Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Veracruz and Rio de Janeiro). From America, swordtails were brought to Europe, and later to Russia at the very beginning of the 20th century, immediately gaining great popularity among lovers of aquarium fish (along with platies, guppies and mollies).
In nature, the green swordsman lives, which in the conditions of the aquarium easily interbreeds with the platy. As a result of selection, hybrid forms of very different colors were bred: black, red, lemon, spotted, etc., forms with artificially enlarged dorsal and caudal fins appeared. Now the natural swordsman is rarely seen on sale, but there are a lot of varieties of the aquarium.
Appearance of aquarium swordsmen.
Under natural conditions, Xiphophorus helleri is a rather large viviparous fish: the female grows up to 15 cm, the male is slightly smaller and reaches a length of about 10 cm (without the "sword"). In an aquarium, swordtails can only reach such sizes under very good conditions. Usually the body length of the male is from 5 to 8 cm.
The female swordtail differs from the male in larger sizes. The body of the fish is elongated and slightly compressed from the sides. The male is much slimmer than the female. The mouth is upturned, adapted for feeding from the surface of the water. The main color of the male in nature is from yellowish-brown to olive-gray, the back is with a greenish tint. The fins are greenish-yellow, with small reddish-brown spots scattered along the dorsal fin. A wide dark purple stripe with a red or blue edging runs along the entire body from head to tail, and two narrower stripes run parallel to it. The body of the female - with a silvery sheen, is not so bright in color. In adults, the “maturity spot” is clearly visible near the anal fin, the tail is rounded. A characteristic feature of the swordtails - males are the long lower rays of the caudal fin, resembling a "sword", which has a black edging and is colored in yellow-orange, green or reddish hues. The male is also easily distinguished from the female by the structure of the anal fin, folded into a tube - gonopodia.
Scientists have long been engaged in the study of swordtails, because from the point of view of selection, this fish is very plastic, and it is easy to cross it with other livebearers. As a result of breeding work, more than twenty varieties of swordtails with a variety of colors have already been bred: Red (Red), Black, Tuxedo (Tuxedo), Calico (red with black and white spots), Koi (Koi), Berlin (Berlin), Vienna (Vienna) , Simpson, Montezuma, Evelyn, flag, forked, olive, yellow, orange and combinations thereof, (red body with black fins), gold, lemon, white albino, brindle (two types: red-speckled (red with black speckled) and black spots on a brown background (the belly is light brownish-orange), marbled (white with black spots), lemon, red and green with black fins and other color varieties of swordtails.
In addition to changing the color forms of the fish, forms with different fins were bred: lyre-shaped, three-lobed or veiled caudal and with an enlarged dorsal fin: high-finned (scarf), lyre-tailed and veiled. A variety of swordsmen with swords in the upper and lower parts of the caudal fins has also been bred.
In the aquariums of European hobbyists, exotic fish Swordtails (Xiphophorus Helleri) are a rather old guest (appeared at the beginning of the 20th century) and soon became one of the most popular inhabitants of home aquariums (along with catfish, guppies and gourami). Swordsmen are interesting and beautiful fish, funny and agile. Unpretentiousness to the conditions of detention, ease of breeding these viviparous fish attracts them and allows them to be recommended for beginner aquarium lovers, and the selection diversity captivates experienced aquarists.
Swordtails can live and feel good in a small separate aquarium (on average, there should be at least 3 liters of water per 1 fish). If you plan to breed swordtails and choose an aquarium to keep them, then you should pay attention to the length of the aquarium, as longer aquariums (at least 30 cm) swordtails feel more comfortable. A common aquarium is also suitable for keeping a group of swordsmen: spacious and elongated in length. The water level in a small aquarium is no more than 20 cm, and in a large one it is about 30 cm. Swordtails stay in the upper and middle layers of water. The type and color of the soil does not really matter. Swordtails are warm-water fish, for their growth and reproduction, the water temperature is optimal - 18 ° - 26 ° C, although the fish are not very demanding on temperature and tolerate fluctuations and short-term drops even to 10 ° C.
