Mollies

[devildog999]

Someone asked this question in another section but no one answered and I am curious. Can one acclimate Mollies to SW and feed them to, say, Frog Fish (or any other predetorial critter for that matter)? If so, how does one go about acclimating them to SW?

Thank you kindly

 

[Frogmanx82]

Guppies can work too. Just add salt over the course of a couple weeks in whatever container you have.

 

[sde1500]

I believe most just toss them straight into salt water. Could do it slowly by topping off with salt water. I would not add salt directly to the water with fish in it, that is not good for the fish.

Its also debated whether long term feeding of freshwater fish to saltwater fish is healthy or unhealthy.

 

[JustinM]

Yes, a lot of people use black mollies in their tank after an ich outbreak because the trophints show up very clearly on black fish.

 

[DancingShark]

I had mollies when I first started. I just dropped then in and they were fine. Coupe month in switched them back to fresh water.

 

[MurphyLong]

My Niger Trigger loved mollies. I dropped a couple in my tank, and they had babies, which made my Trigger get super fat... Then they made their way into anemones, overflow, sump, and were going crazy. Babies everywhere...

 

[Dmorty217]

Feeding freshwater fish to any saltwater predator isn't good long term nor is it nutritionally sound being they don't coexist in nature together. Thats what krill and silversides are for. If you lived somewhere you can easily obtain saltwater bait fish from a bait store then that would be a much better choice.

 

[jmm]

Many years ago I would feed feeder fish to my predators (500 gallon tank).The gold fish and guppies would stay at the top and the groupers and lion fish would eat them. The mollies would go straight to the bottom and the ribbon eels and ghost eels would eat them. I knew they were eating the mollies because their feces were black when the mollies were used. I also fed peeled table shrimp and squid. The feeding frenzy tore up the big pieces so even the small-mouthed fish got a treat.

It wasn't an exclusive diet of freshwater fish nor was it long term, but it got new arrivals eating in a hurry.

 

[Tripod1404]

Feeding freshwater fish to any saltwater predator isn't good long term nor is it nutritionally sound being they don't coexist in nature together. Thats what krill and silversides are for. If you lived somewhere you can easily obtain saltwater bait fish from a bait store then that would be a much better choice.

I doubt any reef fish have access to krill in the wild either.

 

[Frogmanx82]

I just don't buy the anti freshwater argument. What about mysis? I've heard people have success feeding bananas. It ain't nature, it's an aquarium. It's unnatural to have fish in a house to start with.

 

[devildog999]

Thank you all for the responses, they are greatly appreciated.

 

[devildog999]

This made me laugh real good

My Niger Trigger loved mollies. I dropped a couple in my tank, and they had babies, which made my Trigger get super fat... Then they made their way into anemones, overflow, sump, and were going crazy. Babies everywhere...

 

[Dmorty217]

I doubt any reef fish have access to krill in the wild either.

True but they eat things that consume other things from the ocean.

I just don't buy the anti freshwater argument. What about mysis? I've heard people have success feeding bananas. It ain't nature, it's an aquarium. It's unnatural to have fish in a house to start with.

Don't you just want to try and provide the best, natural diet possible for your fish?

 

[FoxFace Fish]

I thought guppies are brackish so would it matter?
I would think it does not matter I would get if it was just freshwater but it is not

 

[Heuristic]

Temp acclimate and then just toss them in. They face huge swings in the wild and are perfectly fine. I have read many stories of people drip acclimating them over hours just to have them die anyways. Sounds more like they're either going to live or die in there, so just buy a few and toss them in after the temp acclimation.

I heard they're great additions if you can get a male/female because they reproduce pretty often and you'll constantly be getting little molly fry for free fish food

 

[MurphyLong]

I heard they're great additions if you can get a male/female because they reproduce pretty often and you'll constantly be getting little molly fry for free fish food

Which sounds like a cool thing to happen, but prepare for your skimmer to start churning like crazy... Fry get chewed up rather easily by the impeller, since they're usually surface swimmers, and make quick trips into the overflow.

 

[[]V[]addog]

interesting.... how often do they reproduce?

 

[MurphyLong]

interesting.... how often do they reproduce?

Mine were having babies every month, and I had several females... It was horrible.

 

[Heuristic]

I figured most of them would be eaten so fast that they couldn't make it to the overflow, but you're saying you had multiple females

 

[MurphyLong]

I figured most of them would be eaten so fast that they couldn't make it to the overflow, but you're saying you had multiple females

Yeah, I had 4, and it seemed like they were constantly knocked up. Every time I turned around, they were squirting out babies again, but at least half went over the weir before my fish got them.