Anybody have "showa" or "sanke koi" swordtails?

[PineSong]

I love the way these guys look in the photos I've seen of them online, but would like to get a look at the "average" fish of this strain rather than the extra gorgeous individual fish sellers use to advertise them. 

Anybody have some in their own tanks who'd like to share pics? These photos are from the internet. I have no swords of my own.

[KaitieG]

I have these--got them from a local breeder at a club auction.  They are very cool--a nice size, good personality, stand out very well against plants.  I tried to get a few pictures, but the time of day is wrong, and I have a lot of glare and had issues getting them focused.  I'd say the pictures you posted are very accurate representations based on the 6 I have.  I don't even usually like Koi patterned fish, but these are great.  They are fairly slow growers, certainly compared to guppies--got mine as 1/2 inch fry and they took about 4-5 months to get full size.  The females are in their first round of gestations now at about 7-8 months old.  Sorry for my crummy pictures, but hopefully they give you an idea.  I tried feeding to get the guppies out of the way, but it just ended up turining into a mass at the top.   It's a 95 gallon tank for size reference.

[Patrick_G]

Petcos around here usually have them and they look spectacular. 

[Patrick_G]

@KaitieG, you have a few Guppies in there! So much for the theory that Angels will control Guppy population 😀

[Atitagain]

Those are cool looking, but I love the koi pattern.never kept swords before.

oh great another future project. I already need 4-5 new tanks!

[KaitieG]

On 9/6/2021 at 1:38 PM, Patrick_G said:

@KaitieG, you have a few Guppies in there! So much for the theory that Angels will control Guppy population 😀

Haha!  Yes...the angels took me a lot longer to source than I'd originally planned, so the 10 guppies that started out in the big tank had lots of time to multiply.  There are about 2 babies now that the angels have been in there for a few weeks, so I don't think the population is going to be getting much bigger now at any rate!

[Patrick_G]

On 9/6/2021 at 1:45 PM, KaitieG said:

There are about 2 babies now that the angels have been in there for a few weeks, so I don't think the population is going to be getting much bigger now at any rate!

Ok that makes more sense 

[PineSong]

On 9/6/2021 at 2:31 PM, KaitieG said:

I have these--got them from a local breeder at a club auction.  They are very cool--a nice size, good personality, stand out very well against plants.  I tried to get a few pictures, but the time of day is wrong, and I have a lot of glare and had issues getting them focused.  I'd say the pictures you posted are very accurate representations based on the 6 I have.  I don't even usually like Koi patterned fish, but these are great. 

Wow, yours are gorgeous, too, KaitieG! I really love koi patterned fish especially when they are small, so these are like a dream. I am definitely going to consider these.