Sailfin Mollies..

[cuticom]

I fell in love with the most gorgeous sailfin molly yesterday while at the pet store. Anyway if its still there when we go we're gonna get it, I just wanted to double check some things first.

My tank currently has
a juvie rainbow shark
two dwarf gouramis
a fully grown bristlenose catty.

Can they molly go in it? Its about 23g from memory.

Thanks
Emma

 

[theotheragentm]

That Rainbow Shark is not a good combination for any of the fish in the tank once it grows larger, because of it's semi-aggressive nature.

 

[kribensis12]

A bristle nose needs a huge tank and the gouramis need a 30g and the rainbow shark needs atleast a 45g because of there affression. I would sell all the fish back to lfs and then get some sailfins.

 

[theotheragentm]

Bushy Nose Plecos only get to 4.5", if they are the same as Bristlenose, which I believe they are the same. It would be fine in the tank with your Dwarf Gouramis, but again, the Rainbow Shark should probably shouldn't be in the tank as it will get larger and more aggressive. Plus, because of it's swimming behaviour, it will require a larger tank. It's like Bosemani Rainbows. I wouldn't even put them in a 20-gallon long tank because of their swimming habits. I would say the Rainbow Shark needs to go, but you could get a Molly.

 

[cuticom]

Look no offense but their is no way I'm getting rid of kelvin. We have another tank for him, but hes all of 4cm long right now. The other tank is a 4 foot and is stored in the garage until he grows bigger. Freddie the bristelnose is not acommon plec hes about 4-5" long and he's full grown.

The guys in the tank get along great, I was fully prepared to return the drwaf gouramis and stick Freddie in Mum's tank if kelvin didnt like them. But they don't even notice each other. I did a massive amount of research before buying Kelvin, i didnt just waltz into a shop one day and say oh I fell like getting this fish. The tanks also full of hide outs and places to go so that Freddie and Kelvin don't ahve trouble choosing their own hiding spots and the gouramis ahng at the top of the tank quite far away from Kelvin and Freddie.

It's actual Freddie I've had problems with, he's tried to spike a dwarf gourami once or twice.

So would a sailfin molly be okay with these fish? and yes all these fish will be upgraded to the 4 foot (its 120cm x 60 x 60) when Kelvin grows up.

Sorry, its just I adore Freddie and Kelvin, returning them to the lfs is like saying okay, well I've had this dog for a year and love it, but I'm just gonna go dump it in the pound.

Emma

 

[theotheragentm]

If you have the ability to move the Rainbow Shark later as it gets larger and possibly more aggressive, that is excellent. Based on sizes a Molly should do fine with those tank inhabitants. Mollies are pretty peacefuel fish. I would go with a female if you can, as males without access to females may try to mate with other fish. The downside of females from stores is that they may already be pregnant. With all new additions, keep an eye out as different fish may just not get along despite what is normal for their temperament.

 

[cuticom]

Yah, we did plan on him getting big. But we had to special order him and when we got him he was an inch long, there was no way we were gonna stick him in a massive tank LOL, we'd never find him again.

Oky dokes, glad to know the Molly'll be okay if I get one. I actually have no idea if they are females or males. It was in an assorted livebearer tank. It definately was a sailfin though, as I looked it up whne we got back.

One last question are Mollies compatible with angelfish? like obviously the angel would eat all the fry, but the adults are okay with em? Lol I'm in the middel of setting a 20g up for my bedroom, and still considering stocking, so figured I may as well ask while the topics fresh LOl.

emma

 

[ICEEGRL]

I was sure someone would mention that mollies need salt. Brackish water with marine salt. Without it they tend to get sick alot more! I know... I finally had to put them separate (with salt) to get them to live. They kept ich and dropsy in fresh water.

 

[theotheragentm]

People will argue for brackish water, but my Mollies are in freshwater. I'm not about to argue with anyone here on that as I do understand that they are much more susceptible to water parameter swings in pure freshwater. They thrive well in freshwater if the water is kept very clean. My tank is over-filtered and understocked, so it's easy to keep up with water conditions.

