Do Mollies Need Salt?

[tricksterpup]

Add salt to an aquarium of mollies is treating the symptoms more than the cause. Mollies need hard, alkaline water, not the salt. Keep their water clean and keep the pH around 8, and you'll be better off.

Might want to check out the "Great molly-salt debate" article:
http://www.afae.it/pages/tematica/articolipoecilidi/The_great_molly salt_debate.htm

After working with Mollies for years, I am behind this a 100%. Mollies need hard Alkaline water to thrive at their best not salt. I have kept them for many years in Salt, Brackish and Fresh only conditions. But I found that they do best in just fresh water with a hard alkalinity. Alot of people feel that livebearers need salt to do well, this is just wrong. This just hides the problems of poor quality fish, stressed fish due to over populated tanks and small tanks. Mollies require large tanks, I like breeding my Sailfins in a 55 gallon tank. I am hoping this year to get some wild greens and breed them out doors and see how they do.

 

[Web Gazelle]

I was just stating what I read in Aquarium Fish Magazine. My Black Mollies seemed to do much better and never got sick after I added salt to the tank.

 

[tricksterpup]

I was just stating what I read in Aquarium Fish Magazine. My Black Mollies seemed to do much better and never got sick after I added salt to the tank.

Depending on the salt you used, it may have added a alkalline buffer to the water which made it harder.
a great source of information is Dr. Ted Coletti's website.
http://tcoletti.tripod.com/thelivebearer.html