Mollies and platies?

[fishieguy]

Is this a good (i.e., non-fatal) mix? I know mollies want a slightly brackish tank -- can they do with less? Can platies deal with it? A reputable LFS has some beautiful dalmation mollies -- I already have a couple of platies (one is non-aggressive and the other is semi-aggressive).

 

[Rocket2001]

from what I've read...platies and mollies are very compatible and their water parameters are very similar. Maybe one of the advisors who have more experience could add to this.

 

[fishieguy]

Being that they're both livebearers, I assume there would be some level of compatibility. I guess what I'm concerned about is whether there's some sort of happy medium between the ideal water qualities each needs in order to thrive. Would a perfect world for mollies be too salty for platies? And would a perfect world for platies not be salty enough for the mollies?

And while I'm at it, am I safe to assume that their temperaments are compatible?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Mollies and platies would be fine together. IME mollies do not need salt to survive. I kept them for almost 2 years without salt and they did fine. In their natural habitats, mollies are of Brackish water, but have been so bred and adapted to purely FW, that they can live in either.

Read the box of aquarium salt and add the correct amount to your tank if you want. The platies (being livebearers, and salt is beneficial to livebearers) will be fine, granted you don't turn your tank into a brackish tank

I know the mollies I raise at work sometimes require salt, or they start doing the "wiggle" until I dump the salt container out into their tank, then they go swim through it, lol. Some people may have different opinions, but if adjusted correctly, mollies can live in a purely SW tank as well, so their adapability is great.

Good luck.

 

[smallfry]

When I had exclusively Platys, I kept them in brackish water (I was misinformed and thought they needed it). The seemed to do fine and it actually kept them disease-free. I weaned them off salt when I set up my community tank.

You could probably do a compromise and put SOME salt in....but not as much as a typical brackish tank. The mollies will thank you for it and the platys will adapt with no problem. As for compatibility these two fish will do FINE together.

HTH

 

[Luke Anderson]

I agree with Devilishturtles. Both species should do perfectly fine together. It is a misconception that mollies live in brackish water in the wild, in truth they live in completely freshwater in over 90% of cases.

I don't beleive platys like any salt in their water at all, and when I have kept and bred them, they did much better with none at all. Also having a constant salt level in a freshwater tank, may contribute to forming salt resistant parasites such as ich, and costia (both of which their have already formed salt resistant strains of these fish diseases).