# Swordtail housing and numbers



## Guest (Feb 14, 2007)

how many swordtails could i put in an empty 16 gallon tank? empty meaning no other fish in the tank.;-) also, i have heard that males are somewhat aggresive. if this is true, what would be the best male to female ratio? i think that a 1:3 ratio would prolly be best. what do you think? Thanks
Andrew


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

In an empty 16G tank I wouldn't put any fish in there.
But after you fill it up with water you could have 8-10 swords in there. 1:3ratio is good to go by.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2007)

sorry, i ment to say "water but no fish"
Andrew


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Swordtails aren't as bad about aggression as mollies but remember they are live bearers and they will reproduce quickly. They get to about 2-3" so 10 is a bit much for a 16 gal. Two males and 4 females would work nicely....until you get fry. A cool thing about swordtails is, when you put two or more males together with the females the dominant males tail will grow really long. It's a guy thing. LOL


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2007)

i was told that a 16 would be too small for swordtails but i think that 10 would be too many. i was going to start with a trio of them, one male and two females then add another trio after the tank is finished cycling. or would it be better to add them all at once? i understand about the fry thing. i would either sell them or use them as fishfood.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2007)

1 male to 2 females is good-you could add 3 trios 1 at a times


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

every time I have only 2 females in a tank the stronger beats the weaker one up. Maybe you can have more than 2 females. I even had a female with her 2 daughters and she beat them up too. She barely tolerated the male.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2007)

i like the three trios idea. for each trio, i would add a diffeent color. three koi, three green, and either three lyre tails or black. is their any way to make sure the different strains don't breed w/eachother w/o sepparating them? thanks


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

nope you would have to seperate them all.
other than that you are going to get mixes and you won't have pure lines anymore.


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