Qattarra Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 I'm trying to find more info on why the swordtails are apparently all born female but that it seems the majority are becoming male, a high ratio of males. I found this article in which during the farming of these tilapia , they are being fed fenugreek type extract product to cause the sex change. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/germans_palesti.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FLIP Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 I had a female that turned male before it was cool its fins became all spikey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 (edited) as far as I understand that is just an old Axelrod myth that sword tails change sex. It is more likely that some males will not develop if there are other males around, kind of a subdominant thing. Edited July 24, 2007 by Sam Chicklets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 According to other articles , they are all born female and some then develop as males after birth.IMO they are not "changing" sexes neccisarily, just developing. I believe there must be an external factor such as heat , salt or maybe PH that influences the number of male development. If you ask Terrie you'll find that she is getting (as well as I am too) a very high percentage of male development. I think I may set up 2 different birth tanks and experiment with these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrie Lee Posted July 24, 2007 Report Share Posted July 24, 2007 That I am Sue. Also there is a very large very dominant male sword already in there and the articles say he should retard the growth of young males. Yet whenever I pop some "female" fish I bought somewhere else in there within a month they become males. This throws off my male to female ratios and I have to go buy more fish. Th only thing I can think of is that my swordtail tank is slightly warmer than my other tanks. I can't seem to get it below 80 F. Where my other tanks are usually 76-78F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spcy Posted July 25, 2007 Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 I also started out with 5 males and 10 females. I now have 8 US males, At war with everybody, and 2 females that are swimming for there very lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapeape Posted July 25, 2007 Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 I think I read somewhere that temp helps determine sex. Maybe Toirtis could confirm/deny any link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted July 25, 2007 Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 With a lot of cichlids this is true. And it is only a few degrees tha makes the difference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted July 25, 2007 Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 Temperature having an effect on gender determination is true in at least some fish, and many lizards....to the extent that one can incubate certain lizard/crocodilian eggs at a specific temp and come out with all male, all female, or a split of both. I am not certain to what degree temperature may effect Xiphophorus gender determination in fry, but I will have a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.