The water parameters for keeping and breeding swordtails are as follows: they prefer hard water dH 8 - 25 °, better up to 15 °; And acidity is desirable - pH: 7.0-8.0 °. Don't use a fin (it lowers the pH). Swordtails love clean water, so the aquarium must always be kept clean and filtered. Regularly (at least once a week) it is necessary to replace one third of the volume of old water with fresh water of daily sludge, with a temperature a couple of degrees higher than in the aquarium. A complete change of water can be made in exceptional cases: in case of infectious diseases or mass death of fish. Experts recommend adding table or sea salt (one tablespoon per 10 liters of water, but this is only possible when keeping species related to swordtails, and this can be a problem when growing many plants). In addition, swordtails are very sensitive to a lack of oxygen in the water, so it is desirable to produce aeration (oxygen enrichment). However, if the aquarium is not too densely populated, it may be absent. In ventilated aquariums, swordtails grow faster, when grown without aeration, they have a brighter color.
For an aquarium, it is advisable to choose small-leaved plants that reach the surface of the water (Indian luster and limnophila, hornwort, pinnate, vallisneria, cryptocoryne, fern, floating plants with long roots). In the background, dense thickets are necessary, which will serve as the best shelter for pregnant females and fry (all types of myriophyllum, toothed elodea, isoztis, cabomba, aponogeton leaves will do). On the surface, it is desirable to place an openwork green riccia, which forms picturesque islands.
When equipping an aquarium, it is necessary to alternate dense thickets of plants with free space for swimming and feeding fish (the front and middle of the aquarium should be free). The aquarium where swordtails live should be covered with a lid or glass from above, since they are very mobile, males sometimes frolic so much that they can jump out of the aquarium and die (swordtails, especially at the time of courting females, make sudden movements, with vertical bouncing) . An aquarium that is located in the sun must be fenced off from the light side with frosted glass, waxed paper or tracing paper. The life expectancy of swordsmen is from three to five years.
Features of the behavior of fish in an aquarium.
Despite the formidable name, swordtails are quite peaceful and get along well with other non-predatory and peaceful fish of a similar size and temperament, which are not aggressive towards them. The exceptions are: slow-moving fish with long fins (for example, veil guppies), swordtails have a bad habit of biting their tails; fish that are significantly smaller in size (the swordtails will constantly offend them). Male swordsmen constantly fight among themselves, there is a hierarchy between them (if you keep two males, then the stronger one will pursue the weaker opponent). It is better to keep three or more males (so the attention of the strong will dissipate), in this case there will be fewer fights.
All types of swordtails interbreed with each other, and this leads to the fact that they easily give hybrids and mixed offspring: some of the fish go to the male, some to the female. Infrequently, but there are also such successes when a completely new fish is born, not similar to others in color or shape of fins. As a result of such crossing, amateurs have already received many colored varieties of fish. It is curious that these fish can interbreed with some other members of the family, which opens up ample opportunities for aquarists to breed various variants of these viviparous fish. Hybrids are significantly larger than their parents, but reach sexual maturity much later.
Cases of another amazing feature of hybrid swordtails have been recorded: in the process of life, some females, even those who have brought offspring, can be reborn (turning into males). The fact is that the response to uncomfortable conditions (with prolonged maintenance without males, with overpopulation of the aquarium by females) often becomes a change in the sex of swordsmen. In the female, a "sword" grows from the lower rays of the caudal fin, the lower rays of the anal fin extend into a gonopodia tube, and the ability to bear offspring is lost. A female swordsman who has undergone such a transformation is quite easy to distinguish. She retains the body shape typical of the female, and the fins are much less developed than those of the male. It is believed that offspring, almost 80-90% consisting of females, can be obtained from such a male. The reverse transformation (male to female) does not occur.
Breeding swordtails in an aquarium.
Xiphophorus helleri is an aquarium viviparous fish of the carp-tooth family. Breeding swordsmen is not difficult. Just like guppies, mollies, platies, mosquitoes, these fish do not spawn, but immediately give birth to live fry. When choosing swordtails for an aquarium, it should be borne in mind that females should prevail in number. It is preferable to keep swordtails in small flocks: one male and several females or more than three males and about a dozen females. If there are two males in the flock, then the strongest male will kill the weaker one. Swordtails become sexually mature by about 8 months, by which time the anal fin of males lengthens and sharpens, turning into a gonopodia (collective organ).
