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Common Name- Albino alvarezi swordtail
Water Conditions- Not Critical. Temp
72-80, Some water movement,
plants
Behavior- Very peaceful community
fish.
Breeding- Separate gravid females into
separate tank. May eat fry.
10-20 Young after approx.30 days.
Size- Females- 3.5 inches, Males- 4.0
inches (including sword)
This line was generated from a series of spontaneous
mutations that occurred in 2007.
While working to isolate wild X. alvarezi that
produced fish with 4-5 deep red stripes on their
sides, the first generation for this albino line was produced.
A previous line was developed here in 2005, and sold at the
American Livebearer
Convention from a
mutation, and has since been seen on
Aquabid, etc.
Unfortunately,
though a large fish with red in the dorsal, they often grew
old without reproducing.
This line has proven to be an entirely different albino sport. The
red is abundant along the sides
in an intense bright red, against an ivory or translucent
golden body. They are not as large
as the previous line, but its size has increased with each
generation. Most importantly,
they have proven to be fairly prolific, without the
production of
the large females that
fail to become gravid, as was the case with the earlier
line.
The care advised for the normal
X. alvarezi applies
here, but being an albino fish, they are
slightly less hardy, in that young should be raised up in a
small tank or net breeder by
themselves to keep an eye on them, and provide immediate
access to food. As adults I
would choose tankmates carefully- the long
swords on the males are a beautiful
light
yellow, and may prove too tempting for fin nippers.
I make sure to provide them with live or frozen
brine shrimp,
daphnia, etc. on a regular
basis and take particular care to keep their tanks free of
excess organic waste, to keep this
particularly striking fish looking at its best. As the
young are smaller (being
albino), it is
best to assume that females should be moved to drop their fry
to a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium
with some Java moss. After they are
born and the female is removed, either the majority
of the plants are removed and the young are raised in the
tank, or the fry are gently caught
on day 2 or 3 and moved into a net breeder to be raised up,
until they can fend for themselves..
The males exhibit typical swordtail
behavior in that they spend much of their time chasing
one another. Breeding in
trios would work best, but here the best fish are bred here in
29 talls
in groups, the females removed as they become gravid. In time
I can see selectively breeding
the females for the greatest amount of color, as some
of them are spectacular with
3-5 deep red lines on their sides against a near transparent
body.
See
other Care Guides Here
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