Swordtail Questions

[aubrey]

Hello, this is my first time posting to this forum. I have several aquariums of swordtails and I have a few questions. First, I have read that any swordtail with any black on them including the solid black, tuxedo, wag, and painted varieties, will develop cancer. Does anyone know if this is true? Also, how can you tell if a fish has cancer? Second, the water straight from the tap in my area has a pH of 8.0. I have read that livebearers should have a pH around 7.5, but my fish seem to be doing fine. I tried adding a pH decreaser/buffer to one of my tanks a few weeks ago and it decreased the pH for a day, but the next day the pH jumped to 8.5, higher than it was before! Will my fish be ok if I leave the pH at 8.0, or should I try to find some other way to lower it?
Here is my last question: I have hundreds of fry that I am trying to grow out so I can trade them to a fish store, and I ran out of room in my aquariums. I was wondering if it is safe to grow them out in some sort of plastic tub? I figured I could use a sponge filter and try to figure out some way to use a heater without it melting the plastic. I already tried using a 45 gallon storage tub, but the sides buckled when I filled it with water. I was thinking about trying one of those gray plastic horse water troughs that you see in farm stores. Does anyone know if this would work, or if it would be dangerous to the fish in any way?
Thanks for your help!

 

[blitztidus]

First of all, I have NEVER heard anything like that before. Just because they have black on them means they have cancer, that has got to be false. Second, if they are doing fine at 8, then leave them, but I would reccomend lowering it down to that 7.5 range, so try another way to lower it. Lastly, A tub should be fine as long as you can keep everything in it at the right place, like pH, temp, params, etc.

 

[Annastasia]

They may be more likely to develop cancer, but they don't all have it.

If they are fine at 8.0, leave them at 8.0. Messing with the pH is very stressful on the fish, as each number on the scale is ten times more acidic/basic then the last one. It's not something to fool around with. The pH buffers hardly ever work either, so I'm not surprised with what happened to your's. You can try adding some bogwood in an attempt to lower it, but honestly...they're fine.

Horse troughs, that's a new one for me. I have horses, and I know in some other places some fish develop in horse troughs, so it should be fine. I'd wash it out really well first. And find some way to cover it, to prevent pets/dirt/etc. from getting in there.