Freshwater Mollies

[Siberwulf]

So my daughter's pair of female mollies had some babies. Much to our surprise (I think they were carrying when we got them from Petco) we found 5 of them swimming in the corner. They've since tripled in size.

Now, I've read that you can put them in either Salt or Fresh water (since they are naturally found in brackish water), but I had some questions!

• Has anyone here done this and are there any gotchas with it?
• Do they play nice with other saltwater things? (snails, crabs, coral, other fish)
• Do I need to QT them, as they've been captive bred? (unintentionally...)

Thanks in advance!

 

[nereefpat]

(I think they were carrying when we got them from Petco)

Yep. That's pretty common.

• Has anyone here done this and are there any gotchas with it?

It's fairly common that people try.

Success in converting seems pretty random. People report just dumping them in and taking days to slowly acclimate to the salt, both with varying success.

• Do they play nice with other saltwater things? (snails, crabs, coral, other fish)

They are good algae eaters. They may not handle high reef flow very well. Peaceful fish and reef safe. Some people use them in their QTs as a 'canary in a coal mine,' since you can theoretically easily see ich or velvet on the black variety.

• Do I need to QT them, as they've been captive bred? (unintentionally...)

If they were being kept in freshwater, there is no need to QT.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I've never had success acclimating them. Dumping in has worked every time for me.

They do okay will with others but be aware that they do not have the same tolerance to Marine bacteria and infections as saltwater fish do

 

[WheatToast]

@Tigahboy what are your experiences?

 

[Tigahboy]

@Tigahboy what are your experiences?

i've dripped acclimated over a few hours, but I know plenty that just plop them in or take days to acclimate. I guess I went halfsies.

 

[mikereefing]

I actually have (HAD) 3 adult freshwater mollies in my frag tank. I only acclimated them for 2 hours and they did just fine. Just recently....they gave birth many many times. I now have about 20 juvenille fry in the tank and they're doing very well.

 

[reddevilant]

Hello! I was actually thinking about adding some mollies to my tank to help keep my macros clean. Does anyone know if it could be any molly? I recently saw some on LiveAquaria labeled Golden Black Lyretail Molly (Poecilia sphenops) and they look amazing! I'm just not sure if I can try to acclimate them or if it's only certain species of mollies that you can add to saltwater.

 

[Joe31415]

I did it a while back. Mine swum into a power head during the first night, so I'm not sure that counts.

Though, as I think about, it, I suppose it's more likely that it died and got pulled into the power head.

 

[WheatToast]

Though, as I think about, it, I suppose it's more likely that it died and got pulled into the power head.

Perhaps it could not fight the current and became weakened as well. I have read that Mollies and their relatives do not tolerate high flow.

 

[nereefpat]

(Poecilia sphenops)

They would be the same species as the black mollies that people use in saltwater, if that helps. Might be worth a try.

 

[Koh23]

I have two black mollies right now, one is from pet shop, another is from home breeding, had few more, they aclimated fast, breeder had them in brackish water, so i slowly drip few hours and then out them in sump. Sadly, few if them ended up in skimmer, they were too small and slip trough comb in chamber.

Two survived, they are now in display, picking rocks and sand all day....

Of course, they were added in cycled and ready tank.....

 

[reddevilant]

Thanks guys! If they're still available next week I'll get them and let ya know how it goes!

 

[Koh23]

My black mollie just gave birth, i found 10-ish small molies in filter sock.....

Put them in sump, not sure what now, amd what i'm gonna do with them, but, i'm happy

 

[Rmckoy]

Drip acclimate them slowly to reef salinity .
they are amazing algae eaters .
and for the most part . No one will bother with them .

once upon a time . They were a cheaper alternative to cycling a tank with fish even cheaper than a yellow tailed damsel .
those times have changed as new and more humane ways to cycle a tank have started .
IME … they rarely last long term .

 

[Rmckoy]

Any time I’ve bought them . Added to my reef tank they would spit out babies .
apparently the one parent carries sperm or eggs to use when ready . And almost every time will have babies shortly after acclimating .

 

[Koh23]

They are born in reef tank, so, no aclimation needed. Just not sure how to feed them, or what i'm gonna do with 10 mollies, if all of them survive

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Interested now, I think I might try it!

 

[Seneca]

I have a self sustaining population of guppies and mollies in my sump. They eat whatever algae grows in there

 

[Rmckoy]

Interested now, I think I might try it!

They have been doing it for years !
they acclimate easy ,

 

[CrabbyMcCrabFace]

I'm interested in adding some mollies to a 30 gal frag tank. It has a lot of macro and some cotton candy, live rock, a few peppermint shrimp, and some frags. The peppermints are reproducing. I've seen at least one baby shrimp in there. Assuming the mollies would love to snack on those!