converting mollies/guppies to marine??

[agreeive?fish]

ok i am at the point i want to convert mmy mollies and guppies to full marine.

i have had them in full fresh for about a month now and thay have started giving birth to youngins..

the tank will EVENTUALLY be a softy/leather and hat some refer to as the weeds of a reef tank.

90g display with 25g sump(might eventually plumb in the 45g clownfish tank after the 90 is fully converted to salt)

QUESTION...how much salt and how often to add to transition to marine conditions from fresh water

 

[Coelli]

I JUST converted some mollies the other day (and have two more acclimating right now) and have done a ton of reading on it.

I can't tell you too much about guppies, but what I read in passing says you have to convert them much more slowly.

There is absolutely no consensus about mollies. Some people drop them straight in and don't lose any. Some acclimate in a separate tank over a period of weeks and still lose them (but less than if they dumped them straight in).

I got 5 mollies (lyretails, dalmations, and a panda) from PetSmart. I drip acclimated them to 1.025 over a 4 hour period. One of the 4 females gave birth during acclimation; I put a few of the babies in my display (they were immediately eaten), some in my sump refugium, and some in my display refugium.

The male died the day after being released in the display fuge but I suspect a powerhead accident. The female who gave birth didn't look well, but seems to be recovering now. Another who was pregnant dropped some or all of her babies prematurely yesterday but seems fine now. All four are eating and adjusting (I think the intense light and higher flow are more stressful for them than the transition to salt). The babies all seem to be alive as well and my poor red scooter dragonet is exhausted from trying to catch them since they are too fast for him.

I bought two more mollies yesterday and have been drip acclimating them since, but more slowly this time. They were brought up to about 1.015 in 10 hours, then I turned the drip off overnight and started it up again this morning. Both are eating and active and seem to be doing fine.

So that's my experience so far... do lots of reading and decide which way to go. There doesn't seem to be one definitive method.

Edit: You know, now that I think about it if you are converting the entire tank to salt, I'd just start topping off the evaporation with saltwater until you get to 1.025 and then switch to topping off with fresh. It will take a while, but eventually it will be where you want it and be a pretty gentle transition.

 

[agreeive?fish]

Coelli ..i have had mollies in full salt in a prior tank that were just dripped accumulated over a period of a day that thrived and breed like rabbits on steroids....but since i have guppies in the mix iam thinking about 5 gallons of salt water a week possibly 10g a week in 2 separate 5gallon additions space 3 or 4 days apart... i am in no hurry to get to 1.025 heck the tank sat empty for 3 or 4 months before i leak tested it...then sat with water for a couple months before i added the mollies or guppies...still looking at what other live bearers could be converted to full marine.

 

[Coelli]

Oh! Sorry, I misunderstood. If I were doing this, I'd use saltwater in my ATO until the desired salinity was reached. That way it's pretty much automated, spread out, and slow. My system (65 & 30 gallons + sump), dry house, goes through about 7 gallons a week. You could even bump up the amount of salt in that mix to speed it up a little.

 

[OrQidz]

converting mollies/guppies to marine??

One thing to remember, if you are changing the whole tank over to SW, is that your bio filter needs time to adjust. I think the folks who have brackish puffers try not to change by more than .002 every week or so. Otherwise your bio filter bacteria can get killed off from changing from FW to marine too quickly. Sounds like you will be changing over gradually but something to keep in mind.

 

[Joe0813]

i bought 3 mollies 1 male and 2 females...... floated them then dumped them into my fuge.... one male died, the other two were fine and making babies.

 

[agreeive?fish]

1/2 way to marine conditions...no losses or issues all mollies/guppies doing well

 

[snorklr]

i knew mollies were originally brackish water fish but had no idea you could do this to guppies

 

[SaltwaterGuppy]

Slower is definitely better. I transitioned my freshwater to saltwater over the course of a few weeks (10 gallon) with the guppies survived and even continued to mate and reproduce. I've tried to acclimate some more since my crabs got a few, without much luck. The method I heard that has the most success involves starting with them in a gallon, taking about a cup or so and mixing in two tablespoons of salt, then slowly adding it back to original gallon. After about a week your guppies should be ready for their new home.

 

[agreeive?fish]

mollies did fine...the guppies (3/4 of them) made the transition and the prego ones gave birth after days after the full transition...but all the guppies had expired..i think that the current of a reef setup just might have been a big factor in the guppies mortality