Freshwater Mollies in my Saltwater tank

[Joshjohnson]

Just thought i would share with all, about 2 weeks ago was reading about putting mollies in a saltwater tank and thought i would give it a try. I bought 2 dalmation mollies, one male and one female. i aclimated them for over 6 hours using a drip. They have now been in the tank for 3 days and seem to be happy. Also all of my hair algae is gone they eat these stuff like mad.

 

[W Ellis]

How long was your hair algae? I cant seem to find anything to eat mine. It is getting out of control. I have heard that you can put mollys in saltwater without having to acclimate them.

 

[Joshjohnson]

about 1 inch long, and it is all gone now, hard to belive

 

[W Ellis]

Im going to have to try those. I know a store that already has them in a saltwater tank.

 

[Joshjohnson]

Also they seem to not mind beening in there with other fish that are larger, they colors are aslo much brighter in saltwater

 

[W Ellis]

I wwas thinking of getting a sea hare but i may try them first. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Joshjohnson]

No problem, also they are cheap 1.29 each.

 

[W Ellis]

Cheapest thing i would have bought yet....lol

 

[boydx6]

I have used them to cycle the tank before. They are WAY cheaper than anything else to use while cycling. They will breed in saltwater as well.

 

[plyle02]

Josh,
Sounds cool, so no more hair algae, and no more red slime! You lucky devil....lol... BTW, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

[W Ellis]

I think i am going to get a couple tomorrow.

 

[ls7corvete]

Ive done it as well, it works well, you should also note that the mollies will skim the surface of the water and keep it nice and clear. Great if you dont have much surface agitation or want to point your powerheads at something besides the surface.

 

[aztbs]

I kept a pair of black mollies for about 6 months and they bred consistently. I had some babies living in the sump for a while.

Before you get too excited, they are super excellent algae grazers, but they poop non stop. Every time you look at them, they will have this green string hanging off and there will be poops strings everywhere on the sand/rock. I understand that they poop more to process out the extra salt and they have a high metabolism to begin with.

Despite seeming perfect health, they just disappeared one day. I don't know if the BTA got them or my large pistol shrimp or just stress from the salt.

 

[conchead]

Mollies worked for me too, as for the poop, if their going to eat all that algae,well,,,,,,,,,, would you rather has hair algae or poop that your filter can remove.

 

[Radula]

Sailfin mollies, a native Florida species, live in Allen's Creek, near its mouth at tampa bay. I was very surprised to see them in that mostly salty tidal flow. In the past, I've seen them in freshwater creeks and springs. I think sailfin mollies may have been the origination of the pet store mollies. That's very interesting about the mollies and the hair algae...and the poop.

 

[boydx6]

mollies

mollies

Do they eat red slime algae as well?

 

[Joshjohnson]

some say they do, but i got rid of my red slime and thats when the green hasir started to take over, the mollies cleared that up real quick

 

[W Ellis]

I got a pair today and hopefully they work for me.

 

[Ah64av8tor]

I'v had a pair for a week now and haven't seen them eat anything but flake. It might be my sailfin he doesn't let them out of the rocks much.

 

[BankerJohn]

I'm going to try this experiment to remove HA from my tank. Off to the FW LFS today.

I'll accept poop in exchange for reduction in HA. - Banker John