Livebearers

[A.G]

Hi,
I have a problem .My tap water is soft and I would realy like to keep mollies,guppies and platies .
My parameters right now are :
Ph6.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
GH 60 mg/l
KH 30 mg/l
Should I add salt?How much?

 

[Inchworm]

Hello A.G. and welcome to the forum.

First, I'll address the question of adding salt.

When you think of keeping mollies, guppies and platties you are considering fish with (usually) two different water requirements. Mollies thrive in brackish (salty) water and guppies and platties in fresh water. You don't mention catfish, but they are a popular and practical addition to livebearer tanks so I will address these too. They CANNOT have salt in the water so if you think you might want some, you will have to skip the salt.

If you want a planted aquarium, it is not really a good idea to salt the water.

The second question, that of the soft water, is best addressed by someone at a TRUSTWORTHY lfs (local fish store). By this I mean the owner or an employee at an independant shop (not a chain) in your area. Such a person is quite familar with the water in your area and can advise you about how well these fish tend to adapt to it. I do not think making any artifical changes to the water is a good idea unless absolutely necessary. If you happen to be a beginner in the hobby, I would strongly advise against it. It would be better to consider fish that are suited to your water than to try to adjust the water to the fish.

___
BTW, as an exception to the rule--I do know that there is at least one person posting on this forum who has salt free mollies. How she adapted them to fresh water, however, I do not know. I only know that it is possible to do it.

 

[suemack]

hi A G

I've had guppies for the last 4 yrs and they thrive in my tanks where the pH usually sits at 6.5 - 6.6. My tanks are small so do frequent water changes which the guppies love. They breed regularly and I get a good percentage of males in each drop.

The only time I've struck problems with the fish since the tanks were established is when they have been overstocked with growing on babies and I got a pH drop from a build up of waste (not enough w/changes)

There was one other problem with the original tank.........wasn't big enough for all the babies and have now got another 3 ......not fish breeding you have to be careful of it's the tanks!!!

good luck and have fun - sue

 

[A.G]

Thanks for the great advice,
Am new to the fresh water but I have been keeping reef tanks and marine tanks for a pretty long time when I went to the LFS month ago and saw a tank full of babies I said why not give it a try .I don`t like to miss with my water chemistry so I would leave it .On the other hand,I will try to add some shells and sand to buffer KH,PH,GH .My tank is 40gal I will be adding platnts today(I hope).The LFS keep all the fish in fresh water (including mollies).I will go with guppies first .Am glad I found this forum .Once again thanks.
A.G

 

[ruffmeister]

ive had mollies and guppies in the same tank for moths they leave other alone and seem to get on really well

 

[Sinuhe]

Mollies should do fine in fresh water if they've been raised in it. I talked to a very experienced fish store owner who's raised all his livebearers himself for years, and never used salt for any of them, not even Mollies. It's different if they've been raised in salty water and then moved to a completely fresh water tank.

 

[ruffmeister]

very tru