Mollys in a Frag Tank?

Mono

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I've always heard that Mollys are excellent algae eaters.

And I kind of like Dalmatian Mollys.

I was thinking of putting a few in my frag tank to see how they do.

Anyone have any experience keeping Mollys in saltwater?

Any thoughts on putting them in a frag tank?

Thanks
 

725196

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Good morning. Yes Molly’s can be acclaimed to salt water but you need to do so very slowly. As for whether or not the are good algae eaters, idk. I have heard that but have not experience with them for that kind of job.
 

Rickybobby

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My lfs had this large tank what had a back wall full of algae. He put a few mollies in without acclimation a week later I went back abs the tank was spotless
 
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Mono

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My lfs had this large tank what had a back wall full of algae. He put a few mollies in without acclimation a week later I went back abs the tank was spotless

Sounds too good to be true!

I'm thinking I'll give it a try.

Who can afford saltwater fish anymore!

Prices in NY have double or tripled.

It's mollys or just about nuttin'.
 
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Mono

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Good morning. Yes Molly’s can be acclaimed to salt water but you need to do so very slowly. As for whether or not the are good algae eaters, idk. I have heard that but have not experience with them for that kind of job.

I'm thinking I'll give it a try.

Anyway, my grandmother was named Molly, so I think I owe it to her.
 

Redfoxtang

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I wonder how they perform in a tank with heavy flow
That’s the problem. They are not the best swimmers, so if you have heavy flow this is not recommended. They will be sucked though or to the power head in no time.
 

Squeaky McMurdo

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3 of mine were actually wild caught in saltwater. They handle the flow just fine and even seem to enjoy getting right in front of a powerhead and swimming against the current. I just got some more on Friday and didn’t even acclimate them. They got their bearings and started swimming around with my other mollies as if nothing happened. Even the males with enormous sailfins aren’t having any trouble.

I’m going to breed for green sailfin lyretails.
 

Squeaky McMurdo

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3 of mine were actually wild caught in saltwater. They handle the flow just fine and even seem to enjoy getting right in front of a powerhead and swimming against the current. I just got some more on Friday and didn’t even acclimate them. They got their bearings and started swimming around with my other mollies as if nothing happened. Even the males with enormous sailfins aren’t having any trouble.

I’m going to breed for green sailfin lyretails.
 

jesspal

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3 of mine were actually wild caught in saltwater. They handle the flow just fine and even seem to enjoy getting right in front of a powerhead and swimming against the current. I just got some more on Friday and didn’t even acclimate them. They got their bearings and started swimming around with my other mollies as if nothing happened. Even the males with enormous sailfins aren’t having any trouble.

I’m going to breed for green sailfin lyretails.
It's always mollies also, never platys?
 

Squeaky McMurdo

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I haven’t tried platies but believe it can be done, but not as easily. I put a huge male silver sailfin molly in my 125 gallon display and I think he looks really good in there. He looks and behaves like a wrasse.
 

leepink23

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I have a black molly in each of my 2 frag tanks. They do eat algae, seem fine with my mp40’s at 50%. Can be a little aggressive at first towards other fish.
 

kput

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I threw a few into my display.
My Cowfish ripped one to shreds.......... he must have something against Freshwater fish -shrug-
 

ichthyogeek

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Livebearers are technically all euryhaline (can switch from fresh<->salt). But guppies and mollies are the only ones that I know of that are found in brackish/saline areas.

Fish with standard fins (none of the veiltail stuff, lyretail at maximum) are going to be better at getting through currents. Same with standard bodies (teacups are...not okay in my opinion).
 

jesspal

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I added two Lyretail Dalmatian mollies to my tank. They were the healthiest most robust looking mollies that I could find. The seem to be adapting quite well and I saw them starting to pick at the sand and rocks last night. Didn't take longer than a couple hours to acclimate.
 

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