New Tank - Molly Compatibility

[larrytstarr]

Hi Folks,

I am new to this forum - getting back into fish keeping after many years. What a great resource this forum is!

My tank is almost cycled. When it is, I plan to order my fish from liveaquaria.com. I will order guppies, neons, platies and cory cats. I would also like to order mollies but wonder about the issue of salt in the tank. It seems like most "experts" recommend a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon for Mollies. Is this necessary? And if so, will the salt adversely effect the other fish I mention? Thanks!

 

[Cazgar]

Tank bred mollies don't need salt

 

[OldMan47]

Tank bred or wild, mollies do not require salt, period. Some of them do live in areas that contain brackish water and their flexible approach to mineral content. If you have relatively hard water with a pH over about 7.4, you probably have tap water suitable for mollies with no modification. If you have soft water, why the heck are you considering things like guppies and platies? They need almost the same identical water conditions to a pet shop molly.
The corydoras and neons are often better suited to soft water but can be kept in rather hard water, unless you intend to breed them. It turns out that the eggs of typical soft water egg layers will not easily be fertilized in hard water but the fish have no trouble at all growing and thriving in that same water.