# swordtails



## Tom Higgs (Mar 2, 2006)

Anyone have any luck with swordtails in a planted tank. I tried 2 females / 1 male; they never took food and in a couple of weeks were gone. The fish were definately healthy, but there was something definately going on they didnt like. I run pressurized CO2, ph around 6.5, never saw any signs of stress, it was like they were on a hunger strike. For the first week when I fed the tank (tetra min) they swam around like mad but didnt take any. Also I use EI fertilization. 

Tom


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

Swordtails prefer a higher pH, though I wouldn't expect them to starve if it was too low for them.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've never had much luck with them myself.
What other inhabitants do you have in your tank, and are they all doing fine?


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## Tom Higgs (Mar 2, 2006)

everybody else is real happy, its a beautiful established planted tank and very well maintained. kind of confusing. Could be the pH thing, thats about all I can think of. thanks for the feedback


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## joephys (May 9, 2006)

I think that both sword tails and platys (at least in the trade) have a lot of problems. Go to any petco or petsmart and find the tank with the worst looking fish. Its always those two fish. I think that there is a lot of inbreeding that goes on with them that causes problems, but I don't know that for sure. Over the last year I have had 6 different fish. Only 2 of them have been with me the whole year. THe other 4 lived for a few months and Died for reasons unknown to me. They do naturally come from harder water with a higher ph, but that shouldn't be a huge issue for them.


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## erik Loza (Feb 6, 2006)

joephys said:


> I think that both sword tails and platys (at least in the trade) have a lot of problems. Go to any petco or petsmart and find the tank with the worst looking fish. Its always those two fish. I think that there is a lot of inbreeding that goes on with them that causes problems, but I don't know that for sure. Over the last year I have had 6 different fish. Only 2 of them have been with me the whole year. THe other 4 lived for a few months and Died for reasons unknown to me. They do naturally come from harder water with a higher ph, but that shouldn't be a huge issue for them.


This guy nailed it. Pretty much all the commercially available livebearers out there today are farmed in SE Asia and seem to experience all sorts of issues once they hit our tapwater. Just weakness due to excessive inbreeding and no resistance to whatever microbes we have in our water. During my Petco tenure, livebearers were our #1 highest shrinkage fish in the aquatics departments. We tried all sorts of solutions: Adding salt, different vendors, etc., etc. None of it really works. They would pretty much all start to waste away (mollies and swords, in particular) fall apart soon after arriving.

IMO, if you really want livebearers, see if you can connect with someone locally who is raising theirs at home. That's a much surer bet. Good luck in your search.


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