Mollies in Saltwater?
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Dread Pirate Dave
Well-Known Member
These were what I used to cycle my first tank. That was over 20 years ago now. Is this to cycle a new tank or just to keep them?
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B_easte
New Member
I was planning on just keeping them, I never thought about cycling a tank with them.
I don’t personally have any, but I know seahorse savvy sells aquarium saltwater acclimated Mollies. I suspect they’re pretty good for algae control in smaller tanks, given their size.
I have them is my sump; they keep things in control but IMO they are hit or miss for algae control in saltwater…I’m no longer “exactly” sure what type of algae they eat or prefer…
typically you don’t see them “lip printing” the glass like you do in freshwater
typically you don’t see them “lip printing” the glass like you do in freshwater
MissMolly
Active Member
They eat detritus around polyps (great for SPS, I have many buyers with SPS tanks) /macro algae, some of mine eat fish poop, they meticulously go through the sandbed for food (and maybe poop) so my sandbed is spotless. Also they work great as skimmers. They love to swim around and eat everything off surface. In my opinopn all you need is a sea urchin, 10 mollies and some nassarius snails and you're covered.
WvAquatics
Valuable Member
I'm planning a group in my sump. Will be about a 22g 24x18x12 area. Planning on a more display refugium so many different macros and then some Molly's for algea control in the sump. I figure if they don't eat algea they should survive off pod population that will build in sump.
WvAquatics
Valuable Member
Like most things in this hobby. It is very hard to fix a solution after it pops up. Best plan is put the fix there before the problem gets bad. Will they eat gha not sure. @shrimplover should be able to answer.
ColorMeGone
Community Member
I have a Black mollie in my 8 gal. nano and he does well but does not eat anything but what I feed him. Doesn't clean a thing! Just waits for me to feed him flakes twice a day. Lol Since they are not naturally saltwater fish, I would not use them to help cycle a tank but that's just me.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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FWIW, I have ethical issues of keeping organisms in greatly different conditions than they normally live in. We have no way to know if they are constantly suffering in the higher salinity.
ColorMeGone
Community Member
We also don't know how saltwater fish we use in our tanks like living in tight quarters of our fish tanks of any size since the ocean they come from is a bit larger and less cramped. I bet that if you could ask them, they would say get me the Hell outa here. Lol. Back in the 90's I went to the Bahamas for vacation and the resort had a concrete fishpond (maybe 3000 gallons) and it was filled with mollies. I was amazed to see them thriving and breeding. I went home and started acclimating a few myself and they seem to live long happy lives. JMO
MissMolly
Active Member
Ooooh okay two things:
1. I think by now after 10 years in fish tank keeping I can see if a fish is thriving or not. My mollies in saltwater are in MUCH MUCH healthier, they are more active, they are more hungry, they are BIGGER, they live longer, and their FRY is born much BIGGER - all compared toi the mollies I keep in freshwater.
2. The explanation:
Mollies are EURYHALINE. Meaning they can live in both fresh, brack and sw. There is a lot of reasearch but starting with the basics for you from a QUICK search on wiki:
Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the short-finned molly, Poecilia sphenops, which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water.
The green crab (Carcinus maenas) is an example of a euryhaline invertebrate that can live in salt and brackish water.
Euryhaline organisms are commonly found in habitats such as estuaries and tide pools where the salinity changes regularly.
However, some organisms are euryhaline because their life cycle involves migration between freshwater and marine environments, as is the case with salmon and eels.
NOTE THIS: The opposite of euryhaline organisms are stenohaline, which can only survive within a narrow range of salinities. Most freshwater organisms are stenohaline, and will die in seawater, and similarly most marine organisms are stenohaline, and cannot live in fresh water.
Partial list of euryhaline species
- Atlantic stingray
- Bull shark
- Green chromide
- Herring
- Lamprey
- Mummichog
- Molly
- Guppy
- Puffer fish
- Salmon
- Shad
- Striped bass
- Sturgeon
- Tilapia
- Trout
- Barramundi
- Mangrove jack
- White perch
- Killifish
- Desert pupfish
Some of these fish can't no longer live optimal lives in SW since they have been bread weaker and weaker and further from their natural roots over the years. Like the fancy guppy.
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