Swordtail Pineapple wagtail - Xiphophorus helleri

The Pineapple Wagtail Swordtail Xiphophorus helleri is a particularly beautiful representative of the live-bearing toothcarps. Xiphophorus helleri originates from Central America and South America. There the ornamental fish live in fast flowing rivers with a lot of plants, partly up to the river mouths, where the water has already a light salt content.

Here you buy a mixed sex group of the attractive and beautiful swordtail Pineapple Wagtail.

The Pineapple Wagtail swordtail is predominantly silvery to yellow like a pineapple and has a more or less pronounced red dorsal coloration. The caudal fin is mostly black. In males, the spectacular sw ord on the caudal fin is black or bicolored red and black. Males are about 12 cm long when fully grown, and the sword is about 4 cm long. Female swordtails do not carry a sword, they grow quite large at about 12 cm. Late males look like females for a long time. They also have the body shape of a strong female swordtail later on, but they are able to reproduce. You can recognize them by their gonopodium, which is formed from the anal fin.

As a live-bearing toothcarp, the swordtail gives birth to its fry alive. The females store the male's sperm for a long time after mating and can then have several more litters without mating again. A litter of swordtails can contain up to 150 larvae. Adult Pineapple Wagtail swordtails eat the fry, thereby keeping the offspring in numbers. Swordtail fry are already 6-9 millimeters long at birth. In the aquarium, a few fry of the swordtail always come through, if the tank is really well planted, so that the little ones can hide.

Swordtails like to swim in a shoal with their conspecifics and therefore must not be kept individually. They like medium to hard water and do very well with a slight addition of salt to the aquarium water. A water temperature of 20-28 °C is optimal for Xiphophorus helleri "Pineapple Wagtail".

Swordtails are quite closely related to Guppies and Platies and even crossbreed with Platies. The socialization of swordtails with other small to large peaceful fish in the community tank works fine. Also with larger shrimps like Amano shrimps or fan shrimps the aquarium keeping works well. Even with peaceful dwarf crayfish species from the genus Cambarellus swordtails tend to have no problems, while smaller dwarf shrimp and especially their young are sometimes eaten. With well reproducing dwarf shrimps like Neocaridina it can work out in the aquarium with swordtails, if there are enough hiding places and moss cushions for the shrimps.

In nature, small crustaceans, mosquito larvae, worms and insects can be found on the menu of swordtails in addition to algae and soft water plants. Pineapple Wagtail swordtails also love their green food in the aquarium. In addition to algae, they like to nibble on soft vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini, squash, scalded spinach leaves, dandelion or nettle leaves). Then aquarium plants also tend to be spared more. Flake food for omnivorous aquarium fish and food granules for livebearers are taken very readily, and frozen food or live food such as grindal, water fleas or mosquito larvae completes the menu of the Pineapple Wagtail Swordtail.