In professional breeding of swordtails, male sires are selected according to the following criteria: age at least six months, large size (length about eight centimeters (without a “sword”), activity, intensity of body color, original pattern of the caudal fin, shape of the fins and, if possible, the longest "sword". Females (aged about six months) are selected from the offspring of the most productive producers (pay attention to the brightness of the body color and the size of the caudal fin). Males and females intended for crossing are raised separately, young females are best mated with males of previous Under the conditions of an aquarium, swordtails quite easily give hybrids, and if there are many varieties of swordtails and platies, they interbreed without problems, but you should not expect high-quality offspring from such reproduction, over time even the most beautiful forms can degenerate.
Swordtails can be bred all year round. There is no need to create special conditions for their spawning, a common aquarium is quite enough. Fertilization occurs inside the female and can last up to 2 days. The sperm of the swordsmen are a kind of “packages”, when they enter the body of the female, they remain there for several months (one of them begins to develop, and the rest can cause the female to become pregnant later, when the new caviar matures). At a constant water temperature (26 - 27 ° C), and high-quality live food, a single fertilization is enough for a swordtail female to throw fry several times almost every month for quite a long time, without needing a male - until complete spreading. This is not known to all aquarists (even experienced ones) and sometimes it is puzzling: how a female without a male throws fry. The “interesting position” of the female can be guessed from the rounded tummy and the appearance of a dark spot on it. The duration of intrauterine development is about 40 days, in the very last days before childbirth, the tummy of the female acquires a square shape.
But it must be taken into account that the course and duration of pregnancy, as well as the quality and quantity of litter, depends on the conditions of detention (on the length of daylight hours, water temperature and quality of feeding), and on the individual properties of the female. The female swordtail, which is ready for spawning, must be transferred to a separate container, planted with a large number of small-leaved and floating plants, their presence will allow the offspring to hide. Such a precaution is necessary because the female can immediately eat freshly swept fry.
For professional breeding of swordtails, aquarists use special aquariums - spawning tanks with a false bottom or plexiglass jigger (its top is covered with glass, which prevents the female from "escaping" from her temporary habitat), in the bottom of which slots are made. The fry, swept out by the female, fall down and, falling through these slots, fall to the bottom of the spawning ground. Having risen to the surface for the first breath, they no longer fall into the cage in which the female is located. The number of fry at a time is on average about 50, in large non-hybrid females - from 100 to 200 pieces (there are 25-30 fry in the first offspring, but then with each new spawning their number increases).
The female is separated from the fry after the end of the mark and returned to the general aquarium (this is possible only on the condition that the female does not starve due to lack of food). You can put it in a separate small container and feed it intensively for several days. If breeding of swordtails is planned in a common aquarium, it is advisable to plant small-leaved plants that form dense thickets in which fry could hide from adult fish. You can use all types of myriophyllum, toothed elodea, isoztis, cabomba, aponogeton leaves, vallisneria and others. If the birth took place in a common aquarium, then it is advisable to carefully remove the fry (for this purpose, you can use a net with small cells), since swordtails hunt fry and often eat them (if there are few plants in the aquarium, then only a small part of the offspring can remain alive ). Newborn fry are large and brightly colored, which greatly facilitates the hunt for them.
Growing swordfish fry in an aquarium
Quite large (about 10 millimeters), fully formed fry with an absorbed yolk sac are born (as a rule, in the morning). Having recovered at the bottom, they immediately begin to swim. Babies are well adapted to survival, at first they gather in a flock and stay in the upper layer of water, hiding among plants, rushing in all directions when danger approaches.
An interesting feature of swordtails was noticed: the ratio of males and females in the litter depends on the temperature of the water during their cultivation: at high temperatures (closer to 30°C) several times more males are born, at low temperatures (closer to 20°C) - much more females. Fry need weekly changes of up to a quarter of the volume of water, as they are demanding on cleanliness. Filtration and saturation of water with oxygen (aeration) is also necessary.
Starter food for newly born fry - Cyclops and Artemia nauplii, microworms, ciliates, nematodes, rotifers and other live food, for slightly grown up babies - cut tubifex, industrial food for fry of viviparous fish or the yolk of a boiled chicken egg (in the absence of live food - you can grind dry food into dust). A diet high in protein is needed, fry are fed frequently. With good and plentiful feeding, juveniles grow very quickly and after about 3 months they reach a size of about 5 cm. At this age, the first rays of the anal fin begin to lengthen in future males and a “sword” appears. To avoid uncontrolled mating, the fry should be seated at this moment in separate aquariums, separated by gender. The moment of onset of puberty depends on the temperature of rearing of juveniles (at the age of three to seven months). By the period of puberty, the anal fin of males begins to lengthen and sharpen, turning into a gonopodia (aggregate organ).
