Male Swordtail Terror 6/26/08
Hello Neale and all WWM Crew. Happy Summer to you.
<And to you>
This is a question on a male swordtail terrorizing the other two in a
125 gallon tank.
The end string below summarizes our fish quantity, but recap is 50 fish;
community of platys, swords, mollis, Corys.
There are 7-8 assorted female swords. There are 3 males; a medium
pineapple, a small black (mature, and a large red 'standard LFS' male.
All have been in the tank 6 months to a year. The tank has corner pumps,
many fake rocks, plastic grass, etc to hide in. Early on the very large
red male was boss and would harass the black one only, who has never
attained great size. This stopped. All was calm. Now the very large red
is no longer the kingpin male.
Though not the largest, the pineapple has begun to really harass, chase,
and bite the black and the red.
<Strange>
Both are becoming skinny, show fin loss, and hide in corners. They can't
get to food without being chased the length of the tank. They are not
diseased in any way.
With 7 females, we thought we were ok; decided to let nature take its
course over the last two weeks. But we couldn't stand it, the pineapple
is downright being a brute. Today we isolated the pineapple in a large
plastic colander in the 125 tank.
<Good move>
Here are what we feel are our options:
1. Buy more females and hope for the best in the 125 tank.
2. Move the pineapple to a 10 gallon empty fry tank that is operating,
along with two females. Hope he wears himself out and the other two
recover and fatten up in the 125 tank.
3. Move the red and black male swords to the fry tank along with 4
females to fatten up.
4. Do nothing and hope for the best. (We feel the two harassed swords
will die of starvation if we do this.)
5. Hang the pineapple from a yardarm in front of the other fish as a
lesson at high noon.
<Heeee! Hang 'em high!>
Please tell what you think and elaborate as to the +/- of each option.
Many thanks,
Rosemary and Don
<I would go with #1... and possibly try changing the food. Do look into
supplanting what you use with Spectrum pellets... sometimes nutritional
deficiency can be a large player in affecting fish behavior. I have
found this food to be excellent nutritionally, very palatable (to the
fishes!), and a calming influence. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Re: Male Swordtail Terror/Food, Ratio Males to Females 6/27/08
Mr. Fenner,
<Rose and Don>
Many thanks for your helpful reply. Our pineapple sword remains in
solitary on bread and water pending purchase of more female swords.
<Good>
Missed asking the question of what ratio of males to females might solve
our problem. If 2.33 to 1 is not working (7 Females and 3 males), how
many females total would be appropriate for 3 male swordtails in our 125
gallon tank with the current animosity?
<"The more the merrier"... at least three to one... Am now humming a
modified Beach Boys tune...>
We feed twice daily. Always daily Wardly Algae Tablets (Corys and the
rubber lips), and alternate Tetra Tropical Flakes with shrimp pellets or
blood worms. We never personally thought much of the shrimp pellets, too
messy.
How does that sound for balance and nutrition?
<I'd add some more with greens, or greens themselves...>
Anything there a waste of time? We will immediately add in the Spectrum
Community Pellets to the mix when we get to the LFS>
<Is a great product... as you and your aquatic charges will find>
Thanks again and cheers,
Rosemary and Don
<And to you, BobF>
Re: Male Swordtail Terror/Food, Ratio
Males to Females Update - 7/1/08
Hello WWM gang, our problem remains.
<Really?>
Please see the string below.
We made a thorough count and had 8 female swords. The black male died of
stress/malnutrition while the pineapple male was in the cage, so after 5
days in the cage we let the pineapple male out. The LFS had zero quality
swords this week so we declined to buy. We thought we were in the clear with
the 4:1 female to male ratio (8:2 in our tank now). Would add that all 3
males and several females had been in our tank for close to a year.
The pineapple male sword hid for a half day after we let him out to play,
then began to harass the larger remaining red male sword relentlessly (the
red hides behind power filters, more nipped fins and really skinny).
<Dang!>
We increased feed to 3 times a day to fatten up the male red sword, ensure
he could get to food. Added fresh peas to the feed with the spectrum
pellets, flakes, algae pellets. After two days of terror, we again put the
pineapple male in the cage. The red sword is now totally normal, in the
open, and eating well with the pineapple male locked up.
<Good>
Our other fish count is 7 platys, 9 guppies, 10 Corys, 1 Pleco, and 8
mollies. We are close to our normal imposed limit on fish (50) for 125
gallons. We have good water and can add more female swords if you think it
best still.
<I am considering suggesting trading in the one male, isolating it
permanently or suggesting destroying it>
Question is, if 8 females: 2 males does not divert attention of the male
pineapple from the red male sword, will 10:2 or 12:2 be better?
<Too likely not>
What should we do? Should we add a bigger male sword and hope to change some
dynamic in the tank? Should we let the pineapple out, let him kill the red
one, get it over with, and have 8 females and the 1 pineapple male?
<This IS likely what I'd do>
We have not had this extreme behavior before, so we are at a loss. Any
thoughts appreciated.
Cheers,
Rosemary and Don
<Have seen this rogue behavior a few times... even in humans... BobF>
Re: Male Swordtail Terror/Food, Ratio
Males to Females Update - 7/2/08
Many thanks, sir.
<Certainly welcome>
We favor letting the pineapple out and accept what happens as you suggest.
<I see>
Our reasons are these: In our area, pineapples are difficult to find, reds
are dime a dozen; the red may die anyway given the stress; and the dynamics
may change and the pineapple may gravitate toward a female.
<Mmm>
Strange to us (is it to you?) that for all this aggressive behavior, we have
not seen the pineapple express any interest what so ever in nuzzling up to
females since we got him a year ago.
<Interesting... as a reality and observation... Am given to wonder here.
Perhaps this really isn't a "real" male... the genetics/expression of sex
and traits, behavior in poeciliids is a bit more complex than humans,
companion animals that most people are more familiar with... Perhaps we
should "chat" this up a bit>
We appreciate your most helpful site. Spent 5 hours last night just reading
FAQ's on different subjects, feeding, chemistry, and breeding. Wonderful
service to aquarium owners that you have going.
Sincerely,
Don (and Rose)
<Ahh! A pleasure to share. BobF>
|
