{"id":2417,"date":"2019-11-22T09:44:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T09:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/?p=2417"},"modified":"2019-10-22T09:54:21","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T09:54:21","slug":"swordtail-xiphophorus-helleri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/swordtail-xiphophorus-helleri\/","title":{"rendered":"Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Characteristics\/origin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The swordtail gets its name from the shape of its tail fin. The\nlower part of the fin sticks out like a sword and often measures up to a third\nof its total body length. However, only the males have this sword-like part on\ntheir tail fins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Xiphophorus helleri<\/em> come from Central America,\nwhere they can be found from Mexico to Guatemala. They belong to the\nlive-bearing toothcarp family. Kept correctly, the males can grow to up to 10\ncm in length (not counting the sword-like part of the tail fin). The females\nare a little larger. They can also live to 5 years of age. They were originally\nbrown and green in colour but, thanks to the different breeds and cross-breeds,\nthere are now many different bred species; those with red colourings are\nparticularly popular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aquarium and water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To create an appropriate environment, <em>Xiphophorus helleri<\/em>\nshould be kept in an aquarium with a minimum volume of 100 litres. Swordtails\ncan be kept in aquarium water at tropical temperatures of 20\u00b0C to 27\u00b0C.\nIdeally, the water should be neutral to slightly alkaline (pH value: 7.0 \u2013 8.5)\nwith a hardness level of approx. 10 \u2013 30\u00b0 dGH. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keeping conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swordtails tend to form groups, and should therefore be kept in a\nshoal with many conspecifics. It is recommended to always keep just one male\nwith several females because male swordtails can be very aggressive toward one\nanother. Given their highly adaptable nature, these fish are suitable for\ncommunity tanks. However, they should not be mixed with small and very\nsensitive fish. They work particularly well with robust barbs, other\nlive-bearing toothcarps and bottom-feeding fish like catfish. Swordtails tend\nto prefer the middle to upper regions of the aquarium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One distinguishing feature of the male <em>Xiphophorus helleri<\/em> is that there are two types: early-maturing and late-maturing. Late-maturing males develop their sexual characteristics very late and are often mistaken for females at first. Early-maturing males develop their sexual  <br>characteristics at an early stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"572\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/swordtail_2_72-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/swordtail_2_72-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/swordtail_2_72-1-800x381.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/swordtail_2_72-1-768x366.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Planting and decoration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There should be abundant vegetation around the edges of the\naquarium to allow the fish to withdraw and hide. You can also add a few\nfloating plants. However, there must always be enough space for the fish to\nswim. It is also recommended to put a lid or cover on your aquarium because\nswordtails are very good jumpers.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Diet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swordtails are omnivores and can be fed dry food, live food and frozen food. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tetra.net\/en-gb\/products\/tetramin\">TetraMin <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tetra.net\/en-gb\/products\/tetrapro-multi_crisps-menu\">Tetra Menu<\/a> are particularly suitable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Characteristics\/origin The swordtail gets its name from the shape of its tail fin. The lower part of the fin sticks out like a sword and often measures up to a third of its total body length. However, only the males have this sword-like part on their tail fins. Xiphophorus helleri come from Central America, where [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) | Tetra Fishkeeper Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/swordtail-xiphophorus-helleri\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) | Tetra Fishkeeper Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Characteristics\/origin The swordtail gets its name from the shape of its tail fin. The lower part of the fin sticks out like a sword and often measures up to a third of its total body length. However, only the males have this sword-like part on their tail fins. 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