Mollies...

googs13 · 07-24-2007, 10:21 AM

I am wondering if you guys can help me. I have had my tank going for a while now, and all my fish are doing great, except for Mollies. It seems everytime I buy a Mollie, he ends up dying on me. I have had Dalmations, black Mollies, golden Mollies, and an albino Mollie.

I originally lost my 2 dalmations, but that was when my tank was first cycled and I think I was doing things wrong.

But, my latest casualties are my two black mollies. They were doing well for a while, then all of a sudden, started acted strange and both died.

I am at work right now, so I can't post my readings, but I tested my water the other night and the numbers all seemed good.

Like I said, all of my other fish are doing well, but I seem to have no luck with Mollies. I always thought they were hardy fish.

penna32 · 07-24-2007, 11:21 AM

it is possible you bought mollies with a type of parasite .. have you bought them all from the same store ?

googs13 · 07-24-2007, 11:26 AM

No, that's the thing, I have bought them from 4 different places. I have a great LFS about 20 minutes from me. His quality of fish are always great, but I bought 2 Mollies from him, they both died. All the other fish I have bought from him are doing great.

I have even tried Petsmart, petco, and 2 LFS...no luck.

penna32 · 07-24-2007, 12:32 PM

do you watch them eat ? i know mollies only eat from the surface, so they kinda have to get to the food before it sinks

Sarah84 · 07-24-2007, 01:43 PM

how are you acclimating them? and how are your water parameters? do they have symptoms before they die? What other fish are you keeping in the tank with them? common Mollys such as black, dalmation etc., as like guppies IMO are becoming inbred and mass produced.... guppies are not as hardly as they used to be.. although I have 1 female guppy I've had for just about 1 year with no problems.
Sarah

amanda_ · 07-24-2007, 02:36 PM

Many people don't realize that mollies are more of brackish water fish than freshwater. Even guppies appreciate a higher Ph with aquarium salt but are more hardy. Mollies need salt, particularly black mollies. Depending on the fish you currently have you may not be able to add the salt concentration mollies thrive in.

pappyy3 · 07-25-2007, 10:36 PM

Amanda has made a great comment!

Although Mollies aren't a particularly difficult fish to keep, I would not call them hardy either ...

They do have certain preferences as compared to other fish.

I used to have the same problems with Mollies. ie; Dying for no reason after some some weeks. Afters speaking to the owner of my nearest LFS, who had quite a lot of success breeding mollies, this is what I do:

1. Add i teaspoon marine salt to every 10 gallons of water. Mollies love salt in their water and will do well.

2. When doing your water changes, make sure that the temperature of the water is the same as that in the tank.

Mollies like their temperatures kept constant and are very sensitive to changes. They get what is known as the "shimmies". You'll know if they're suffering this when you see them swimimming in a erratic manner.

Perhaps your problems may be temperature related, but definitely recommend that you add salt to the water when keeping mollies, and make sure you give them clean water and stable temperatures.

After following the above advice, I haven't lost a Molly in over 5 years. In fact they regularly breed, and my tribe of mollies are getting bigger by the month. (I keep black lyretaile and normal marbles mollies. Also have Sailfins in a seperate molly only tank).

Hope this helps

Tommy Gun · 07-26-2007, 10:02 PM

Quote:

common Mollys such as black, dalmation etc., as like guppies IMO are becoming inbred and mass produced

I agree with Sarah here...mollies are often inbred so that they can be mass produced, so to speak. To add to that, the 'unnatural' mollies such as balloon mollies may face a shorter lifespan due to having a technically disfigured body.

Quote:

Many people don't realize that mollies are more of brackish water fish than freshwater.

Mollies need salt, particularly black mollies

Based upon an article which is in either this month's or last month's edition of Tropical Fish Hobbyist, I have to disagree with this statement. True, they can be found in brackish or even saltwater..in fact, I know of one member who has black mollies in her SW tank, if you have any questions she might be a good person to contact to get answers, which you can do by visiting aeolussalukis's profile. That said, the article I mentioned clearly debunks this myth do a high degree, stating that the idea surrounding the ability for mollies to acclimate to almost any sort of water, if done so properly, has just gotten stretched a bit in that hobbyists misunderstood this as mollies being brackish or salt.

Quote:

Add i teaspoon marine salt to every 10 gallons of water

While it is true that mollies benifit from salt being added to their environment...which, by the way, can arguably be said about most any livebearer...you can easily come into problems from using marine salt versus 'regular salt' (sodium chloride, aka table salt...or aquarium salt, which is not to be confused with marine salt) if you also have other types of fish in the same tank. Marine salt is comprised of a few different types of salt as well as a long list of trace elements which can harm freshwater fish. Conversly though, if the tank only has mollies and/or other brackish fish, then I would assume that using marine salt would be fine. Besides, I am willing to bet that it is much cheaper to use regular salt versus marine salt. And by the way, there are some specialized salts on the market aimed solely for livebearers so that is another place to look. While the iodine in table salt wont present an immediate problem and can be used over a shorter time span, if you use it constantly, you might want to go with the aquarium salt or livebearer salts.

Jay · 07-27-2007, 03:58 PM

Tom you are being a little contradictory there with "debunk the myth" in one paragraph and add salt in the next.

We need to stop throwing the word SALT around. NaCl table salt is not the same as MgS04 magnesium sulphate another salt, or KCL potassium chloride, yet another salt KNO3 CaCl etc. etc.

What we are really talking about here is the GH of the water and all the salts and minerals that go into it besides Magnesium and Calcium. The salt and mineral traces that make up native environments. To reemphasise here, we are not talking Brackish water, we are talking GH and the mineral salts mix.

Using NaCl will help, but you are limiting your options if you want plants.

Seachem (I love these guys)

makes a Live-bearer "Salts" mixture that can be used to ramp up your GH for various live-bearer species including guppies and mollies. I started using it a year ago, after being frustrated by guppy losses in my Wife"s (

) guppy, planted tank. I have not had an unexplained fish loss to date.

Regards,
Jay

MandyMolly · 07-27-2007, 04:11 PM

free mn_fuzka

Quote:

Originally Posted by penna32

do you watch them eat ? i know mollies only eat from the surface, so they kinda have to get to the food before it sinks

This is not true! I have been breeding Mollies for a while now and mine eat from all levels including sturing up stuff from the bottom of the tank! xx mn_fuzka xx

free mn_fuzkaAll I do for my tank is use tap water and add stress coat to declorinate. I add 2 tbs. of AQUARIUM SALT for my 30g planted. I have plattys, guppys, albino cory cats, and a highfin pleco, with my Mollies! They all do great in my tank! I have had many sucessful batches of fry born and raised now! I have lost several mollies in the past when I was stocking my tank, but I bought all my fish from Petsmart and Petco so that was to be expected to loose a few. I am also running a powerhead in my tank, my Mollies seem to enjoy the added water current.
Also Mollies enjoy sand as a substrate. Mine totally changed their personalities when I changed from rock to sand! They seem so much Happier!
Hope this helps you! xx mn_fuzka xx