The Great Algae Eating Fish Freshwater in Tropical Tanks: Green Swordtail

The Great Algae Eating Fish Freshwater in Tropical Tanks: Green Swordtail – The Swordtail Xiphophorus hellerii is extremely popular. It's very hardy and among the prettiest aquariam fish. In the wild, it has an olive green body with yellow and red along the sides and at times brilliant speckles on its fins. With this specific coloration, it is mostly known as the Green Swordtail or the Red Swordtail. However, in captivity, it has been bred into the incredible shades that make it so highly prized now.

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The Great Algae Eating Fish Freshwater in Tropical Tanks: Green Swordtail

The Swordtail comes in a variety of colors together with the males being readily identified by their signature sword like tail. The Swordtail is an exceptionally hardy fish that could adjust to a wide selection of water conditions. They are livebearers which implies the infant fish come free swimming out. Please take a look at the breeding livebearers page to learn more if you're thinking about breeding them.

The Green Swordtail is similar in shape to both the Guppy as well as the Platy fish. This specialized anal fin develops as the male fish grows. The central rays of the anal fin are changed into a narrow copulatory organ.

Feeding

In the wild, swordtails are omnivores, and feed on a variety of invertebrates, insects, plant matter and alga. This diet should be reproduced as strongly as possible in the home aquarium and could be realized through feeding a variety of foods. The main percentage of their diet must consist of a top quality flake food, also it should be supplements with frozen or live foods and blanched vegetables.

Habitat: Supply

Heckel described the Green Swordtail Xiphophorus hellerii in 1848. They've been found in North and Central America, where they range from your Atlantic slopes of southern Mexico (Rio Nantla, Veracruz) to northwestern Honduras. They become established in, and have been introduced to, a number of nations in southern Africa and along the eastern coast of Australia.

Swordtail Temperament / Behaviour

The swordtail is a litte fish that is tough. When there are larger fish in the tank they can look after themselves. The males may become aggressive.

Sexing

The male is also more slender and has a "sword" shaped anal fin called a gonopodium.

There is an occasional tendency to get a female Swordtail to change sex and develop a "sword" on her tail, particularly when old or impacted by parasites. Though many the time they may be infertile she could even try courtship with a different female.

Care

Selection of décor is not especially critical though it tends to look best in a heavily-put setup with a dark substrate. Wild types should also suit an aquarium ordered to resemble a flowing stream with water-worn rocks and small boulders. The inclusion of driftwood roots or branches as well as some floating plants to diffuse the light entering the tank adds a more natural feel and also appears to be valued. Though it will appear to value an amount of water movement filtration does not need to be especially strong.

Breeding

Like other live bearers, swordtails will normally breed without any intervention from their owners on their own. There is a familiar joke that to get swordtails to breed, only add water – and this isn’t far from the reality.

Behavior and Compatibility

In confined spaces groups may invest an important proportion of time maintaining their various places and of males tend to form dominance hierarchies.