Anyone actually have mollies?

[coezy2]

I have actually caught wild sailfin mollies in the mangroves in the keys and brought them back. Yes, they make great grazers! GARF sells them for your tank.

 

[srad750c]

Only

I have a question that has been eating me for a while now. Why just Mollies?

Most of the live birth group from fresh water will interbreed. Guppies, Platies, Swordtails, and Mollies. I'm curious if it's only Mollies that can be housed in a saltwater aquarium or is it certain types of mollies?

Only mollies

 

[srad750c]

Mollies are great until the get comfortable, then they breed like rabbits. Never again in my reef. I had no predators and a lot of rock work. Eventually I got grammas and hawk fish to get it under control.

 

[joseph78009]

Can I have Molly's in my reef tank very good at eating the hair around you I put them in several different times in the best way is to temperature acclimate and then just put them in best survival rate

 

[vetteguy53081]

Back in the day, as many use damsels, mollies and even mono sebaes and scats were used as starter and seeding fish for a marine tank

 

[FrancineJ]

Yes I have black mollies... they are just like having any other fish and are fine... I have had 4 (1M 3F) and no issues and it’s been well over 1.5 years

 

[Hermie]

I have a question that has been eating me for a while now. Why just Mollies?

Most of the live birth group from fresh water will interbreed. Guppies, Platies, Swordtails, and Mollies. I'm curious if it's only Mollies that can be housed in a saltwater aquarium or is it certain types of mollies?

Mollies are a group of various species. Interbred through the aquarium trade for aesthetic reasons. The wild molly species (sailfin for example) are more suited to saline environments that the other livebearers may not be. It's about muddle genetics. Not all mollies are "the same" because they will have different levels of "sailfin" or other species genetics in their DNA.

 

[Hermie]

Can I have Molly's in my reef tank very good at eating the hair around you I put them in several different times in the best way is to temperature acclimate and then just put them in best survival rate

That's contrary to scientific evidence ;Pompus

 

[FrancineJ]

Mollies are a group of various species. Interbred through the aquarium trade for aesthetic reasons. The wild molly species (sailfin for example) are more suited to saline environments that the other livebearers may not be. It's about muddle genetics. Not all mollies are "the same" because they will have different levels of "sailfin" or other species genetics in their DNA.

I know most of those will live in a real brackish tank... and also I believe I read/heard somewhere that glassfish can survive fairly high SG’s as well

And yes that’s what I keep is sailfin mollies

 

[FrancineJ]

Mollies are great until the get comfortable, then they breed like rabbits. Never again in my reef. I had no predators and a lot of rock work. Eventually I got grammas and hawk fish to get it under control.

That’s a VERY unusual circumstance.... mollies generally eat their own young until they are all gone or maybe 1-2 find hiding spots but generally even they get eaten eventually...

 

[FrancineJ]

Can I have Molly's in my reef tank very good at eating the hair around you I put them in several different times in the best way is to temperature acclimate and then just put them in best survival rate

no you can NOT just temp acclimate them... i acclimated mine by doing the put the mollies in a bucket and double the water... remove some then doubt if again.... remove some.... double it again... until the bucket is the same parameters as the tank... including temp acclimated.... just like other fish....

 

[srad750c]

That’s a VERY unusual circumstance.... mollies generally eat their own young until they are all gone or maybe 1-2 find hiding spots but generally even they get eaten eventually...

In a regular FW aquarium, sure, but in a 90 gallon reef with lots of cover, survival rate is pretty good. I used to breed them back in the day.

 

[Frogger]

I have 3 black mollies in a small 10 gallon reef tank on their own, have had them for about 3 months they breed like rabbits. There are always new babies. Eventually, they disappear, probably eaten by mom and dad or by the emerald crab. The babies really are not a problem because they just act like a food source for the tank. Bought them already acclimated to salt water.

4 of the babies have survived in a different tank, I scooped them out when they were young they are now about half size.

I will be adding the 3 to my main reef in a little while, just have to find a way of isolating them from my Kole tang who will likely harass them to death.

They haven't touched the hair algae in my small reef.

 

[FrancineJ]

In a regular FW aquarium, sure, but in a 90 gallon reef with lots of cover, survival rate is pretty good. I used to breed them back in the day.

Hmm mine always get eaten and I can tell it’s mostly the mollies because when a fish eats fry it turns there “poop” pure black... and it’s always the mollies that have that and not nearly as much my other fish...

 

[Crustaceon]

I kept a 40 gallon full of them as feeders for a very picky lionfish. Lucky for them the lionfish started taking frozen foods before I felt like feeding one of the hundreds of salt water acclimated mollies I had by then. They all went to great home and are doing fantastic two years later.

 

[Subsea]

I feel so guilty for liking this post but this is actually a grand idea. Don't get me wrong, I like what you wrote but the whole use as live food bit upon first read is a bit dark - even for the mollies

Do pods fit into “ a bit dark”?

 

[FrancineJ]

I feel so guilty for liking this post but this is actually a grand idea. Don't get me wrong, I like what you wrote but the whole use as live food bit upon first read is a bit dark - even for the mollies

It’s called the circle of life... do you feel bad for that hamburger or hotdog you just ate?

I have FW mollies, SW mollies and real brackish water mollies.... my SW and BW mollies are there strictly for breeding for food and it makes no difference... my FW mollies are not there for food but yet they get eaten mostly before I get up in the morning.... but my point of the post is again circle of life... like someone else mentioned the pods....or you eating any kind of meat.... it’s all the same

 

[Subsea]

I have had fourth & fifth generation mollies. Without aggressive fish in tank, mollies do well in a reef tank and get quite beautiful. There are many varieties of mollies. Black Mollies faired the worst with Silver & Creamcycle doing the best.

 

[Subsea]

I found a picture from 10 years ago.

 

[McPuff]

Can I have Molly's in my reef tank very good at eating the hair around you I put them in several different times in the best way is to temperature acclimate and then just put them in best survival rate

I love the Avatar pic... Maho Beach, yes? What a cool place!!

I've gotta try the sailfin mollies. That may have been my problem is the types of mollies I tried were just not quite "right" for saltwater. The wild ones I've seen in Mexican cenotes are sailfin for sure and they get huge. I'd like them for algae control on the rocks. Snails don't do the best job on rocks, especially when they get huge. Maybe I'll see if I can even get a couple to survive in the lagoon with the trigger. They'd have to be big mollies.

Good thing about buying a freshwater molly (i.e., not salt acclimated) is that it will not bring in saltwater parasites. Because of this, there is really no need to quarantine them. Some people may disagree but it's the only fish that I would add in this manner.

I'll try to slowly acclimate half of them and quickly "acclimate" the other half and see if there is any difference in survival. It will be a low sample size so certainly not scientific/statistically rigorous but worth a shot anyway.