Mollies in reef tank?

ReefGuy1234 · Mar 8, 2022

I always make treads late at night because my brain can’t shut down lol anyway Saltwater mollies in reef tanks. Do they pick at corals or inverts? Is it stressful for them going to a COMPLETELY different environment/ecosystem? What’s the best way to acclimate? This one is an option but do you think mollies would look wired in a reef tank next to a tang for example? Is there diet the same? Any concerns? Also I heard you don’t need to qt them because the parasites would die off in the switch - true or false?

Im soo fascinated by that fact that fresh water fish can be acclimated to salt.

Miami Reef · Mar 8, 2022

I have 4 in my tank right now!

I recently added 3 more. It took me a full day to acclimate them. They seem to be doing well and they didn’t get any parasites which means my QT worked!

Miami Reef · Mar 8, 2022

They don’t eat corals, they eat algae. I do not know if switching to salt is stressful to them, so I am interested in knowing this.

Blake423 · Mar 9, 2022

Miami Reef said:
They don’t eat corals, they eat algae. I do not know if switching to salt is stressful to them, so I am interested in knowing this.

What kind of algae do they eat? will they be ok with the flow in a reef tank?

Miami Reef · Mar 9, 2022

Blake423 said:
What kind of algae do they eat? will they be ok with the flow in a reef tank?

Hair algae is what they like IMO. They do well with high flow.

billysprout · Mar 9, 2022

Miami Reef said:
Hair algae is what they like IMO. They do well with high flow.

balloon mollies would definitely struggle in any sort of flow, but that’s one of a multitude of reasons to not buy balloon mollies B)

i’ve never seen my molly pick at corals. but they are opportunistic feeders; like most omnivores, they do not eat algae unless hungry or bored.

i moved mine to my saltwater to give my females a break lol. now he tries to flirt with my tail spot blenny instead

Miami Reef · Mar 9, 2022

billysprout said:
balloon mollies would definitely struggle in any sort of flow, but that’s one of a multitude of reasons to not buy balloon mollies B)

i’ve never seen my molly pick at corals. but they are opportunistic feeders; like most omnivores, they do not eat algae unless hungry or bored.

i moved mine to my saltwater to give my females a break lol. now he tries to flirt with my tail spot blenny instead

I never tried a balloon Molly. Probably never will after reading your post!

Ef4life · Mar 10, 2022

I did a drip acclimation on mine over about 8-10 hrs. I kept a heater in the bucket, and as the bucket filled up I dumped about 1/2 out, repeated that until the salinity matched my reef.

Jake adams/ reef builders did an excellent video on acclimating mollies to a reef.

out of 8 mollies I had only 3 losses - 2 were all white so maybe that breed doesn’t do as well. One died in the reef the next day.

Reeferjunkie · Mar 10, 2022

Mollies are great and graze all day on algae. They have soft lips don't damage any corals or mess with the cuc. I have had good luck with the white, black and dalmatians seem to be the most hardy. Try and get more females they last longer. All the males do is chase them around and graze and reproduce. Give birth to live young also easy to raise up the fry. In nature they live in brackish waters and can be in full salt to freshwater and reproduce. Good luck I would get a few to try. They also bring out other shy fish since all they do is graze and have no fear

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 10, 2022

IMO, it sounds unethical to keep an organism that can feel and sense in an unnatural environment that may cause it distress.

Could you live in a cold, smoke filled room 24/7 forever? Yes. Would you want to?

McPuff · Mar 10, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
IMO, it sounds unethical to keep an organism that can feel and sense in an unnatural environment that may cause it distress.

Could you live in a cold, smoke filled room 24/7 forever? Yes. Would you want to?

Mollies are found primarily in brackish water in the wild but you'll see them in full salt and fresh water as well. A reef is not really an unnatural environment for these creatures. I understand your point though.

Nemo&Friends · Mar 10, 2022

I have put a red lyre tail molly back and forth between fresh and salt because I wanted it to eat the algae in one of my smaller tank. It ate the green algae, but not the brown ones which I do not know if it is diatom or cyano. It then went after my macro, so I put it back in fresh water. When I first place it in salt, I tried to acclimate it, but I made a wrong maneuver and it dropped in the tank. It did not seem to bother it at all, no adverse reaction I could see. I kept it there for several weeks until it devoured my calepia. Then when I placed it back in fresh water, I just dropped it in with no acclimation at all. No problem. I figured if they live closed at the junction of fresh water and salt water, they take the change in salinity twice a day, with the tides.

The Farmer · Mar 12, 2022

I have Black/ black and white Mollies In one of my tanks I did a drip acclimation for 30 minutes then right in the tank. They eat way to much there nice to look at. In my tank they over breed ever couple of weeks I see a clutch of new fry in my filter socks. I now have raised just over 20 of them. I have been giving them away to anyone that wants to have a small aquarium or use them to start a reef tank.

MissMolly · Jul 26, 2024

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
IMO, it sounds unethical to keep an organism that can feel and sense in an unnatural environment that may cause it distress.

Could you live in a cold, smoke filled room 24/7 forever? Yes. Would you want to?

Hi Randy. I resepct you A LOT and you have great knowledge. But I'm sorry. Your are very wrong in this case. I must tell you that mollies thrive VERY well in Saltwater. Actually MUCH better in salt than fresh. I'm a Molly-addict! i ADORE mollies. I have mollies for a very long time. The mollies in my salt water tanks are doing much better than the ones in freshwater. They are FAT, LIVELY and never sick. Their fry is BIG when it comes out. I have never had a single loss of a salt water molly but MANY in freshwater. They fade away after giving birth mostly. This is my first batch of molly fry. I have another batch in a grow out tank. Haven't lost a SINGLE fry or adult molly. So sorry - please don't spred this mis information that mollies are not good in saltwater.