Mollies in saltwater

5xevy

5xevy

Member #62,749
Jan 3, 2007
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Upstate, NY
Hi there. I wanted to get a dalmation Molly since I heard they're able to adapt in fresh/brackish/saltwater. I'd like to try one in my saltwater, 1.022-1.024 salinity. Will the fish be able to survive and, more importantly, thrive with these levels?

Thanks.
 
i'm certainly no expert but i know that most mollies are kept in freshwater at the lfs so my guess would be that they need to be acclimated gradually. if you have a freshwater qt tank i would start it out in there and slowly add more salt over the course of like 2 weeks. then add it to your sw tank. i would think that adding it to a sw tank right out of a freshwater tank would be a pretty big shock on it's system.
 
mollies are one of the most versatile fish out there because they are able to live in many different slainities.

you will have to SLOWLY acclimate the molly to your tank.
if you have a QT tank it will amke it even easier because you can slowly adjust the slainity to your tank's.
 
Yes, definitely. I would acclimate very slowly. I'm just trying to figure out if brackish is more preferable than outright saltwater. I want to do what's in the best interest of the fish... :)

I'm going to research it a lot more and see what I come up with. If anyone else has any thoughts (or has kept a Molly in a SW tank), please feel free to share them.

Maybe I should post this in the marine forum as well.
 
i believe proper acclimation is .001 increase in salinity weekly until full SW is reached. i've heard of people actually cycling their SW tanks using mollies, so they don't lose money on expensive fish.
 
as others have pointed out, a very slow acclimation. it's too bad most LFS keep them in full freshwater. i would love to see some mollies in a SW tank.
 
wataugachicken said:
i've heard of people actually cycling their SW tanks using mollies, so they don't lose money on expensive fish.
Click to expand...

Ouch. In a couple of more weeks my QT tank will be empty. I'll slowly add some salt and see how good she responds (when I think Molly, I think "she"- heh).

I'll write again to let you all know of the progress. I can't say I'm not a little nervous though. If a Molly's been in the LFS for a few months with freshwater only, I can only hope she'll do just as well in saltwater when the time comes. I feel a little uncomfortable using her as a "lab rabbit" per say, but if I feel she's under any stress I'll just keep her in my freshwater tank instead.
 
Mollies are naturaly indigeounus to the brackish marshes of the Yucatan. Changing your salinity by .1 every 4 to 5 days will acclimate them proplery. They thrive best in brackish water, but can also live perfectly happy lives in FW or SW.
 
I have done this and you only need to spend 12 hours acclimating your mollies. You can use a drip system that will drip saltwater in their water. There are calculations on the web if you do a search to calculate the drip rate. You can also add small amounts of SW every 10-15 minuets. Check the SG and make sure you do not exceed .002 increase every hour. You want to go from 1.000 to 1.023-1.025 over the course of 12 hours.
 
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