Swordtail

Who a Swordtail suits

For a community tank with length to swim in — these patrol in confident sweeps and want horizontal room more than decoration. Sociable and easy. Keep an eye on the ratio of males, since polite fencing turns into genuine harassment when the numbers are wrong.

How to build the bond: Keep more females than males — a peaceful school greets you brighter. That sits on top of how the species works generally: The bond is stewardship — stable water, fixed feeding hours, your face at the glass until it means safety. Ritual is the whole language.

The Swordtail against the other nineteen

Lined up stillest to liveliest, the Swordtail is 15th of the twenty fish breeds here, one of 6 in the lively band — the energy arrives whether or not it was planned for, so the question is never whether it gets spent but on what.

Ordered by how near each one sits to the Swordtail on the energy axis, then by the notes they have in common. Every fish breed reads this table from its own position, so no two of the twenty are ordered alike.

The birth years a Swordtail sits easiest with

This half of the reading is the species rather than the breed — every fish meets a given birth year the same way. These are the communities that sit easiest with one:

• Whale Spirit Guardian—1948,1960,1972,1984and later
• Lion Spirit Guardian—1950,1962,1974,1986and later
• Cat Spirit Guardian—1951,1963,1975,1987and later
• Elephant Spirit Guardian—1959,1971,1983,1995and later

A birth year outside that list is not a warning — it is the half of the reading this page cannot settle on its own. Seat the pair on the board and it reads the rest. What the fish is like as a companion applies to the Swordtail as much as to the other nineteen.

A pairing that involves an animal returns a word rather than a percentage. The board's deepest layer reads two inner selves against each other and an animal cannot hold one, so the result is described rather than scored — what is read here is the keeper's birth year against the species, and the breed decides everything about living with it day to day. An animal does get a chart of its own once its birth hour is known, one rung further up.

Frequently asked

What is a Swordtail like to live with?

A platy with a rapier — swordtails patrol the tank in confident sweeps, males fencing politely over territory while the school greets the glass. On the energy axis this catalogue uses, the Swordtail reads as lively — 15th of the twenty fish breeds here when they are lined up stillest to liveliest.

Who is a Swordtail a good match for?

For a community tank with length to swim in — these patrol in confident sweeps and want horizontal room more than decoration. Sociable and easy. Keep an eye on the ratio of males, since polite fencing turns into genuine harassment when the numbers are wrong.

How do you bond with a Swordtail?

Keep more females than males — a peaceful school greets you brighter. That sits on top of how the species works generally: The bond is stewardship — stable water, fixed feeding hours, your face at the glass until it means safety. Ritual is the whole language. The thing that most reliably undoes it — Neglect shows before it harms — dulled color and hiding are the tank asking for help.

Which fish breeds are most like a Swordtail?

Platy, Clownfish, Molly — nearest first, measured on energy band and shared traits. At the other end of the same twenty sits the Koi, two bands apart. Every one of the nineteen is ranked against the Swordtail further up this page.