Fish feeding.
The life of swordtails, like other fish, depends on proper nutrition. With regard to food, they are unpretentious: they willingly take any food, still preferring living things: (cyclops, daphnia, bloodworm, tubifex, coretra, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae), they perceive frozen, dry and combined foods well. Swordtails also love vegetarian food. In order for the fish to have a bright color, it is necessary to include plant foods in their diet: algae, lettuce, spinach, nettle, peas, crushed oatmeal - if they lack such additives, they begin to eat plant leaves in the aquarium. If necessary (a business trip or a vacation of the owner), swordtails tolerate the absence of feeding for up to 2 weeks without significant damage to health. Especially if there are live algae in the aquarium, they can feed on various algal growths on the leaves of aquarium plants or aquarium glasses and on small snails, pulling them out of their shells. If the aquarium contains only swordtails, then all uneaten food should be removed after five minutes, since swordtails take food only from the surface of the water.
Prevention of diseases of the swordtail in the aquarium.
When buying swordsmen, you need to conduct a thorough inspection of them. It is important that there is no white coating on the bodies of the fish, a small rash, sores - all this indicates the presence of diseases. For prevention, newly acquired fish, before being released into the aquarium, should be kept in a salted “bath” (1 tablespoon of salt per 1 liter of water) for 15-20 minutes (this will help cleanse the outer integument of the fish from pathogens) . The health of the fish should be closely monitored.
Diseases can be caused by: violation of elementary conditions of detention, cold, melanosis or infection that is introduced with food. If fluffy formations appear on the fish, it must be placed in a bath for 10-12 minutes (10 grams of salt per liter of water). After the bath, the fish should be placed for a couple of days in a weak solution of methylene blue at a temperature of 22-24 ° C. Use tripaflavin for bruised scales and gill disease. In case of contagious diseases (the fish becomes covered with white dots or bubbles), it is necessary to add a weak solution of tripaflavin and slowly raise the water temperature to 30 ° C. A good result is the addition of biomycin (tablet per bucket of water). A day later, it is necessary to re-apply a reduced dose of biomycin (tablet per one and a half buckets of water). To avoid melanosis, only preventive measures are recommended (fish predisposed to melanosis should be kept at a temperature close to the minimum. Swordtails with large black spots sometimes have malignant tumors that can lead to death.
Swordbearer of Clementia.
Appearance.
Under natural conditions, it lives in the Mexican Sarabia River. The fish are 4 to 5.5 cm long, the female is much larger than the male. The body of the fish is silver-blue with two red longitudinal stripes. The back is painted in olive-beige, the sword of the male is yellowish with a black edging (the length of the sword is about 3.5 cm). An aquarium with a capacity of 30 liters is better suited for their maintenance; it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness and freshness of the water. The female spawns from 20 to 50 fry.
Demina Tatyana Vladimirovna
One of the most popular exotic domestic fish is the old-timer of many aquariums and the favorite of not only experienced but also beginner aquarists - the swordtail. Many breeders have liked Xiphophorus Helleri for its cheerful disposition, mobility, variety of shapes, species and colors, as well as unpretentiousness to living conditions. Nevertheless, it won’t hurt to learn some of the subtleties of keeping and caring for these fish, and this article will help with this.
The homeland of the swordsmen are Central America, Southern Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. These fish have chosen there overgrown reservoirs with slowly flowing or stagnant waters.
In nature, only green swordtails are found, and all aquarium varieties are artificially bred by selection and crossing with platies.
The fish were brought to Europe by the doctor and botanist B.K. Geller. They got their name for the xiphoid outgrowth on the caudal fin, which only males have (translated from Greek, xiphos is a sword, phoros is to carry).
Description
Aquarium swordtails have a body of 5-8 cm, elongated and laterally compressed. Their mouths are slightly upturned to make it easier to take food from the surface of the water. Females are larger with a prominent abdomen and rounded fins, are duller in color, and do not have a sword on the caudal fin. With good care, these fish can please owners for up to five years, which is considered the average life expectancy.
