Mollies in a reef?

Daniel@R2R · Mar 18, 2015

I've seen that mollies are often able to be acclimated to a reef, and I've been thinking it would be really cool to add a school of them to my 180. I'm wondering if there are certain types that do better than others? Which ones are most colorful, and best suited to life in a reef? What's the process for preparing them to reef life?

FLipp · Mar 18, 2015

they're mean! but i've noticed wwc has one in every tank.

3dees · Mar 18, 2015

I thought the whole point of starting a sw tank is for the beautiful fish that can only be kept in salt. with that size tank, it would look better with a bunch of anthias or cardinals.

saltyphish · Mar 18, 2015

I read a post on here a while ago from someone doing the exact same thing. I believe they were using black mollies. They just drip acclimated them for an hour I believe. Someone did chime in and state they had better success just temp acclimate and drop in. I wish I could remember the person posting. I think it was Triggreef but not 100% sure. My memory is not what it once was.

mdbannister said:
I've seen that mollies are often able to be acclimated to a reef, and I've been thinking it would be really cool to add a school of them to my 180. I'm wondering if there are certain types that do better than others? Which ones are most colorful, and best suited to life in a reef? What's the process for preparing them to reef life?

saltyphish · Mar 18, 2015

Most people add them because of their size and voracious appetite for algae or food for bigger fish which my understanding is not very good nutrition.. Plus it is kind of neat, the concept of keeping a fw fish in a sw tank.

3dees said:
I thought the whole point of starting a sw tank is for the beautiful fish that can only be kept in salt. with that size tank, it would look better with a bunch of anthias or cardinals.

Daniel@R2R · Mar 18, 2015

saltyphish said:
Plus it is kind of neat, the concept of keeping a fw fish in a sw tank.

^^^This

butters417 · Mar 18, 2015

I keep a few in my refuge, they were always eating algae, but they only lasted about 6 weeks..might try to get a couple more in the near future

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2015

The sailfin species are more often naturally found in salty water, but most of the species available are hybrids, so they should be fine. Acclimation doesnt have to be terribly long, as ones found in intertidal zones deal with pretty rapid salinity changes.

fungia_fiend · Mar 19, 2015

Sailfins do the best. The biggest problem they have is with heavy flow.

Daniel@R2R · Mar 19, 2015

eatbreakfast said:
The sailfin species are more often naturally found in salty water, but most of the species available are hybrids, so they should be fine. Acclimation doesnt have to be terribly long, as ones found in intertidal zones deal with pretty rapid salinity changes.

fungia_fiend said:
Sailfins do the best. The biggest problem they have is with heavy flow.

Thanks guys! So I'm probably good with most of the ones I'd find at the LFS, and maybe a 2-3 hour drip acclimation?

Humblefish · Mar 19, 2015

fungia_fiend said:
Sailfins do the best. The biggest problem they have is with heavy flow.

^^This. From a disease standpoint, they are great because they do not have to be QT'd. Any freshwater disease they might be carrying will die off as they are being converted over to saltwater. However, once in full saltwater they are susceptible to saltwater diseases the same as any other fish we keep.

eatbreakfast · Mar 19, 2015

mdbannister said:
Thanks guys! So I'm probably good with most of the ones I'd find at the LFS, and maybe a 2-3 hour drip acclimation?

That seems a little long to me. I recommend kepping it under an hr, closer to 40min.

SeahorseKeeper · Mar 19, 2015

I did temp acclimate and drip acclimate with my mollies. The temp acclimate is thriving and the drip acclimated died within 24 hours.

fungia_fiend · Mar 19, 2015

I drip acclimated and they did fine, but I think it's overkill.

Daniel@R2R · Mar 19, 2015

SeahorseKeeper said:
I did temp acclimate and drip acclimate with my mollies. The temp acclimate is thriving and the drip acclimated died within 24 hours.

Wow! That's surprising. How long did you drip them?