Help Needed wiht Molly and Platy

[RanchuRick]

It seems that Molly can do well with or without salt. And I'm not getting in the debate. Regardless of whether Molly thrives in salt or not, doesn't it make sense to not add salt if there are other fish that don't require the salt?

 

[Harlock]

Don't know what's wrong with some of you people, but my mollies do fine and THRIVE in water with salt in it. In all the cases(and I have been keeping mollies for 18 yrs), they did MUCH better in the salted water then in the non salted water.

But, whatever works for you hobbiests.

Did you read the articles to which I linked? There is nothing wrong with us. We simply have done the research, understand the principles behind salt in the water, and when to use it and not to. Assuming there is something "wrong" with us is just plain immature.

 

[Lakota]

Well, there must be something wrong with at least you my friend, because you are not listening. Salt or no salt, research or no research, I am going off of years of experience with livebearers, mostly mollies, and all I know is that if I do not add salt to the tank my mollies do no fair as well as they do as when I add the salt.

You go ahead and read all the research you want and I'll go by my own experiences and what works for me and how well my fish do. And, I do understand the principles behind the salt and I also know that I have seen Mollies living in brackish water and marine salt aquariums. So take a little experience over some research that some scientist in some lab with one lil control and came to some conclusion. Do what you will and I'll do what I will and maybe I'll get alittle more mature now that I've chatted with a lil fella like you.

 

[tricksterpup]

Well, there must be something wrong with at least you my friend, because you are not listening. Salt or no salt, research or no research, I am going off of years of experience with livebearers, mostly mollies, and all I know is that if I do not add salt to the tank my mollies do no fair as well as they do as when I add the salt.

You go ahead and read all the research you want and I'll go by my own experiences and what works for me and how well my fish do. And, I do understand the principles behind the salt and I also know that I have seen Mollies living in brackish water and marine salt aquariums. So take a little experience over some research that some scientist in some lab with one lil control and came to some conclusion. Do what you will and I'll do what I will and maybe I'll get alittle more mature now that I've chatted with a lil fella like you.

Lakota,
Mollies do not need salt nor do any livebearers, this actually water hardness that is actually needed. The fish just tolerates living in salt and yes can do it well for years. But todays store bought mollies are not caught or bred in salt water. they are actually kept in fresh, with hard water. The only time you would actually need to keep mollies in salt or any other live bearer is if they are wild caught and that is pretty rare now adays. The only people who keep wild caught are odd collectors like me.
One artical is on the skeptical aquarist who is probably one ofthe more respected posters on here and one I post is from Dr. Ted Coletti. He posts on a few newsgroups and writes for FAMA.
http://tcoletti.tripod.com/molly_salt_debate.html

here is a quote from Dr. Ted Colleti:

Most Mollys Never See Salt. Most if not all the Mollys that inhabit the streams and rivers of Central America will live out their lives without ever venturing into brackish water. Many of these are fish of the “sphenops” complex that include species now classified as Poecilia maylandi, butleri, and salvatoris among others. Aquarium strains with “short fins” or smaller dorsals have these animals in their ancestry. Their biotopes are often fast moving streams and rivers fed mainly by rainfall. These same fish can and do occasionally exist in brackish deltas and marshes, but that does not mean this should be considered the "type" environment for the species. When rains come heavy in that part of the world many fish are "flushed" out to sea. Those that manage to survive often will settle on the tranquil coastal areas, eventually working their way back up to rivers and streams by swimming near the shallow banks.

One of the problem that most face with live bearers and mollies is that people do not do enough water changes, due to over crowding or poor quality fish.
Me personally I keep my mollies in nothing less than a 29/30 gallon tank. These guys need there room and love to swim around.

Here is another portion on that same artical on clean water.

Water Changes Are Better Than Salt. The salt debate comes about when one deals with the less hardy and adaptable fancy livebearers, such as the Black Molly or Red Velvet Platy. These are genetically non-diverse varieties and thus prone to sickness, usually requiring higher temperatures and clean water (red velvet platies are another example). Here, salt acts as a “tonic” which make these fish more "forgiving" of the most common mistakes in fish husbandry - overcrowding and infrequent water changes. As Molly legend Dr. Joanne Norton (who was responsible for many of the varieties we now enjoy) advised nearly 30 years ago:

I personally have been doing this with Mollies and other live bearers for over 30 years and have been doing wonders with my fish.
I personally have been doing water toxity test with fish when I was in college and kept most of my training to my personal fish keeping today.

 

[rich311k]

I don't want to comment on the salt thing. I have hard water and I have never added salt. The temperature is to low at 76. It should be higher. Closer to 80. They do love plants and a bright tank.

 

[Harlock]

Well, there must be something wrong with at least you my friend, because you are not listening.

Well, I must be wrong with all of my experience too. Let's see, I'm 31, started keeping fish when I was 11...

Anyway, I was listening. I was hoping others were too, and that they read and understand the research and not the "magical" experience of adding salt for mollies. Really, no offense was meant, was merely trying to save the OP from what I felt was bad advice and backed it up with research and my own experience. That's what message boards are about, see, the exchnage of ideas, current research, and most folks are smart enough to figure that part out.

 

[Lakota]

I see what a person gets around here for trying to give helpful advice here. You were expressing your experience with the molly salt topic and so was I. Nice to know what happens when you try to help people out. And, sorry, I do admit I shouldn't have said "I don't know what is wrong with you people", that was wrong. But, I also should not be attacked for telling people my experiences with my fish. Sad, sad world.

Lakota

 

[Lakota]

And by the way, NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE but I still stand by aquarium salt. And again I will say THIS IS MY OPINION AND EXPERIENCE. Perhaps some will comprehend what is being said if it is in nice big letters.

Lakota

 

[tricksterpup]

And by the way, NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE but I still stand by aquarium salt. And again I will say THIS IS MY OPINION AND EXPERIENCE. Perhaps some will comprehend what is being said if it is in nice big letters.

Lakota

Lakota, there is no reason to act hostile on the salt issue. But most experienced people here recommend synthetic sea salt over the boxed Aquarium salt. That is just typical rock salt and is just not good for your fish. And I am not discounting your Expierence here. I am pointing out the years of research that has gone into this. Things change in the hobby all the time. What we believed 15 years ago isn't the same today. Heck, 30 years ago, how many people would have had a Reef tank in their house? Now people are propagating corals left and right.
Lakota, all we ask is that you look at the sites that we have posted such as Dr. Ted Colletti's (who is an expert in the field of live bearers) with an open mind. That is the one thing that is amazing in this hobby, the constant learning. I am sure from my 30 years of fish keeping, if we swapped notes, you know of things I never knew.