Initially, swordtails were only brownish-olive with a silvery sheen, a pale reddish stripe along the body and a yellow, red or green sword. But today many varieties of black, lemon, red color have been bred, there are even spotted individuals. Breeders also experimented with fins, resulting in fish with elongated fins and even with two swords.
Male swordsman of natural color.
Behavior in the aquarium
The character of the swordsmen is peaceful, they, as a rule, do not show aggression towards representatives of their own species. It can be kept in the same container with neons, tetras, minors, thorns, zebrafish, guppies, various types of catfish, angelfish, etc. It is undesirable to settle with veil fish, since the tails and fins of the latter are at risk of being plucked.
Swordtails should not be placed together with large aggressive fish such as astronotus, acara, cichlazoma and the like.
Within the species, skirmishes and fights can occur between males, especially if there are only two of them in the aquarium. Therefore, experienced aquarists recommend housing at least three male swordtails at the same time. 
How to arrange a habitat?
When choosing an aquarium, it is better to stop at a wide version, with a volume of at least 30 liters. The calculation should be such that one fish has three liters of water. The length of the container is recommended to be at least 30 cm. A lid or glass is required on top, as swordtails are very nimble and can accidentally jump out.
As for the quality of water, it is better to stick to the temperature within 18-26 degrees, hardness 8-22 DH, acidity 7-8 pH.
The purity of the water is very important, so installing a filter will be useful. Regularly (about once a week) you need to replace the water by a third of the volume of the aquarium, before having stood it for about a day.
To prevent diseases of the swordsmen, experts recommend adding a tablespoon of sea or table salt for every 10 liters of water. But this is not always possible, as it can negatively affect other inhabitants of the aquarium and plants.
Fish do not tolerate a lack of oxygen in the water, so aeration is a prerequisite for their maintenance.
Lighting should be good, but not in direct sunlight.
Swordsman color "koi".
The soil can be taken in any color and texture.
As for algae, for the background it is better to arrange dense thickets of kabomba, toothed elodea and the like. On the side of the aquarium, small-leaved and long Indian limnophila, glitter, and pinnate are planted. It is good to place Riccia on the surface of the water. The foreground should be free space for swimming and feeding.
You can decorate the aquarium with stones, grottoes, snags. But this is not necessary, since swordsmen do not need shelters.
What to feed?
Unpretentiousness in food is another of the advantages of these fish. But in order for their growth and development to be the best, nutrition should be diversified and alternated. What can be used?
- Dry, live and frozen food ().
- Vegetable food prepared independently (algae, spinach, nettle, lettuce leaves are scalded with boiling water and then crushed).
- Non-standard top dressing: boiled egg yolk, crackers, squid or boiled fish. Of course, everything must first be crushed.
Swordtails are not only omnivorous, but also prone to overeating, so fasting days and even a week-long hunger strike will not hurt them.
Remaining food should be removed so that the water in the aquarium stays clean longer.
A swordsman with a forked tail.
About diseases
These fish don't get sick very often. The main causes of diseases of the swordsmen are non-compliance with the conditions of detention, colds and infections that have come in with food.
After buying new pets, you need to especially carefully check them for plaque, fluff, rashes or sores on the body. If any of the above is present, then the fish is sick.
A salt bath (at the rate of one tablespoon of salt per liter of water) for 15-20 minutes will help treat your pet and prevent general infection in the aquarium. You can fix the effect of the bath by placing the fish for two days in a weak solution of methylene blue (temperature about 25 degrees).
For the treatment of diseases of the gills, scales, as well as for infectious individuals, trypaflavin and biomycin are used in solutions.
A female with an upper tail.
If the aquarium is overpopulated with female swordtails, then they can change their gender to male. At the same time, the xiphoid process grows in them and a gonopodium appears on the anal fin. Males do not have the gift of reincarnation.
Now, having studied the features of keeping and caring for swordtails, even novice lovers of these fish will be able to create ideal conditions for their pets.
A distinctive feature of the fish is, of course, the “sword” - a long process at the tail.
The fish are of medium size. The male can grow up to 11 cm without a "sword", and the female - up to 12 cm.
