Mollies, monos, and green spotted puffer in our reefs.
- Thread starter The guppy guru
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This is great!
I was thinking of adding a couple mollies to my FOWLR tank (20 gallon AIO) but I also have macros in there. I wouldn't mind sharing but wouldn't like it if they eat so much to kill them, especially my rare blue Ochtodes.
What do you think?
I was thinking of adding a couple mollies to my FOWLR tank (20 gallon AIO) but I also have macros in there. I wouldn't mind sharing but wouldn't like it if they eat so much to kill them, especially my rare blue Ochtodes.
What do you think?
IKD
2500 Club Member
I had heard anecdotally that while brackish water fish can survive in full saltwater, they could not live long-term in those conditions. Is this true? If not, how long have mollies been kept in full saltwater?
Indytraveler83
Well-Known Member
I have 2 black mollies born in freshwater that have lived in a full reef environment for a year now. Bigger and healthier in the salt than they ever were in freshwater. If you look up my posts I just did a long write up on their journey.
I know 2 isn't statistically significant, but it's certainly possible for them to be long term reef residents.
IKD
2500 Club Member
I found this link also. Sounds like 3-5yrs is average expectation for mollies in general
www.reef2reef.com
Can Mollies Live In Saltwater Long Term?
From doing some research it sounds like they don't live as long as they should. Has anybody kept mollies long term in saltwater?
www.reef2reef.com
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
I have never kept macro in my display but I think if I did the mollies would probably nip at the algae but probably not desimante a large population. So mollies are macro safe with caution. But I wouldn’t risk an expensive macro.
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
From my experience their life span remains mostly unchanged thought this can be found out by doing an experiment, that is what I have been doing I’ve put guppies and mollies in fresh and saltwater at the same time and observed their behavior for 2 years. Both were very inconsistent some lived longer and others much shorter, but one thing I noticed is that the mothers in freshwater tended to have less mutations than in saltwater. Another thing I noticed is that when I turned the temperature down by about 2 degrees F• over a course of four days the fish in freshwater caught ick were as the ones in saltwater took a while to get hit with the effects in cooler water. So the stats are very inconsistent when it comes to ups and downs.
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
I have started with freshwater mollies the started breeding them in full marine conditions they have now bred and no longer show as many genetic mutations in the fry.
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
Unfortunately I have not kept mollies long term in saltwater my display tank has always had a problem that has forced my hand into returning them into freshwater, but now that I have bred them and have a steady population I will now begin the experiment of seeing the long term effects on these fish.
Indytraveler83
Well-Known Member
It's sorta funny, my experience has been the opposite. I really didn't want saltwater mollies, but mine could never stay healthy or safe in freshwater. They deal with clownfish and dottybacks better than their own siblings. Who knew;?
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
That is very strange and in my freshwater tank I used to have a molly of the genus sphenops, and two of the genus latipina and they did not get well. The smaller sphenops would chase and tire out the latipina mollies. Now the poor sphenops is in my reef tank.
Indytraveler83
Well-Known Member
My experiences with freshwater overall are strange, so take it as you may. I'm more likely to keep a wrasse or anthias long term than a tetra or platty. Reef keeping makes sense to me, but I am the bringer of death to anything in freshwater. Best to qualify my experience I guess... Lol
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
Hmm how unfortunate I hope that you can someday have better luck.
around 40 years ago when i was keeping a seahorse a lot of the articles at the time said that live brine shrimp werent sufficently nutritious to keep them alive long term and that the best food source was to breed mollies in saltwater and feed them the fry...never tried though...and i guess the mollies available back then were many generations and mutations closer to wild brackish water fish cause the articles made it seem like it was no big deal to convert them
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
Yes it seems that mollies were used as feeders which makes sense.... mollies are livebearers and to get rid of them once their established is going to be a nightmare. But yeah I’ve been guilty of using mollies and guppies as feeders for my bichir, I don’t just feed him this but as well as bloodworms, frozen shrimp, and feeder guppies and mollies.
OP
OP
The guppy guru
Active Member
The green spotted puffer can be a very good addition to a reef tank but they can also be your worst nightmare. Gsp or green spotted puffer, are in my eyes reef safe with caution they won’t eat you coral but they will terrorize your cuc. But I had gotten lucky once with a GSP that did not eat my shrimp or crabs but he did try to eat my snails so I had to feed him regularly to sway that behavior.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
I was thinking of a green spotted puffer for my reef because I would love a marine Toby puffer but I am fairly sure even my quite large coral banded and cleaner shrimp would end up being expensive shrimp dinner. The gsp I have seen were very small and I thought the shrimp being so large would be safe probably. Is that not necessarily true, can small puffers handle big shrimp?
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