# Algae Eating Swordtails?



## piotrkol1 (Jan 12, 2006)

I've noticed that my two female swordtails are often nipping at the algea that's on the plants/decorations in my tank. Is this normal or is this some kind of indication that they are starving? Also, one of the females tends to chase the other one around a lot.


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## PaulLamb (Nov 15, 2009)

This is normal. Swordtails are algae grazers by design (compare the anatomy of their mouths to guppies, for example), so they have a natural instinct to snack on algae (sometimes in organized packs if you have several swordtails, which is pretty cool to watch). They'll also eat some varieties of live plants if you have those. I doubt they are underfed (especially if you are concerned enough about it to ask) .. they just have a nice healthy appetite.


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