Xiphophorus helleri (neon)

Xiphophorus  helleri(( lyretail))

One of the most popular varieties of Xiphophorus helleri among aguarium hobbyists is the lyretail one , also called the dragon swordtail. 

This type of swordtail is very hard to breed, since most of the swordtails available in the hobby today are hybrids of X.helleri with X.maculatus and some times X.variatus.

They prefer medium-hard water with a pH 7.2-7.4 and a temperature of 25C.

Up to six broods may be released after one single mating each one as large as 25-30 fry.

In my exrerience with the Xiphophorus genus I keep the females in separate tanks,, away from the males in order to control the number of births. I would also like to note that you should never keep female swortails and platies together with male guppies (poecilia reticulata) to avoid unnatural hybrids.

Never use  floating breeding traps for breeding them because these traps cause too much stress to the   females. I prefer to put them in a small (40-60 lit) well planted tank so they can give birth in a natural way and not eat the fry.                   

Photos and fry by Manthos Vagionakis