Why Can't I Keep These Guys Alive?

[fishlette]

i keep all forms of livebearers and never seem to have any issues. i have one dalmation mollie not looking so well at the moment but she has been around for quite some time now and i am putting it down to old age. i keep all my livebearers in a seperate tank and do provide the required amount of salt as i do know that although some of the stock at work come from local breeders, the majority do come from asia therefore the brackish water.

i dont understand what is happening with your fish. unless you have some major, major issues with your water i would have to say that your biggest issue would have to be the quality of fish you are buying. if your pH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites etc are good then there should be no possible way healthy fish would be dying so quickly.

in my expereince most livebearers, slightly excepting guppies, are quite hardy fish for all intents and purposes. i have found my guys incredibly easy to keep and breed. for what its worth these are my water stats: pH 7.2, ammonia 0.0ppm, nitrites 0.0ppm and nitrates 0.25ppm. i would be happier with 0.00ppm for my nitrates but it seems to hover at this with no bad effects. i use aqua cycle and chlorine neutraliser on water changes with these happening at 25% every 7 days. then i add 1 tbs of salt per 4 gallons. i have been told i could do it at 3 gallons but then someone else said 5 so i go in between. all adults and babies seem to thrive in this environment.

i hope you can figure your probs out cause livebearers are awesome to have

 

[nmonks]

Hello fishlette --

I expect your livebearers are doing well because you are providing them with perfect water quality. The addition of salt is neither here nor there if the water is spotlessly clean, which at 0.25 ppm nitrates yours certainly is.

Mollies and guppies can live and breed in seawater (one of the chapter authors of my brackish water book keeps guppies in her minireef aquaria), so the amount of salt added is very, very flexible. Hence arguments over whether it should 3 tablespoons per gallon or 5 tablespoons per gallon make me laugh. Seawater contains 35 grammes salt per litre, or about 3.2 tablespoons per litre:

1.8 grammes = One teaspoon of salt (=1/6th tablespoon of salt)
35 grammes = 19.4 teaspoons of salt = 3.2 tablespoons per litre

In US units, that would be:

3.2 tablespoons per litre = 3.2 tablespoons per 0.26 US gallons, or 12.3 tablespoons per US gallon

In fact both guppies and mollies can be adapted to hypersaline waters. One paper* quotes naturally brackish water specimens of Poecilia latipinna as being adapted to hypersaline water with salinities up to 80 ppt (by comparison normal seawater has a salinity of 35 ppt). In other words, worrying about how much salt you add to a guppy or molly aquarium is silly because they don't care.

Cheers, Neale

*Comparisons of Salinity Tolerances and Osmotic Regulatory Capabilities in Populations of Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna) from Brackish and Fresh Waters. Frank G. Nordlie, Dennis C. Haney, Steven J. Walsh, Copeia, Vol. 1992, No. 3 (Aug. 18, 1992), pp. 741-746

 

[fishlette]

Hello fishlette --

I expect your livebearers are doing well because you are providing them with perfect water quality. The addition of salt is neither here nor there if the water is spotlessly clean, which at 0.25 ppm nitrates yours certainly is.

Mollies and guppies can live and breed in seawater (one of the chapter authors of my brackish water book keeps guppies in her minireef aquaria), so the amount of salt added is very, very flexible. Hence arguments over whether it should 3 tablespoons per gallon or 5 tablespoons per gallon make me laugh. Seawater contains 35 grammes salt per litre, or about 3.2 tablespoons per litre:

1.8 grammes = One teaspoon of salt (=1/6th tablespoon of salt)
35 grammes = 19.4 teaspoons of salt = 3.2 tablespoons per litre

In US units, that would be:

3.2 tablespoons per litre = 3.2 tablespoons per 0.26 US gallons, or 12.3 tablespoons per US gallon

In fact both guppies and mollies can be adapted to hypersaline waters. One paper* quotes naturally brackish water specimens of Poecilia latipinna as being adapted to hypersaline water with salinities up to 80 ppt (by comparison normal seawater has a salinity of 35 ppt). In other words, worrying about how much salt you add to a guppy or molly aquarium is silly because they don't care.

Cheers, Neale

*Comparisons of Salinity Tolerances and Osmotic Regulatory Capabilities in Populations of Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna) from Brackish and Fresh Waters. Frank G. Nordlie, Dennis C. Haney, Steven J. Walsh, Copeia, Vol. 1992, No. 3 (Aug. 18, 1992), pp. 741-746

thanks for that neale. definitely shows i need not be fussing about it all