Turning Fw Molly Tank To Bw?

[Sweets]

I have a 20 gallon tank with 4 adult mollies, a few of their fry and about 10 platy fry. I've known for a while mollies do better in brackish but I just never learned how to do it properly. I just read in the pinned topic that platies will do ok in slightly brackish too. Never knew that... But would I need to buy a special heater or filter if I were to turn them brackish? And what about when the fry grow big enough to give away? I don't know any LFS or friend who'd have brackish water to keep them in.

 

[LauraFrog]

It's a good idea and if your heater is glass, no you don't need a new one. The problems are with salt and metal as salt will cause it to rust. Most filters should be fine, but you will need to add the salt slowly, a little bit more each day or week, because if you add it all at once you will kill the nitrifiers.

 

[twilight_angel]

me...

i'm not using heater and salt...

filter only...

 

[helterskelter]

Add salt in small dose's over 7-10 days.

The filter and heater will be fine.

But if your fish are fine in fresh water then i would not worry about it, Yes they will live in all waters, ie. Freshwater, brackish and marine environment's.
Salt reduces stress levels in most fish and if you keeping them in freshwater with regular water changes and their fine.

I've had them for years and never added salt.

 

[twilight_angel]

what salt...

table salt...

lol...

or special kin do salt...

 

[helterskelter]

Special salt from aquatic shop's, dont use table salt's as they have chemicals added to them

 

[kewskills]

use marine salt.

The bacteria in your filter is the same type for freshwater to light brackish (SG 1.000-1.005) So as long as you dont go above 1.005 then you will get no bacteria die off. Mollies can take the change quite quickly with no problems.

 

[twilight_angel]

ahhhh...

never mind about that...

our country is a tropical one...

so maybe it's ok for us if we not put a little amount of salt on our tank...

(finding for connection...lol)

 

[Sweets]

Thanks for the replies.

So when it's time to bring the fry into the LFS can they just be put right into their fresh water from my brackish tank?

 

[OldMan47]

They go fine from fresh to salt but I'm not so sure about going the other way. At the very least you would need to change it slowly. This brings me back to the question of why you would want salt in a freshwater tank. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

 

[Sweets]

Well, people just keep telling me they will be more healthy. The male doesn't seem to be doing so well so I thought it would help him?

 

[helterskelter]

But if your fish are fine in fresh water then i would not worry about it, Yes they will live in all waters, ie. Freshwater, brackish and marine environment's.
Salt reduces stress levels in most fish and if you keeping them in freshwater with regular water changes and their fine.

I've had them for years and never added salt.

They dont need salt if well cared for, if they healty now then you dont need to add salt, adding salt will aldo reduce other fush u can add as many catfish will not tollerate salt.

So what othre fish do u have in there?

 

[twilight_angel]

...

putting salt is another job to do...