So my husband and I didn't really MEAN to get interested in Livebearers. It was sort of an accident. We keep African Cichlids (A 90 Gallon Mbuna tank and a 75 Gallon Lake Tanganyika tank). We got three mollies from a "Used Fish" tank at our LFS with the intention of keeping them in our hospital tank to keep it cycled. Then we kind of fell in love with them. We had a fungus of some kind break out in our tank, and though we managed to medicate it rather quickly, we lost the two females. We have one male remaining.

Currently he is in a ten gallon tank, but when they were ill I started doing some more research. I purchased a 20g tank, and I would like to move him into the larger tank and get him some lady friends.

I have a number of questions related to this pursuit:

1) I was told at the LFS that Mollies can be kept in the same water chemistry as my Lake Tang tank, and will even prefer it to the usual freshwater conditions. That's why I used them in a hospital tank, so I could keep the chemistry the same. As such, he's currently living in 8.2 pH and high hardness water, no salt. Of course, we all know that LFS are not always the best source of information. Is this true? Will he be happy at that pH and high hardness, or should I instead add salt and go for more like 7.5 for pH?

2) If I do go brackish instead of high pH, high hardness, can I safely keep a small filter cycled on the 20g for my hospital tank and use it for either my Africans or my Mollies or will moving the filter back and forth between brackish and high pH/high hardness damage the beneficial bacteria?

3) How many females can I keep with Mr. Molly? He is (I think) a black sailfin Molly. I understand from my research that they get bigger than shortfin Mollies.

4) What sort of clean-up crew can I keep? Are there catfish that can live happily with Mollies in a 20g and won't munch on all the fry? Or can I do a bristlenose pleco?

5) Do Mollies like rockwork? Lots of plants? What plants work best?

6) In Cichlids, there's a lot of concern about hybridization between different, closely related species. Is this similar in Mollies? Or can you keep different varieties/colors together and let them breed without compromising genetic integrity/desirability in the hobby?

7) Is there anyone in the Portland, OR area that is a reputable Molly breeder? I'd like a bigger variety to choose from them the LFS I go to seems to offer. I read elsewhere that there's a members only section that is a trading post, so that may answer this question for me. I've already submitted my dues, just waiting for my account to be properly activated.

I'm so excited. I LOVE setting up new tanks! Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

Welcome to the ALA!

Mollies are fine in hard water as long as they're acclimated.  They don't require salt, but they can also adapt to high salinity.  Minerals are more important to Mollies than salt, which you obviously have a grip on already .  They also require regular water changes - at least once/week in a tank that size.

Lots of places for the females and fry to hide is great, be that fake stuff, rocks, or live plants.  Floating plants allow fry to feed safely.  The variety of plant doesn't matter to the fish, but you'll want to select species that are suitable for whatever environment you create and your lighting level.

If you add females, there should be at least two for each male.  Be prepared to house offspring though, which will be at least 30 per female every 4-6 weeks. 

Your Molly is already a hybrid so there's no need to worry about that.  They will breed with all varieties of domestic Mollies.  Most Mollies found in stores are hybrids. 

Marine and freshwater bacteria are different, so I don't think there would be any benefit of keeping a seeded filter for that purpose.

Fancy domestic Mollies are a fun fish to keep, I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Thanks so much, Melody. Is the pH okay being high like it is? It would make my keeping much easier if I could keep the water parameters the same for the Mollies as for my Lake Tang Cichlids, though I will go that extra distance if they will be healthier at a lower pH.

Should I supplement minerals in some way if I'm not going to use salt in the water, just to make sure they're getting the right water? I have the ten gallon I could use for fry when I have some ... I'm assuming it's probably best to net and move fry rather than try and move parents out of their home tank?

I'm seeing that good quality mollies appear to be hard to come by unless you get them from other hobbyists, and that there is more emphasis on preservation and not catching too many in the wild. Aquarium strains, then, are hybrids for fun colors and appearance? Should I be able to easily rehome/sell/give away fry that I don't intend to keep, as long as they are healthy happy little critters that are attractive in appearance? I'm so used to taking care not to hybridize with Cichlids, I want to make sure I understand the Molly breeding hobby before I jump in.

I have Julidochromis dickfeldi in the same hard water tank as my sailfin mollies and flagfish.

If you havent looked at Goliad Farms look there he has some of the best in the country. Whatever he gets he improves on . I have passed several species to him and they always gett better. He does have some wild and domestic mollies as well as a wealth of information
Later
gerard94114@yahoo.com

The pH should be just fine .

Fancy domestic Livebearers don't carry the same stigma as hybrid cichlids.  You'll run across the occasional purity snob but most of them just need something to feel superior about...LOL.  Others may choose not to keep fancy domestic Livebearers, but they have no problem with other people who do.  Personally, I love the challenge of line improvement and the opportunity to learn more about genetics, so I find keeping both fancy domestics and wild-types provides a more complete experience.

The most important thing to remember is to identify any fish as a hybrid if that's what it is.  Fancy Mollies, Platy's & Swordtails have been around almost as long as the hobby itself so most people don't ID them as hybrids, but it can't hurt to do so.  The biggest problem I've seen with them is people automatically identifying a sailfin as 'Velifera' or shortfin as 'Sphenops', etc., which should be reserved for pure species unless disclosing a cross of known heritage, such as 'P. sphenops x P. velifera hybrid' or whatever. 

Stores are usually interested in them because they're colorful, but you'll have to grow them out to saleable size.  Hobbyists are often interested in healthy homebred stock as well.

Melody,

You know how I feel about the use of "Hybrid" to describe fixed strains which much work has been put into. I only use Hybrid when referring to a offspring from a direct cross and use Fancy when referring to fixed strains.

Darrell

Thank you, guys. Unfortunately we lost our one remaining Molly. :( I think it was a combination of heat (we had a heatwave here, and the tank warmed up more than we expected due to being only 10 gallons). I think he was already weak from having been ill and treated with antibiotic.

Sooo, now we're completing the cycle on our 20g and when we do, we'll be starting fresh in our tank. Either I'll be buying online, or checking our LFS for pretty specimens. I really appreciate the help and advice, it's a new challenge after setting up a Malawi Mbuna tank and a Lake Tanganyika tank.

My sailfin mollies live in about 85 degree water all summer in Phoenix. Must have been other factors.