i think that the platy they gave me is a coldwater swordtail. due to the fact that it is twice the size of my other platies and it doesnt have the same markings. not like i really care that its a swordtail but i have it in a breeding net because it is pregnant and i thought it was going to have babies soon.
i know a little about platies but i need to know what is the difference between platies and swordtails,
IN Regards to breeding, feeding and babies.
thanks!
2007-12-18 11:41:16 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
it was a swordtail, i dont know what sort.
it is labelled at the petshop as a coldwater swordtail (one must have been put in the wrong tank) because now they have more there.
i dont know what they are called im just going by what they have written on the tanks in the petshop.
2007-12-19 11:58:57 · update #1
they have 3 sections in the fish shop,
natives- (aussie fish)
tropical- all the good fish i would kill.
coldwater - I only get coldwater fish.
the platies and swordtails are in this section.
2007-12-19 12:01:28 · update #2
Coldwater? Weird, I don't think there are coldwater swordtails...
If they sold you a swordtail, a female should like a platy with an elogated body. A male will have the same body shape, a gonipodium, and a sword on the bottom of his tail. Platys are much more stout than a swordtail. As for coloration, there can be no tell-tale difference as these fish are livebearers, thus are easy to breed and have many MANY different colors and named varieties (wag, mickey-mouse, dalmation, etc).
Feeding both fish are pretty much the same. Flake foods and frozen will keep them happy and healthy. Fry/breeding are the same. Livebearers and gestation of about a month or so, depending on tank conditions.
Breeding, it's best to keep more females to each male (3-1 ratio is great) that way the females have some "time off" the male's mating game which is never ending. It doesn't matter what color variety of sword/platy you get, they will interbreed color varieties (I do not mean species). Unless you want to breed a specific color or trait, it won't matter the variety.
GL
2007-12-18 13:02:05 · answer #1 · answered by frosty 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no such thing as "coldwater swordtail". You are simply referring to Swordtail. Swordtails are the closest cousin of the Platy. There are different types of swordtails avaulable so I don't know what kind of "marking" your talking about.
Platies and swordtails are basically the same except in swordtails, the male has a sword-tail (hence the name) extension at the end of the caudal (tail) fin.
Swordtails and platies have the same thing. So I will just discuss both of them. A male platy/swordtail has a gonopodium which looks like the anal fin has been folded. Swordtails are livebearers which means that they get gravid/pregnant, whatever you wanna call it. They give birth to live babies every month or a month and a half. When the babies are born, you can feed them infusoria or you can feed them finely crushed flake food that you feed them.
As for the adults, flakes and some addtional frozen treats would be a great stapled diet. You can also add some vegetable matter in their diet.
2007-12-18 11:54:15 · answer #2 · answered by C#R!$ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a little difficult to tell with females, since both belong to the same genus (Xiphophorus). The female swordtails should be larger, but there are more than one variety of swords, and some of the less common species would be about the same size as platies. There's also a fish sold as a "sunset platy" (variatus) which are generally smaller than the typical platies when you buy them, but they can catch and surpass the regular platies in size. See the species at the bottom of this page: http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/list.aspx?category=3 You can click on each to get more info about the size of the fish.
Markings aren't necessarily a way to distinguish species, since so many "strains" are developed for their colors - "wags", "mickey mouse", "tuxedos", etc.
2007-12-18 12:00:01 · answer #3 · answered by copperhead 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well the female swordtails look just like platys. if its a male then it would have a pointy tail. get it. swordtail. anyways. It probally is one because they get up to 4 inches big. there both tropical fish to. and by maby 1 or 2 more swordtails so it will have a little company.
2007-12-18 13:40:47 · answer #4 · answered by stephen G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If what you assert is actual then IMO you're able to settle for accountability for no longer checking the fish in the previous you went to the checkout. How do you be attentive to the server replaced into new that day and in case you probably did be attentive to on an identical time as interior the keep then each and every of the extra reason to envision your fish. you're able to continuously look on the fish in the previous you purchase. no longer purely for volume or species yet for high quality.
2016-11-03 23:56:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
swordtails are not cold water fish, they are tropicals, just like your platy.
Treat the babies the same and you will be fine.
2007-12-18 11:47:54 · answer #6 · answered by Nature Mother 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cool. If you have a sword tail obviously it's tail will be sticking out like a sword. Platties (I think) dont have that. But I do know that guppies, mollies, platties, and s. tails are all in the same family.
2007-12-18 11:48:13 · answer #7 · answered by Betta92 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