Do Mollies Need Salt?

Web Gazelle

Web Gazelle

Guardian Of The Cave
Dec 1, 2004
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This has been a much debated question and I got the answer today in my aquarium fish magazine. THe author say that Black Mollies need warm water and a salinity of "1.001 to 1.020 SG. These fish generally do best with salt do to their hybridization with Floridian species." So there you have it. Hybrid Mollies do better with salt.
 
Of course this is marine salt and not the salt sold as Freshwater Aquarium Salt. People hear salt and think NaCl, but there is much more to it than that.
 
I have a molly who battles disease on a regular basis, there is VERY little salt in the water and I think thats the problem.... Of course I bought it uninformed and have since learned my lesson. I've had him for about a year and a half, so hes still sticking it out :(
 
Mollies do much better with salt. The hybrid mollies like the the black ones seem to get sick easy so it is best to add some salt to the water. They also like the water very warm, between 77 and 85 degrees. Another thing I have learned while keeping mollies is that they don't do very well on their own and need other mollies to keep them happy. When I only had a couple of them they were always getting sick but recently I had a dozen in my tank and they did very well. I kept my tank at 80 degrees and had 1 teaspoon of salt for every 10 gallons. If your molly isn't plain silver then it is some kind of hybrid.
 
I have two black molly fry who were too fast for me to collect in the transition from brackish to marine. It's been two months, so far they're fine and eating everything in sight.

I have nine more in freshwater, well ten including the mother, and I haven't had a problem with either type of water...whether it be FW, Brackish, or Marine. Then again, they're in my tank because I couldn't get them out. Not because I put them there.

I don't particularly care for mollies, so as soon as I can grab them I'm acclimating them back into brackish. For being one-inch long they're pretty friggin resilient so far.
 
Mollies are in my opinion best kept in brackish conditions but can do well in any condition, hell I think they are hardy enough to live in acid. :D

Many people use molies to cycle their salt, freshwater and brackish water tanks because they are just so **** hardy.
 
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I have a gold sailfin that I bought to eat algae in my FW tank. He started picking on everyone, so I moved him (w/long acclimation) to my BW tank. I found my F8 hiding behind the cone worm feeder all the time, cause the molly was picking on him & I was so mad, I just scooped him up & dropped him into my SW tank. He's finally met his match w/my GSPs. He's doing great in there!
 
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