Saltwater Mollies

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 17, 2015

I would love to know more about how people have acclimated freshwater mollies to saltwater. I also am interested in hearing how they help out with algae control. I'm contemplating trying them out in my seahorse tank.

Reefing Madness · Jan 17, 2015

I acclimated them over a 4 hour period, drip method.

eatbreakfast · Jan 17, 2015

Reefing Madness said:
I acclimated them over a 4 hour period, drip method.

Same. I have found they dont do well with a lot of flow, but in a seahorse tank should be fine.

jedimasterben · Jan 17, 2015

It depends on the species and strain. The larger strains of P. latipenna by far do the best. I have one in my 80 with a Maxspect 50w Gyre and at full bore it has no problems with the flow. In the past I also had a black molly, they do not get as large, but it also tolerated high flow. Just avoid strains with fancier/longer tails.

Also, the ones I've drip acclimated have actually had a significantly lower survival rate than the ones just dropped right in after temperature acclimation. The ones that were dripped were done in spans of 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours, and ended up with zero survivors.

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 17, 2015

jedimasterben said:
It depends on the species and strain. The larger strains of P. latipenna by far do the best. I have one in my 80 with a Maxspect 50w Gyre and at full bore it has no problems with the flow. In the past I also had a black molly, they do not get as large, but it also tolerated high flow. Just avoid strains with fancier/longer tails.

Also, the ones I've drip acclimated have actually had a significantly lower survival rate than the ones just dropped right in after temperature acclimation. The ones that were dripped were done in spans of 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours, and ended up with zero survivors.

Interesting.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far!

jedimasterben · Jan 17, 2015

With seahorses and lower flow, you should do some guppies too :)

vlangel · Jan 17, 2015

Krista, I also asked about acclimating mollies to salt water, and 1 poster informed me that if the seahorses get any algae on their body the mollies might harass them to the point of being stressed. I don't know if that is true but figured I'd pass it along. If you try it I'd love to know how it works out for you?

mlivvy · Jan 19, 2015

I tried a pair of mollies once years ago. Pros- They eat algae and reproduce ALOT which was free coral food. Cons- Poop.. Poop everywhere. Poop on my frags, poop on my corals, poop on the sand. Never again.

jedimasterben · Jan 19, 2015

mlivvy said:
I tried a pair of mollies once years ago. Pros- They eat algae and reproduce ALOT which was free coral food. Cons- Poop.. Poop everywhere. Poop on my frags, poop on my corals, poop on the sand. Never again.

Like pretty much any fish, when they poop, it should be basically a cloud of sand that goes away quickly, otherwise treat them with praziquantel. In addition, it would never be able to 'pile up' unless your tank is without proper flow.

EDIT: maybe not 'cloud of sand', puff of smoke works better ;)

WilRams · Jan 19, 2015

I actually started drip acclimating a group of 2 males and 5 females tonight. I picked them up saturday morning and let them settle into a 5 gallon tank over the weekend. Its my first time trying it so I am acclimating them very slowly. If that doesn't work then I will try to acclimate them a little faster and see what gives me better results. They are on sale right now at Petsmart for a dollar a piece so I figured why not. These will be going in a frag tank.

tyler1503 · Jan 20, 2015

Always liked the idea of doing this. I always put it off because I've usually had larger predators. Now that I have smaller scorpions that need live foods and if they reproduce readily I'd like to try that out!
Following :)

kacrocorals581 · Jan 21, 2015

6 hrs for me but I think it would be a bad idea to put them in with sea horses they would not even be able to come close to being able to get food with the mollies in the tank the mollies way to fast moving and well eat till they look pregnant and then somemore just my take on them don't think the sea horses well be able to eat with them in the tank

essexreefer2011 · Jan 21, 2015

I put them in my 240 gallon to cycle it just dropped them in thay was in there about 3 months none died and when I got them all out there must have been about 100 of them only put 15 in there thay was doing better in saltwater than fresh

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 21, 2015

vlangel said:
Krista, I also asked about acclimating mollies to salt water, and 1 poster informed me that if the seahorses get any algae on their body the mollies might harass them to the point of being stressed. I don't know if that is true but figured I'd pass it along. If you try it I'd love to know how it works out for you?

I took a peak at the thread that you posted and it was Dan from Seahorse Source that said that. I trust Dan, but I do have a backup plan if it doesn't work. I am going to purchase some today. I can always put them in my reef tank if I have any issues.

vlangel · Jan 21, 2015

SeahorseKeeper said:
I took a peak at the thread that you posted and it was Dan from Seahorse Source that said that. I trust Dan, but I do have a backup plan if it doesn't work. I am going to purchase some today. I can always put them in my reef tank if I have any issues.

Let me know how it goes, I am very curious about it.

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 21, 2015

I will definitely keep the thread updated. :)

vlangel · Jan 21, 2015

Awesome!

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 22, 2015

The mollies are in! :)

tyler1503 · Jan 23, 2015

Awesome! How did you end up acclimating them?

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 26, 2015

tyler1503 said:
Awesome! How did you end up acclimating them?

I did one with the drip acclimation over about 4 hours. That molly did not make it past 24 hours. The other molly I acclimated matching the temps. This one is still alive. The molly is in hiding in the tank and does not venture out much. It hasn't messed with the seahorses.