Swordtail sex changes

[cichlidfish]

I've been breeding swordtails for awhile, and I have been noticing late sex changes. Is 3'' kind of weird from going from female to male? I have a male that is almost the same size and as fat as his mom. He is almost double the size of the father. This male is the largest male I have ever seen. Is this a freak of nature? I have 9 females and 5 males.

 

[Lupin]

I can only theorize the male is a late developer. I'm confused by your first post. What is the size of the largest male? If it bothers you, I had a friend who had a 7-inch female swordtail for eight years but that was a few years back and I don't know if he still has the fish. Swordtails can reach max size if given the proper care which most of us usually don't.

 

[cichlidfish]

I can only theorize the male is a late developer. I'm confused by your first post. What is the size of the largest male? If it bothers you, I had a friend who had a 7-inch female swordtail for eight years but that was a few years back and I don't know if he still has the fish. Swordtails can reach max size if given the proper care which most of us usually don't.

He was a late developer. I just never seen it happen so late, and at 3-4'' lnog. Usually males are in the 2'' range. I would love to see a 7'' female. The biggest I have is 4''. I guess a lot of swordtails (not wild) have platty genes, so they don't get that large.
So they can change sex at any age or size?

 

[Druu]

No, just a late developer. When you look at platy of swordtail fry, they've all got the female looking anal fin.

 

[Lupin]

The sex change is still being debated but as far as I know, it's just that most males are very late developers that some people think their female swordtails are really changing sexes. This is why you shouldn't buy males with well developed swords at 2 inches and below in length as they may already be fully matured which results in smaller generations of swordtails. I used to see plenty of swordtails at 5 inches in length but they somehow diminish and I see more at 2.5-3 inches rather.