The Miracle Brackish Algae Eater Is....mollies?

[JJ1234567]

When I first set up my 45g tank for brackish I was at a loss as to how I was supposed to handle the algae At first I had a lone violet goby in the tank. He was a great fish and I miss him greatly, but when he hit 18 inches I knew it was time to move him to a bigger home, so I took him to the LFS and gave him to the store for their 180 brackish display tank (hes 24"+ now). I tried snails, ghost shrimp, and BBGs for a while. Didnt really interest me so I took em out, and bumped the salinity up to 1.007 and saved a GSP from the local fish store of death -- walmart. I love this little guy. He truly is worthy of the whole tank to himself. However, when my buddy was heading down south to the good LFS with a bucket and over 100 mollies i grabed a few just to get a little more movement in the tank. Butters (my GSP) does pick on the mollies a little, but it appears to be more playful/amusment in behavior than agression. Butters seems to enjoy molly babies because i have not seen one molly baby since I got them over a month ago, and that is odd. But what i did notice, was that all the algae is gone. From everywhere. The glass, the driftwood, even my fake plants have been picked clean. They also seem to pick food from the sandbed. Mollies are better algae eaters than any ive every had, including a common plec that was very shy. My friends tank since he removed 100+ has not been nearly as algea free!! Has anyone else noticed that mollies keep their tank clean??

 

[Flumpus]

Funny you should mention that... I had been contemplating getting a molly or two for my brackish tank, because the algae is horrible. Now, I like some of it, I think it looks nice on the back of the tank, like a natural background, and I like it on the rocks, especially the bright white holey rocks, but it is kind of a pain. I stopped and picked up a couple mollies on the way home from work, and I've seen them already nibbling at the algae. I think this could be a pretty good solution!

 

[jtnova13]

your VG grew to 18 inches?? mine's at 6 in a 40 gallon now and wont grow... i've had it for nearly 6 months and i havent noticed any growth at all! SG is at 1.010.

 

[nmonks]

Do not be too alarmed! There are multiple species, some of which are much bigger than others. So a lot depends on which species you actually have.

It probably also depends on whether the fish is male or female (male fish tend to grow more quickly), and what sort of food you are offering it. Salinity is actually relatively unimportant with these fish, as they are quite adaptable.

Cheers,

Neale

your VG grew to 18 inches?? mine's at 6 in a 40 gallon now and wont grow... i've had it for nearly 6 months and i havent noticed any growth at all! SG is at 1.010.

 

[jtnova13]

ok phew i just didnt want mine to be unhealthy! I feed it bloodworms and he eats flake food too for some reason. Can i put mollies in at 1.010? or should i drop the SG down to like 1.06-07?

 

[JJ1234567]

It happens, my friend Carl and I got our VGs at the very same wal-mart (another rescure -- boy are we saps) and his doesnt seem to want to grow past 10. We bought them at the same time, I even think that our diets were the same...although I have found that I was feeding mine more algae waffers than shrimp pellets and he was going the other way around. So it just depends on your fish. Like i said, he is absolutly HUGE now. If i can remember to bring my digital camera next time i go down ill try to grab a picture. Although they are not that photogenic, very sedintary and shy.

 

[azzaknight]

i have 2 mollies and my tank has not has algae in a while!! didnt know what it was getting rid off the algea. guess i know now !!