Cory Cats And Salt.

[Zekumi]

I was all excited over the prospect of possibly adding afew cory cats to my aquarium in the near future, but now it has come to my attention that cories are particularly sensitive to salt?
I've got 4 balloon mollies, so naturally I'm working about 1 table spoon per 5 gallons.

So, can anyone here back that up?
Very disappointing if true.

 

[JenCliBee]

I was all excited over the prospect of possibly adding afew cory cats to my aquarium in the near future, but now it has come to my attention that cories are particularly sensitive to salt?
I've got 4 balloon mollies, so naturally I'm working about 1 table spoon per 5 gallons.

So, can anyone here back that up?
Very disappointing if true.

yep ur rite cory's dont tollerate salt very well and may lead 2 stress which will lead 2 disese and may contimiate the rest of ur tank

 

[Ally555]

Agreed!!! Cories+Salt=Not Good

 

[Zekumi]

Dwaw. T__T

Well that sucks. Aw well. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[waterdrop]

yup, agree. Mollies are fun but they do sometimes create their own species-specific problems!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[andywg]

If you read the forum well, you will notice that nmonks quotes a gentleman who has been able to keep some species of cory perfectly well in very low end brackish (where the specific gravity tends not to pass 1.003).

So, whilst one would not normally consider recommending salt and cories (and there are some species that have an extremely low tolerance to salt in the water) there are some that do not mind a little bit of salt. The most important point (as ever) would appear to first be very sure exactly which species you have before embarking on such a non standard attempt such as salt with cories.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

I was all excited over the prospect of possibly adding afew cory cats to my aquarium in the near future, but now it has come to my attention that cories are particularly sensitive to salt?
I've got 4 balloon mollies, so naturally I'm working about 1 table spoon per 5 gallons.

So, can anyone here back that up?
Very disappointing if true.

although mollies are better with salt, they dont need it to a certain degree

 

[OldMan47]

I will go further than Rock on this one. I keep very healthy mollies with no salt added. The more common mollies are very adaptable and can be kept in any water from full fresh water, which I do, to full salt water, like lots of SW aquarists do to cycle their tanks. I said common mollies because there are over 20 distinct species of Poecilia that go by the common name of molly. There are only 3 commonly kept and available from the local fish shop. The rest are the ones kept by specialists and dedicated hobbyists who have sought them out. All of the color and fin variations normally seen are really one of the 3 types or crosses between them.
I keep my mollies in tanks with a high pH of about 7.8 and a hardness of over 10 german degrees, 170 ppm. That is within the tolerance of most cories and keeps my mollies and platies in robust good health like this lady with her fry.

 

[waterdrop]

<...>
I keep my mollies in tanks with a high pH of about 7.8 and a hardness of over 10 german degrees, 170 ppm. That is within the tolerance of most cories and keeps my mollies and platies in robust good health like this lady with her fry.
<...>

Just curious OM47, are you just using your basic source water characteristics or are you raising KH/pH for those mollies?

WD

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes what mollies need is hard water, adding salt is one way to make the water harder and the mollies can tolerate salt so it works out fine, but it does somewhat limit your capabilities to house other fish.

i would suggest if you really want cories you do some research into raising your pH and KH and maybe stop using salt and use something like crushed coral to adjust teh water parameters.

if you read the link in my sig 'pH and KH' this will start you off. post back with any queries, it can eb a little tricky to adjust so you'd be best talking it all through with us before leaping in at the deep end.

 

[OldMan47]

My tap actually comes in at a KH of close to 15 WD. I let the plants and nitrates pull it down some and limit water changes to keep my water where I want it. The mollies have no problem at a KH of 15 but the cories are a bit iffy at that level. I used to use a RO mix but decided I could manage my water better by using a bit more natural means.

 

[waterdrop]

My tap actually comes in at a KH of close to 15 WD. I let the plants and nitrates pull it down some and limit water changes to keep my water where I want it. The mollies have no problem at a KH of 15 but the cories are a bit iffy at that level. I used to use a RO mix but decided I could manage my water better by using a bit more natural means.

15 DEGREES(!?) wow, that is hard! You and I are at opposite ends, me being at ZERO sometimes.

 

[OldMan47]

Quite honestly, WD, I would rather have to add some calcium and other minerals than try to drop the hardness the ways that I do for things like trying to breed cories.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Zekumi

Corydoras are from fresh waters and their bodies cannot easily process salt. It won't kill them immediately, but over time it will prematurely wear out their kidneys and livers. This will result in a shortened lifespan.

If mollies have been raised in brackish water, it's usually best to keep them that way. These days many tank raised mollies are successfully kept in fresh water so no salt is necessary and they can be kept with corys.

Unless you are an experienced fishkeeper I wouldn't recommend making any changes to the chemicals in the tank water.

 

[OldMan47]

Zekumi, I am going to agree wholeheartedly with Inchworm on this one. Although you have the ability to add salt to your molly tank, it is better to work with the water that you have than to dose it with salt.
What do you get in terms of pH and hardness from the tap? If the pH is over 7.5, I would try using no salt when you do your water changes and let the water go back to its natural condition. If the pH is lower, it may be possible to treat it to raise pH and hardness by putting some crushed coral/crushed shells in the tank. The stuff sold for a substrate for salt water fish is almost always a crushed shell or coral of some kind.