Bad luck with mollys

[MCUnderwood]

I bought one a a month ago or so and it died in just 2 days. Saturday I bought 2 and 1 already died this morning and the last one seems kind of shady. My wife likes them and I'm not too fond of them but they just seem really hard to keep. I have no problems with any other fish or my tank. Anybody else run into this?

 

[Coyne]

I've gone through 6-7 in the past year and have given up on them. Shame too, because I like them as well.

The advice I received the most was to add aquarium salt to the water, but there were also some that claimed that with captive breed Mollys, salt shouldn't be required.
Regardless, I choose not to add any salt because I have live plants and some other fish that might have a negative reaction.
If adding a little salt is an option, then maybe give it a try and see if you have better results.

 

[MCUnderwood]

That makes sense. I'm not to find of salt. I'm pretty sure my Corys wouldn't like it much

 

[GingerMinusSoul]

I bought one a a month ago or so and it died in just 2 days. Saturday I bought 2 and 1 already died this morning and the last one seems kind of shady. My wife likes them and I'm not too fond of them but they just seem really hard to keep. I have no problems with any other fish or my tank. Anybody else run into this?

Is your tank cycled and everything? Sometimes taking fish home shocks them too. I've had huge success with my mollies, but there are always a few losses when adding them. It seems like they shock easily and are definitely prone to ich. I half salt my water (1 tbsp per 10 gallons) to keep their immune systems healthy. They live with an African dwarf frog, and although you're not supposed to salt frog water or Cory water, the minimal amount I add to keep the mollies happy never bothers the frog. What else do your mollies live with? What are your water parameters?

 

[BBradbury]

Keeping Mollies

I bought one a a month ago or so and it died in just 2 days. Saturday I bought 2 and 1 already died this morning and the last one seems kind of shady. My wife likes them and I'm not too fond of them but they just seem really hard to keep. I have no problems with any other fish or my tank. Anybody else run into this?

Hello MC...

Hopefully, the tank has run the cycling course. Mollies are generally sensitive to even slight changes in their water chemistry. They are the most difficult to keep of the Livebearing fishes. But, not a problem. You just have to prepare the tank well in advance of introducing the fish. Larger tanks are a preference, at least 45 gallons. I keep my Livebearers in 55 gallon tanks. It's much easier to maintain pure water conditions.

To prepare the tank, add as many floating plants as possible. Hornwort, Brazilian water weed and Pennywort are some of the best. Drop as many stems into the tank water as you can. Standard aquarium salt is important to any livebearing fish. A teaspoon or a bit more in every 5 gallons of replacement water is helpful. This amount is minimal, but effective and won't bother other fish and plants. You can plant the bottom with easy to grow plants like Anubias, Java fern and any of the mosses like Singapore and Java. You can simply attach these to pieces of lava rock and driftwood with long pieces of dark sewing thread and place them on the substrate. No digging holes is needed. Once everything is in the tank, allow it all to run for a week or two. The floating plants will help steady the water chemistry and large, frequent water will do the rest.

B

 

[severum mama]

What's your tap water like? Mine is so soft, I couldn't keep a lot of livebearers alive for long until I started using buffer. I've had a lot more success since I've started keeping livebearers in harder water. I currently have 12 species.

 

[pip walters]

What's your tap water like? Mine is so soft, I couldn't keep a lot of livebearers alive for long until I started using buffer. I've had a lot more success since I've started keeping livebearers in harder water. I currently have 12 species.

Best answer so far!

Mollys like hard alkaline water.

If you have softer water,.then you need to buffer it, or try swordtails instead. It is perfectly feasible to keep mollys without salt.

 

[MCUnderwood]

Don't know much about my water and not really interested in knowing about it. I keep up on my pwcs and never have any problems with my tank or fish. If that is the case I'll be ok without Mollys. I like a good hardy fish that's not sensitive to every itty bitty change.