There are a lot of color variations: green, yellow, albinos, spotted, red, etc. In nature, they are green, fish of other colors are specially bred hybrids. In most fish, a stripe runs along the body.
Swordsmen: care and maintenance
Swordtails are unpretentious in content, easily bred, so they can often be seen even among beginner aquarists.
Nutrition
Under natural conditions, fish feed on fine algae, so food rich in fiber should be selected. It is preferable to buy flakes with a vegetable component, and use live food as a supplement.
Flakes and granules with spirulina, algae tablets are suitable as fiber-containing products for the main diet.
Swordtails with appetite eat any freeze-dried and dry food, they are not picky with live and frozen ones. They eat daphnia, bloodworms, brine shrimp.
Requirements for keeping swordtails in an aquarium
The fish is active, therefore, despite its small size, it needs enough space for a comfortable swim. It is recommended to purchase only one fish for an aquarium with a volume of 35 liters. To live in a family for breeding - 1 male and at least 2 females - you need a volume of 50 liters or more.
In terms of the preferred water temperature, aquarium swordtails are unpretentious: they can live in the range from 18 to 28 degrees Celsius, but they feel best at 23-35.
An ordinary water filter is sufficient for oxygenation and purification.
It is worth considering that the activity of swordsmen extends not only to the speed of swimming. They can easily jump out of an aquarium without a lid and high water levels. Therefore, the aquarium must be covered from above.
Fresh water should be added every week in a volume of up to 25%. You don't need to change often.
Fish love living vegetation, as in nature they live in its environment. The presence of plants helps in nutrition and contributes to the calm state of the fish.
The most successful plants for an aquarium with swordtails are:
- riccia;
- vallisneria;
- cryptocoryne.
It is not necessary to fill the entire aquarium with plants, so that there is an open space for swimming.
Compatibility with other fish
The swordtail is a fish that can behave aggressively with others, and males also fight among themselves. Therefore, it is better not to keep several males in one aquarium.
The cause of aggression may lie in the insufficient volume of the aquarium. Fish are not always unfriendly and may well get along with others.
But the swordsmen can live peacefully with almost everyone, medium-sized and some representatives of the veil (,).
Sexual differences of swordsmen
Determining the sex of a fish is very simple: only the male swordsman has the very “sword” that gave the name to the fish, the anal fin is pointed.
The female swordsman without a "sword", with a paler color and with a wide anal fin. And she has a simply unique property: in conditions of a shortage of males, she can change sex!
Swordtails: breeding in an aquarium 
Swordtails in the aquarium are bred very easily. It is necessary that there are two or three females per male.
The duration of pregnancy is 4-6 weeks. The term depends on the temperature of the water, the level of illumination and the characteristics of nutrition. You can understand that the term of childbirth is approaching, by the appearance of a dark spot at her anus.
At one time, from 15 to hundreds of fry are born. The frequency of spawning at the optimum water temperature can be monthly.
The main problem in breeding is to keep offspring. Sword fry become food for parents if this process is not controlled. In nature, fish never see offspring, so in the aquarium they take it for food. To keep babies, there are three options:
- Use a jigger made like a funnel. The female remains in it, and the fry fall into a separate aquarium.
- Place parents immediately after spawning in a separate aquarium.
- Use an aquarium for breeding, which has a lot of dense plants that can protect the young.
After spawning, the female should be housed separately and fed. Another interesting fact about females, in addition to the possibility of changing sex, is that she can then reproduce fry without a male. The female sometimes stores milk in herself and self-fertilizes.
To the conditions of keeping the fish, swordtails are unpretentious. It often happens that negligent owners keep their pets in three-liter jars, and the fish live and breed. But it is better not to bring the fish to such a state, but to provide them with good living conditions.
For fish of this species, you need to choose spacious and bright aquariums that are not overcrowded with various inhabitants. Due to the lack of light, they can become aggressive and attack their neighbors. In general, swordtails are calm fish, but old individuals can run amok.
In order to activate the breeding processes in swordtails, you need to raise the temperature of the water by one degree. The male will then begin courting the female. After fertilization, it is better to transfer the female to another aquarium, otherwise the male can torture her to death.
When you buy a new fish, always pay attention to the condition of its appearance. The presence of plaque on the body in the form of white grains or fluff will indicate a fungal disease. In this case, you should not immediately plant the swordsman in a common aquarium.