# update on sword fry



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

They were born last November. I have given one away when it got big. Then another started to mature. he has grown into a very nice fish and is just starting to get his tail. he is as big as mom--1 1/2 inches. Since i removed him from the fry tank another fry has started to grow . He is about 1/2inch long now.The remaining fry is approx. 3/8 inches but is a smaller build than the one that is currently growing. I find this very odd that only one matures at a time. 
The platy fry all seem to develop at about the same rate as do the guppies.
mouse


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

Read somewhere that they can produce hormones that inhibit the growth of the others. I think it was on the forum here. Kinda weird, huh? I just moved some of my sword fry into a newly(ish) set up 29 gallon in the hopes that they will really start growing faster again. They're about 2 months old now and about an inch.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

sounds like yours are bigger than mine! mine are just soooo slow growing.
mouse


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

From the same batch, I have some that are about 1/2 the size of the bigger ones. But I'm guessing some of that is males and females size differences. Heavens knows they all eat like piggies. No one is missing out on the food. I'm thinking since I moved more than 1/2 of them into another tank, they'll grow fast again. Plus, I do really frequent water changes 'cause I know I overfeed in an attempt to make sure the snails and cories are getting lots of food. 

One reason mine may be bigger is because my female is like mutant huge! LOL Prolly just in the genes.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I have been watching my runt baby sword and it ignores all the fish food I put in .it swims after the sinking flakes, tastes them and then spits them out.
it is always nibbling at the algae though. maybe it would grow faster if it took some flakes. it does like bloodworm scrapings.
My strapping young male is now developing his sword. If you look closely at the tale under a bright light you can see the cells starting to differentiate and 'thicken 'into the sword shape. 
Absolutely fascinating. I do have time on my hands, so get to study the fish closely.
mouse


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## sumpthinfishy (Jan 21, 2005)

You know I have seen some of my sword fry do the same thing. Not so much in this batch, but the previous one. THere were just a few who didn't seem to care for most of the food and were much smaller than the others. I wonder if moistening an algae wafer and getting some of the soft mushy part scraped off might be more appealing since they seem to like the algae. My nursery tank I have in front of a window just to grow algae for babies. That way when we're away on weekends, I'm not as concerned about them not having enough to eat. But the wafer may be worth a try.

I've not noticed swords coming on my males yet. I can see they're males by a black line on the bottom of their body going toward the tail like on the daddy fish. But no emerging swords. Dang it. I can't wait to see that. My previous batch I had sent to a friend in Missouri so I never got to see that. But I've got TONS of these. THere were over 60 in one batch!


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