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Having previously only kept and bred Red Eyed Red Swordtails, I had a wide choice of Xiphophorus species to pick from for a new venture. Having seen all the species via a range of photos as well as benched fish at Shows, I liked the look of the "montezumae". This particular species also provided me with many differently marked varieties to choose from. Its beautiful long sword is an eyecatcher and the dorsal fin, when erect, shows (in my particular strain) black speckles which is another good feature I went to the auction at Otley where Keith Myers kindly gave me 5 fish;- certainly one good male with a nice long sword, 2 females and 2 smaller fish still to sex out. Although the "first" male (photo below) was nicely proportioned it was a fairly small, slightly built fish and this would prove significant later..  I put them in a well planted 24" tank, temperature around 73F where they soon settled in. As the weeks went by, one of the unsexed fish was beginning to develop a sword. As his body developed, so did the sword and his colours. With all these advantages it was obvious he was going to be the dominant, handsome male. He was soon "bossing the show" and driving off the other male, to stake his claim upon the females. The chasing didn't cause any damage either physically or stresswise, it just meant the "loser" used the dense plants as a safe zone. During the distraction of feeding time there was no aggression. As well as an attractively long sword (approx 4 cms) the male in this particular strain, has a lovely blue sheen which can be seen in the photo below.  They were avid eaters of Spirulina flake, bloodworm, Black Mosquito larva and Daphnia. After 5 weeks the females had grown quite a bit in size and were beginning to show gravid spots. A few days later, even though the females weren't too big, I unexpectedly found 5 fry swimming around, each around 1/2cm. A small drop but these were her first ever fry. They were left in the tank with the parents and were not attacked. Two weeks later and the other female dropped her first young and again a small number- only 6 fry. As can be seen in the photo below, the females are not drab fish and have some of the males blue sheen.  The third drop of fry was more like the number I would expect;- around 20 fry were swimming easily among the plants. These seemed physically more stable than the first two small drops and fed well. For their early food, I crumbled some Spirulina flake among the plants near the bottom of the tank and dropped in some Microworm. After 2 weeks none were lost and fitted in very easily with the whole group. Summary ;- Not "rocket science", simply a highly recommended Xiphophorus species! An attractive swordtail with a more subtle colouring than the vivid shade of my previous breeding venture, the Red Eyed Reds. In the "montezumae" species there are other variants in colour, all with their own appeal and of course all having the beautiful long sword. I do tend to like "bluey" fish anyway and enjoyed breeding this one. Not at all demanding as regards tank requirements;- just keep up the usual regular water changes and the colony will thrive. |
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