Mollys for thought

[Tokis-Phoenix]

While researching some livebearer stuff, i found this link on mollys on the PFK website;

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...p?article_id=52


After reading the article, i did strike a note in my heart. I own 4 female mollys at current, 2 of which i have had for about 2yrs now(both raised from tiny fry) who i love to bits and although most people consider mollys as beginner fish i still love them as much as the day i first got them and are some of my most favorite fish(well they are apart from my common plecs ).
My 2 oldest mollys have never been sick in their entire lives- although the other 2 have never been either as far as i know i have only had them a couple of weeks, i used to also have a black male molly who was about 4yrs old but he died some months ago. After reading this article and pondering over a thread i did some months ago on mollys and salt usage, i would strongly advise people to think twice before recommending various types of mollys to freshwater tanks.
My old male molly although having lived 4yrs in freshwater never gained much weight during his life and always had a slightly skinny appearence and never fathered many batchs of fry(although when he did they were huge, one batch exceeded 70 ), i would probably put this down to the fact i never use salt in my tanks due to all the salt intolerant fish i have like corys and plecs.

When it comes to recommending people beginning out in the fish keeping hobby with freshwater tropical tanks 15gallons or more for stocking i usually recommend them mollys due to their hardyness and freindlyness.
I think after reading this article i will no longer recommend black mollys for these sorts of tanks unless the water is very alkeline, same goes for true sailfins unless they have been bred for sure in freshwater- the only mollys i will recommend for freshwater tropical tanks in general will be standard and balloon mollys, due to their ability to live much more happily in freshwater unlike some of the more brackish breeds out there.
If you are about to buy a black/midnight or sailfin molly that has been commercialy bred in a brackish tank system, please consider not to buy it if only for its health and happyness. Also on that note, please try not to put heavily pregnant mollys in breeding nets in an attempt to save fry as this is not the case.

I have to admit i am considering buying a freshwater bred male sailfin molly, but i will consider this more deeply after reading the PFK article and i hope anyone else who is about to buy molly/s does too .
Any comments are welcome

 

[Bloo]

Very intresting ! Well interesting from the point of view that I've been considering buying exactly the mollys that should be (ideally) kept in salty water - the black and the sailfin. My lfs has some stunning black ones and some jaw dropping sailfin ones (they are ginormous !) and I have been considering adding some to my existing two lyretail mollys (both I've had for a good two years now). And I agree, they are lovely fish but maybe I'll just stick to the normal, balloon or lyretail then - or check with the shop where their stock comes from

 

[Annastasia]

That's an interesting link, Toxis. I know all the Mollies my fish store gets in, have been raised in pure freshwater, because I've asked them, and I've even gone to some of the places they get them from.

But it's a great thread, If I ever happen to reccomend Mollies to someone, I'll reference them to this. Just so they know they could have gotten fish that like salt. And it's an interesting read. Thanks.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cheers for the comments everyone

 

[MAM]

So in addition to them not being suitable to small beginners tank, Sailfins are also best kept slightly brackish, particularly wild caught varieties, according to this article. Has any other research found Sailfins that did well in a regular fw setup? Say those that had been bred and raised in it? The article doesn't really say anything about generations that were tank bred and raised.....

Now, it says the same of the Black Molly. Same questions as above. Is it safe to say that if the mollies you're looking to buy are not "Black" or Sailfins, then its okay to keep them fully fw? How is one to tell the black colored Molly they are oogling in the tank is a true "Black Molly" or if its just a random color resulting from their mixed parent background? Is the scientific name for a true "Black Molly" different than that of your average normal Molly?

I ask this because I know many who have successfully kept various varieties of Mollies in totally fw conditions for years. You dont' want to cause people to shy away from Mollies because they read this and assume it applies to all mollies. Obviously, wild-caught varieties of fish need to be kept quite differently than those who result from generations of tank breeding and raising.

Just playing devils advocate here and asking for some additonal and supportive research (who knows, maybe it'll become part of a great Livebearers pinned topic ). Very interesting article thought Tokis, definite food for thought and something to keep in mind when recommending a molly type to beginners.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I think the main thing to know when buying any mollys from your lfs is to find out for sure wether they have been bred in a brackish enviroment and then quickly acclimatised to a freshwater one for sale or wether they were born and raised in a completely freshwater enviroment.
Some of my fellow fish friends have commented that in the past when they have kept mollys they have never had any success with them while others have kept them very successfullly for years, i think this mostly comes down to the freshwater/brackish enviroment thing. If you havn't been having any success with mollys recently it'll probably be worth while finding out wether the breeders they came from were raised in a brackish enviroment .

 

[daddyfish]

Huh Now thats a "NEW" One on me...
GEE imange that...
I "NEVER" knew that some Mollies are bred in "Brackish" Water Aquariums, and yet Others maybe Bred in Freshwater Aquariums as well.
Yes I know this is being talked about in the since that they are Coming from Fish Farms, So I use thew term Aquariums "VERY" Loosely.

Well what DO you KNOW, {YOU CAN "TEACH" an OLD SMELLY FISH "SOMETHING NEW"}

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Huh Now thats a "NEW" One on me...
GEE imange that...
I "NEVER" knew that some Mollies are bred in "Brackish" Water Aquariums, and yet Others maybe Bred in Freshwater Aquariums as well.
Yes I know this is being talked about in the since that they are Coming from Fish Farms, So I use thew term Aquariums "VERY" Loosely.

Well what DO you KNOW, {YOU CAN "TEACH" an OLD SMELLY FISH "SOMETHING NEW"}

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Right.....