Failed molly experiment: any tips for success?

[GainesvilleReef]

About how old are those guys? They look about twice the weight of the ones I tried.

It's a mix. 2-8 weeks. Adults are about 4 times that size.

 

[zalick]

It's a mix. 2-8 weeks. Adults are about 4 times that size.

Wow. Watching the video again mine were close to or slightly bigger than your 2 week ones.

 

[Tamberav]

Wow, these pictures show fish MUCH bigger than mine. I wonder if mine were simply too young, in addition to all the risks inherently.

I put some super babies, much smaller then yours in a bucket with a hang on back filter and dripped them over 3 days and 5/12 made it. They were already sickly and unwell at the LFS so pretty sure some were already dying by the time I got home before I started the drip.

Mollies at some LFS are not very healthy IMO. Pretty sure I saved the ones that lived. The salt cured their diseases.

I only paid like 20 cents each or something because they were just little babies.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

Wow. Watching the video again mine were close to or slightly bigger than your 2 week ones.

The largest ones in the video are about the size I usually get.

 

[Subsea]

I have had third and fourth generation mollies in salt water and they got huge. The variety I used came from a clownfish hatchery in Purto Rico.

It is my experience that mollies are at risk with most reef tank fish.

I am presently setting up a macro lagoon as a mixed garden tank to highlight ornamental macros and inverts, including coral. As a source of nutrients, I will use mollies and treat them like large amphipods as the only fish. Just as some growout frag tanks are teeming with pods, they could also be teeming with mollies.

I used to think, lyre tail mollies did best. When I fist started marine aquarium, I have netted green mollies in the wild in fresh, brackish and full strength salt. Yes, I have used PerSmart mollies with varied success. In Austin, one LFS sells Black Mollies fully adjusted to salt.

 

[Hermie]

Very likely was just the flow. You acclimated them properly.

Probably better to keep small mollies out of the reef environment since they can get stuck in rocks/swept away, etc.

 

[mommeedeb]

I thought I was rescuing 5 black mollies from Petco..... Turns out I'm the bad guy!

I slow drip acclimated 5 black mollies over the course of 36 hours. I put 4 in my DT and one in a 20 long QT.

The one in the QT immediately went to a bottom corner and stayed for a few hours then disappeared. I wouldn't call it a high flow QT at all.

This morning he's swimming/floating near the top. I don't think he'll make it.

The 4 in the DT took to the tank right away. They were swimming all over eating and picking at everything. They were struggling a bit with the flow so I turned it down. With my rocks there are plenty of spaces with very mild flow.

This morning one was dead pinned to a PH. Another was dead pinned to overflow. A third made it to the sump and is struggling. The 4th is MIA.


All the mollies were about 1.5-2". MUCH smaller than I expected

My best guess is they simply tired out from my flow. There is a mild gyre flow with some surging. They seemed to take the salt transition just fine.

I read so many posts of people acclimating to salt by tossing straight in all the way to multiple weeks. I figured 36 hrs would be good....

I feel terrible because I hate killing fish due to my mistakes. :(

If I track down full grown mollies will they handle flow better?

I would suggest sailfin mollies they prefer brackish water to fresh and are a bit bigger than the common molly. I acclimated by pouring a bit of tank water in with them every 10 to 15 minutes,threw them in the tank in about an hour they did great.Have molly fry in my sump now.