It's almost got to be the Molly's...

[Magnum Man]

so, I had this bright idea, about breeding wild looking sail fin Molly's... the only trouble is, I can't keep any of them alive, they have been going into hard well water, and a well seasoned 45 gallon, with over sized sponge filters, and a tidal 75 hang on tank filter, and 2 heaters, holding the tank, at a steady 78 degrees... even though the water is not ideal, for pleco's, there is a mature ,super red bristle nose pleco pair, that appear to be thriving... a 65 gallon below the 45 gallon, gets the same water, and has fish breeding, and pretty much all are thriving... I've tried multiple orders, and from several on line sellers, including premium sellers like Dan's... I've tried treating for parasites, pretty much everything I can think of, but they are doing good, if they live past a week here... I'm obviously not having that problem with other live bearers...

My well water does have a level of nitrates close to legal limit, being solidly in an agricultural area... but both of these tanks get the same water , and maintenance schedule...

I'm a big terrestrial plant person , and I have cuttings in both tanks... I personally think the plants lower the nitrates, wishing the plants were more mature, but the 45 gallon only has 2 full time fish right now, so it shouldn't be a problem...

maybe molly's have been in the hobby too long, and they are just junk right now... although, that's more of a reason to try to breed them... it just really frustrating...

 

[GaryE]

You've discovered something very few people talk about. Sailfin mollies can be very demanding and difficult fish. They are sensitive, and males are aggressive.

I had wild caught sphenops, orri, salvatoris and mexicana that were quite easy. The same for gilli, butleri and a bunch of shortfins I had a hard time identifying. I had a friend who traveled back and forth to Mexico several times a year, and while she didn't keep mollies, she liked buying from a feeder fish market and giving the results to me.

I found the sailfins I caught in Florida far more difficult than any shortfin.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Have you tried aquarium salt?

 

[Magnum Man]

I haven't, but my well water was a ph of 8.4 last time I checked it... maybe I need to blend in some RO... but it would seem my water should be good for them???

 

[gwand]

I purchased a pair of yellow sailfin Mollys from Dan that lived for about 2 years. They went through multiple reproductive cycles giving me over 50 juveniles to sell and rehome. I kept them in a 29 gallon with water GH about 220 ppm and pH of 7.4. I never figured out why they died.

Here is one eating a shrimp.