looking for clarification on mollies

[Pipedreamer86]

I have really enjoyed Mollies for quite.some time, and was looking for information on them as I was thinking of adding them to a 150 Gallon community tank along with some angels and a school or 2 of tetras. I have read many sites though saying that mollies dont do well in community tanks for various reasons including a need for mildly salty water conditions. Can anyone clarify this for me? Who keeps mollies and how?

 

[ocminpin]

I keep my Mollies completely freshwater. They can also be a brackish fish, but do quite well in freshwater conditions. I have had mollies in all sorts of colors

 

[Pipedreamer86]

Any other experience out there? Esp regarding tank mates

 

[Ponch]

I had my 5 mollies in a 26 gallon tank with 9 neon tetras for 6 months and had no issues. At the time the tank was completely freshwater.

I then traded the neons in for 3 Otos who have been peacefully coexisting with my now 6 mollies in that same 26 gallon. I've got some low levels of salt in there now and both mollies and Otos are doing well.

When Mollies are aggressive, I've noticed they are mostly aggressive towards each other.... Not the other species of fish in the tank. I think the aggression is mostly due to space bc when I got rid of the 9 neons which opened up more swim space the aggression levels went down quite a bit. Hope this info helps.

 

[Wiggles24]

I also have my mollies in community tanks with low levels of salt(I put salt in all my tanks) I have actually had to shuffle mollies around due to aggression but only towards other mollies I have never seen them bother any other fish!

 

[hpiguy]

I have black mollies in total freshwater 55 with a very active school of Giant Danios, some Cory Cats, Upside Down Cats and some Three Spot Gouramis. No issues at all, ever. They spend a lot of their time pecking at any algae on leaves and stuff.

I love them. Dirt cheap ($1 each), hardy, beautiful, breed like underwater rabbits and have great personalities, like begging for food whenever I get near the tank and sitting at the surface whenever I open a hood.

A lot, if not all of the ones you'll buy at a big name pet shop have been raised in nothing but freshwater and do fine.

 

[bud29]

+1 to what hpiguy said. If the mollies are in FW at the store they will be fine with FW in your tank.

 

[Pipedreamer86]

So I am Working on stocking a 150g aquarium, its not set up yet, just working out some ideas. I was thinking 4-6 angels, some type or larger schooling tetras, and was hoping for a school of Mollies, is this feasible for a start?

 

[ocminpin]

Let me add to what else I said earlier... I have had my Mollies with Platies, Guppies, Otos, Bettas, Ghost Shrimp... They all were coexisting well.... The only dominance/aggression were between the mollies themselves over mating. I've never had more than one male in the tank and have always made sure to have 2-5 mollies per male. The greater the females the better and more peace among the group... if you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to answer them..