Mollies and heaters

[J19Reynolds]

My friend is wanting to get some mollies and asked me if they needed a heater... I do deal w mollies so idk.. Can anyone help me answer her question? Much thanks of you can

 

[DwarfGouramiCrazy]

Mollies should have a heater if you want them to live a long and happy life, which I hope most fish keepers do, but if your friend does not want to buy a heater, I would reccomend to get a betta instead.

 

[J19Reynolds]

Ok thanks for the info will pass along

 

[1 LARA]

the Mollys here sit by the heater alot of the time exspecily while its on,
they seem to enjoy the heater the most.
Bettas enjoy the same tropica setup az tropical fish.
the Betta I have sits on the side of the tank the heaters on most time.

 

[Alyxx]

Bettas like very warm water, around 80 degrees F.

 

[DwarfGouramiCrazy]

Bettas do like heaters, I know that, but they can survive pretty well without one if your house is warm enough.

 

[rreekers]

Bettas like very warm water, around 80 degrees F.

i agree ...

I keep mollies and the temp should be around 77 or 78. odds are the surrounding room temp will not keep the tank that warm. so a heater is needed. make sure the mollies are kept in a big enough tank with plenty of extra filtration. mollies get to be 4-6 inches and are very messy

 

[jetajockey]

I keep wild mollies without a heater. If anything, the lower temp actually slows down the metabolism and lets them live longer, but that's a side point.

The reason I keep them in room temp (low 70s) is because the water temperature in the area I collected them in is also in that range consistently, but also because I keep most of my livebearers at room temp. I've kept bettas without heaters as well and can't say I've noticed much of a difference in behavior vs a heated tank, but it could just be my experience.

 

[cheeky_monkey]

My mollies are kept between 80-82. That's without a heater as I am in tropical Australia. We did have one day where the temp dropped to 78 and they all sat huddled in a corner until I put a heater in to bring them back up.

 

[J19Reynolds]

Ok thanks everyone much appreciated