Black Molly testing question

[ReefHog]

Three of my fish (Trigger, Long Nose Hawk & Filefish) have completed 10 days with CP treatment and I have moved them into a second sterile QT for observation. I was planning on doing 14 days but two of the fish started having a hard time by day 8 and quit eating. Since the treatment was for Velvet I figured 10 days is sufficient. After three days in the new QT, both fish that stopped eating and stayed hidden are out swimming and one is eating again. I have a new sterile 40 breeder set up to semi permanently house those three fish as well as two more that are going through treatment now while the DT goes fallow. This tank has sand, plastic inserts and more permanent filtration. Before I add the three fish to the 40 I wanted to make 100% sure that the velvet is gone. I added a black molly to the 2nd sterile quarantine tank to confirm this. Unfortunately, when I got home form work the molly was dead with his head eaten off. My guess it the trigger. Sooooooo to my question; should I take some of the of the tank water and set up something like a small beta tank with a new molly for testing or add something like a breeding box/net inside the tank for the molly?

 

[ngoodermuth]

If you have an acclimation box or even one of those little “critter keeper” boxes, I would use that inside the QT. I would give it a good two weeks before deeming them “safe”

Also, how long are you acclimating the black molly to saltwater?

 

[Gablami]

I’ve found the longer the acclimation to reef salinity, the higher the chances of success. I usually take about 12 hours. It’s possible the molly died and then got eaten, though with a trigger, who knows...

 

[ngoodermuth]

I would suggest the same... a minimum of 10 hours

 

[ReefHog]

I'm sure I have one of those with the vented lid. I thought because of the lack of resistance to salt water disease, velvet/ich would show up within 3 or 4 days. I drip acclimated the molly over two hours. He looked fine for two hours before I went off to work. Didn't realize it took that long to acclimate. I know i've acclimated puffers and moon fish many years ago in a few hours. I guess I'll have to get a small heater and let the acclimation go while at work.

 

[ngoodermuth]

With velvet it’s likely it would show up pretty quickly, but I always recommend two weeks of observation to be safe.

A little heater and an airline are a good idea.

 

[ReefHog]

With velvet it’s likely it would show up pretty quickly, but I always recommend two weeks of observation to be safe.

A little heater and an airline are a good idea.

I caught my aiptasia filefish swimming up and down near the air stone the other day and I got worried that he may have held onto some velvet. But he is one of two fish that never showed any signs of it and actually lived in the DT for a week after I got other fish out and all the QT stuff set up and never skipped a beat. His body is so random colored, sandpapery and changes all the time that its impossible to tell by looking at him. I moved the air stone and he still swims near the old location so i'm thinking i'm just paranoid. Still I think the molly is a good move before I move the fish to the 40. I really don't want to wait two weeks though since I have three QT tanks set up now and it's starting to get on someones nerves :-o Thank You. @ngoodermuth. I appreciate all your advise the last few weeks.

 

[ngoodermuth]

It’s never a bad idea to be extra careful, but.... for the sake of your home life...

Since you are just moving them to another QT, and will still have plenty of time to observe them over there before your fallow period is over. I would think you could just go ahead and move them to consolidate QTs (and keep a happy home). You could always do the molly test in that QT, before moving them to your display, if you want to be sure it’s all good. And if something crops up, they are still in QT so it will be relatively easy to go back into “hospital” mode if you have to.

 

[Big G]

Could section off a bit of the tank with some eggcrate to keep the molly separate from the trigger.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/f...-vs-marine-fish-diseases.312166/#post-3843490

 

[ReefHog]

It’s never a bad idea to be extra careful, but.... for the sake of your home life...

Since you are just moving them to another QT, and will still have plenty of time to observe them over there before your fallow period is over. I would think you could just go ahead and move them to consolidate QTs (and keep a happy home). You could always do the molly test in that QT, before moving them to your display, if you want to be sure it’s all good. And if something crops up, they are still in QT so it will be relatively easy to go back into “hospital” mode if you have to.

Could section off a bit of the tank with some eggcrate to keep the molly separate from the trigger.

After contemplating it, when the two fish from the nano (blenny and firefish) have completed their treatment this weekend, I'm gonna move them and the filefish and hawk fish to the 40. I'll wait anther day or two to put trigger in. He was fine in the 220 DT with smaller fish but it was an established tank with tons of rock work. Then after all fish are back to normal and eating properly, I'll section off a small side with eggcrate and add a molly. If anything reappears, I'll have to remove the sand and re-treat the 40.

BTW, I have a canister filter with Bio Spira seeded Matrix and a half inch of Aragalive sand for filtration on the 40. I could start Seachem Stability when I add the fish also if necessary.

