Does anyone else use salt water mollies?

Kurtis1 · Feb 28, 2020

So far they seem super adaptable - they can breed easily, eat algae, pick up food off the sand and are an amazing clean up crew, and are actually quite friendly and trainable. They actually let you pet them!

I haven't seen anyone else using them and I’m actually wondering why?

Fishko · Feb 28, 2020

Kurtis1 said:
So far they seem super adaptable - they can breed easily, eat algae, pick up food off the sand and are an amazing clean up crew, and are actually quite friendly and trainable. They actually let you pet them!

I haven't seen anyone else using them and I’m actually wondering why?

others use them as ditter fish in an observation tank to encourage a shy fish to swim in the open as they are open swimmers and wont really react to predators.
the guy from reef builders used them in his quarantine tank.

Kyl · Feb 28, 2020

Some of us use them as pathogen canaries.

Reefer40b · Feb 28, 2020

Kyl said:
Some of us use them as pathogen canaries.

True story black ones show it well

Kyl · Feb 28, 2020

I have to thank @Humblefish for that one.

CyberGuy · Feb 28, 2020

I used 4 fresh water mollies (2 orange lyretail and 2 whites) to cycle my tank. I thought that I would take them to my LFS after the cycle. However, they are so cute and they keep my rocks and sand clean so I changed my mind and kept them. After 3 months, all 4 are still alive and healthy. They are able to tolerate good flow in the tank since my tank is mixed but sps dominant. I bought them at Petco as fresh water fish.

People always comment on them when they see them in my DT with 16 other bigger salt water fish. I have a 120 gallon tank.

Mrs. Herbert · Feb 28, 2020

I have never tried to keep them in my 90 gallon and honestly forgot about them. I try to get some and try it out.

Kurtis1 · Mar 25, 2020

Kyl said:
Some of us use them as pathogen canaries.

Woah that's so cool, yeah I read a little more about them and they can pick up anything that's bad in your tank so you can see what you have to fix. I also think they're kinda sturdy for a fish lol

Kurtis1 · Mar 25, 2020

Mrs. Herbert said:
I have never tried to keep them in my 90 gallon and honestly forgot about them. I try to get some and try it out.

Woah that's a super cool tank you got there, you even have a clam! How's that going for you?

Kurtis1 · Mar 25, 2020

CyberGuy said:
I used 4 fresh water mollies (2 orange lyretail and 2 whites) to cycle my tank. I thought that I would take them to my LFS after the cycle. However, they are so cute and they keep my rocks and sand clean so I changed my mind and kept them. After 3 months, all 4 are still alive and healthy. They are able to tolerate good flow in the tank since my tank is mixed but sps dominant. I bought them at Petco as fresh water fish.

People always comment on them when they see them in my DT with 16 other bigger salt water fish. I have a 120 gallon tank.

Yeah mollies are so cute and cool, they chomp on anything you give them and are kinda sturdy for supposedly being a pathogen canaries. What do you use to feed your guys?

xxkenny90xx · Mar 25, 2020

I've tried mollies in my giant hermit crab tank 3 times and they always seem to dissappear.........

Kurtis1 · Mar 25, 2020

xxkenny90xx said:
I've tried mollies in my giant hermit crab tank 3 times and they always seem to dissappear.........

Dang I wonder where they could have gone, for your hermit crab, have you tried adding anything in besides mollies? Or are they super aggressive and you can't really have much with the guy?

xxkenny90xx · Mar 25, 2020

He will eat anything he can catch. The only fish that are smart enough to stay away are damsels and their luck may run out some day

joe0813 · Mar 25, 2020

mine always die within a week of being in saltwater

Dipan Desai · Mar 25, 2020

I tried once but they all ended up dying even after the acclimation process.

CyberGuy · Mar 25, 2020

I put 2 orange lyretail and 2 white mollies when I did my cycling a brand new tank on December 17, 2019 and all 4 are still alive today.

I got them as fresh water mollies at Petsmart and acclimated them for about 1 hour to salt water.

In fact, 1 of the 4 was a female and I saw a few babies mollies in my sump for a few weeks but somehow they have all disappeared, perhaps the babies got sucked up to the tank and got eaten or killed by the return pump.

My 4 mollies are getting along with 11 other fish in my tank that are mostly larger than them. Plus, they are able to withstand the current created by two MP 40 in my 120 gallon mixed but SPS dominate reef tank.

Kurtis1 · Apr 1, 2020

joe0813 said:
mine always die within a week of being in saltwater

Dang yeah although they are brackish fish, they seem to be susceptible to salt water and only mollies with strong genes will live through and after the acclimation process. I have tried to acclimate the fish in a 24 hour acclimation process and yet most of them do die during and after the process. My cousin who I acclimated them for only has a handful left after but they seem happy where they are so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kurtis1 · Apr 1, 2020

CyberGuy said:
I put 2 orange lyretail and 2 white mollies when I did my cycling a brand new tank on December 17, 2019 and all 4 are still alive today.

I got them as fresh water mollies at Petsmart and acclimated them for about 1 hour to salt water.

In fact, 1 of the 4 was a female and I saw a few babies mollies in my sump for a few weeks but somehow they have all disappeared, perhaps the babies got sucked up to the tank and got eaten or killed by the return pump.

My 4 mollies are getting along with 11 other fish in my tank that are mostly larger than them. Plus, they are able to withstand the current created by two MP 40 in my 120 gallon mixed but SPS dominate reef tank.

Dang that's awesome bro! Orange lyretail's don't seem to do well in my cousins tank but for the white and black mollies they do well. They even breed quite frequently so we end up seeing a ton in the sump and they just grow there until they grow big enough for the main tank.

joe0813 · Apr 1, 2020

Kurtis1 said:
Dang yeah although they are brackish fish, they seem to be susceptible to salt water and only mollies with strong genes will live through and after the acclimation process. I have tried to acclimate the fish in a 24 hour acclimation process and yet most of them do die during and after the process. My cousin who I acclimated them for only has a handful left after but they seem happy where they are so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i have a spare tank i might set up just to see how many mollies i can get to actually live in salt and then move some over to the main tank and either sell the others for cheap money or just give them away