New member...planning on getting lyre tail mollies

[Z_almero]

hi, new to the forum, and have some questions...if anyone could answer em id really appreciate it....i have a 10 gallon tank, power filter E, heater, gravel and small stones, planning on putting lyre tails....
how many could i fit into a 10 gallon tank?
will i need any hiding spots for them?
what do they eat?
how should their water be changed/what chemicals?
how long should i let the water run before putting the fish in?


once again, thanks.

 

[robertmarda]

I have been keeping and breeding mollies (including silver lyre tails) for a little over a year. Here is my point of view on your questions:

In a 10 gallon tank I think you could have about 4 to 6 full grown mollies. Some of it depends on how often you plan on changing the water and how good your filter is. If you have a Whisper power filter E then you'll want to only have 4 maybe 5.

Hiding places:

Some plants, fake or live, would be nice. My mollies seem to enjoy the live plants I have. Keep in mind that live plants add a little to the maintenance time and you'll have to clean them before putting them in your tank if you don't want snails.
The main reason I have lots of plants in one of my tanks is so that the baby fish have plenty of hiding spots. Other than that, I haven't noticed too much problem with the adult mollies. The get along well together.

Flake food is fine for them. Mine go for anything I put in my tank. (this includes shrimp pellets and algea wafers intended for my larger fish and the pleco and they try to eat the turtle food too.)

Just ensure you neutralize the chlorine before topping off the tank or doing a water change. And you'll want to keep the PH at a constant level. My tanks are at 7.2 right now. I'll note here that I don't have any salt in my tanks and my mollies are doing fine.

You will have to do something to encourage your biological filter to grow. This means you have to go buy Ammonia to add to your tank or buy one or two fish to start the cycling process. In the first month or two you should check the Ammonia level often because it can spike and could kill any fish in the tank if you don't lower it again. Simply changing 25 - 35 percent of the water should reduce the Ammonia level and still allow your biological filter (beneficial bacteria colonies) to grow. I don't use chemicals to trap Ammonia as I've heard it slows down the growth of your biological filter.

Forgive the lengthy response. I hope this helps.

 

[michealprater]

Z_almero, will you be keeping these mollies in saltwater, brakish, or freshwater? I just want to make sure this is in the proper forum so you questions get answer promptly and accuratly.