 

[Bounce House]

I have always wanted to try mollies in a reef tank, but I heard that they can have a very weak immune system since they might not be used to a full saltwater environment and it's associated parasites and bacteria.

 

[ReefHog]

I have always wanted to try mollies in a reef tank, but I heard that they can have a very weak immune system since they might not be used to a full saltwater environment and it's associated parasites and bacteria.

That's why they are used (much like a canary in a coal mine) to test fallow treated saltwater aquariums or aquariums with saltwater fish that have been treated for parasites. Since they have no immunity to marine disease, they should show signs rather quickly if the parasites are still present. At least that is how I understand it. It does seem dark, possibly sacrificing one fish for another or others, but in most cases you'd be sacrificing way more livestock should the aquarium not be completely disease free. Lesser of two evils the way I see it. And the lfs will surly take back the molly after his work is done if you don't want to keep him.

 

[Claus84]

I'm sure I have one of those with the vented lid. I thought because of the lack of resistance to salt water disease, velvet/ich would show up within 3 or 4 days. I drip acclimated the molly over two hours. He looked fine for two hours before I went off to work. Didn't realize it took that long to acclimate. I know i've acclimated puffers and moon fish many years ago in a few hours. I guess I'll have to get a small heater and let the acclimation go while at work.

2 hours seems very quick, I acclimated 4 mollies to saltwater a few weeks ago. I did an extremely slow drip for the first 5 days speeding up slightly when approaching 1.018ish for a total of 7 days acclimation. All did fine and are going strong. This is just my limited experience but honestly given the stress anything less than a few days must place on their internal organs I wouldnt feel right rushing it.

 

[Tamberav]

I have always wanted to try mollies in a reef tank, but I heard that they can have a very weak immune system since they might not be used to a full saltwater environment and it's associated parasites and bacteria.

I keep hearing this but the few people who actually keep mollies on purpose in their reef say they do fine and are hardy and more vibrant.

 

[ReefHog]

Second try acclimating a black molly. I have a 2.5 gallon next to the 20 gallon QT. I have the molly in the 2.5 gallon about 25% filled. I am dripping one drop per two seconds. This should result in a slow drip acclimation. I have a cover on the tank to prevent evaporation with such a small body of water. When the salinity is equal, I will transfer molly in QT with firefish and fork tail blenny. I'll wait a week to see if any velvet shows up. If no signs of Velvet, I will transfer all three into the 40 with the filefish, hawkfish and trigger to observe till the DT fallow period is over. If I see any aggression, I have a tank divider ready to insert.

 

[ReefHog]

Update:
My second attempt acclimating the black molly did not go any better. At the drip rate i employed, it was taking many days to bring up salinity to that of QT. I figured that would be fine. The molly was eating some flake during process but on day 5 he died in the 2.5 gallon.

Attempt #3: I set up drip acclimation so that it took 6 hours to reach QT salinity. I added the molly to QT and he fit right in with the blenny and firefish. Two weeks later and he is looking great. He's very active and eats everything i feed. So at this point I'm hoping the velvet has been eradicated. Since the trigger, hawk & filefish were in this same QT for two weeks prior to moving them into a larger 40 breeder QT, i'm guessing they should be velvet free as well. Once the DT has been fallow for the 10 weeks, I will add the molly to the sump to confirm that one is velvet free.

 

[Dmb092182]

Update:
My second attempt acclimating the black molly did not go any better. At the drip rate i employed, it was taking many days to bring up salinity to that of QT. I figured that would be fine. The molly was eating some flake during process but on day 5 he died in the 2.5 gallon.

Attempt #3: I set up drip acclimation so that it took 6 hours to reach QT salinity. I added the molly to QT and he fit right in with the blenny and firefish. Two weeks later and he is looking great. He's very active and eats everything i feed. So at this point I'm hoping the velvet has been eradicated. Since the trigger, hawk & filefish were in this same QT for two weeks prior to moving them into a larger 40 breeder QT, i'm guessing they should be velvet free as well. Once the DT has been fallow for the 10 weeks, I will add the molly to the sump to confirm that one is velvet free.

I did this over 7 hours and got fish to 1.025. They are all swimming and look completely fine. Using as canary fish for lyratails that went through 16 days of copper power at 2.0 to 2.25. Should Molly’s be fine.

 

[ReefHog]

Old thread. Ive done three or four black mollies in the last year and a half. I’ve found I have the best success acclimating over a few hours.

 

[javisaman]

By over a few hours do you mean something like 7 hours?

 

[Dmb092182]

When I did mine I did it over 6 to 7 hours. I only lost 1 out of 3.