 

[nmonks]

This is pretty good advice. But in a 20-odd gallon tank with a variety of fairly big fish, keeping the <10 mg/l nitrates you need to successfully maintain mollies without salt is going to be difficult. I'd skip them. If you have a fairly boisterous aquarium, why not pick some of the more boisterous livebearers? Ameca splendens, for example, is very nice but can be nippy. It should would work well with any of the "sharks" as they have speed and bullishness on their side. Xenotoca eiseni would be another. Neither would be great with gouramis and angels, but fine with plecs and any other armoured catfish you happen to like. Swordtails would be another obvious choice, as they can be a little on the aggressive side themselves. But I have to admit, neither swordtails nor mollies strike me as good fish for a tank as small as yours... these two species really do enjoy some swimming space.

Cheers, Neale

People will argue for brackish water, but my Mollies are in freshwater. I'm not about to argue with anyone here on that as I do understand that they are much more susceptible to water parameter swings in pure freshwater. They thrive well in freshwater if the water is kept very clean. My tank is over-filtered and understocked, so it's easy to keep up with water conditions.

 

[tmack]

Hi. I've got 1 tbsp. aquarium salt per every 5 gallons water in my tank. I added it after the male of my pair of gold dust mollies died of disease relatively soon after I got them. Everything in the tank has been fine with it - platies, neons, and the cory too. I've heard a lot of people say not to use salt with anything but the livebearers, and definitely not corydoras, but it's had no ill effect on any of my fish, and I've had no problems with ich, other diseases, or excessive algae growth since I started adding it. Same thing with my work aquarium and that one has a cory, white clouds, and neons. It's been several months now and all the fish are active and healthy. There probably are fish adversely affected by the salt, but not any of the varieties I have. I'm not recommending it for everyone, based on the anti-salt opinions of a lot of people, but it's sure done wonders for my tanks, and those of my friends (who also have cory cats & the above mentioned fish, plus bloodfin tetras). I did a lot of searching on the net prior to adding the salt and the majority of the articles I found with respect to corydoras were that people that actually use it had no problems with the salt and their corys.

 

[theotheragentm]

1 tbsp of salt is not going to make brackish water. It's what is general used in those quantities for quarantine tanks with raised temperatures.

 

[cuticom]

The sailfins are what I really like.

Basically out petstores sell three types of fish assorted goldfish, assorted cichlids and assorted livebearers. Now and then we also get assorted gouramis. Sometimes they'll special order fish(how I got my shark), but I have no idea what those livebearers are.

I had read about the salt, but it didnt seem necessary and I wasnt sure with salt and my shark so figured I'd just skip it. Well we are going in tomorrow to pick up some stuff, so I think I will get a sailfin there still there.

So a yes or no with sailfins and angels? I dont actually own any angels, but as I said am planning stocking for a new tank.

Emma

 

[theotheragentm]

Check out this compatability chart.

 

[nmonks]

And the salt has nothing to do with your success. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is about one-thirtieth the salinity of seawater. You could drink that without harm. In fact, soda and canned soup will have more salt than that in it. To actually have any effect on, for example, whitespot, you'd need to increase that dosage massively.

The reason your fish are doing well is good fishkeeping. Adding the salt at the dosage you're doing is neither here nor there. But its your money, and feel free to waste it if you want.

Emma --- mollies and angels, absolutely not, they couldn't be less compatible in terms of water chemistry. One is a fish that prefers soft, acidic water, the other wants water that is hard and alkaline and preferably brackish (unless you've measured your nitrates and they're almost zero). Keep mollies with hardwater (pref. brackish water) fish, and angels with freshwater fish (pref. softwater fish). Easy really. Any good aquarium book should tell you this... please go buy one or borrow one from the library!

Cheers, Neale

I've got 1 tbsp. aquarium salt per every 5 gallons water in my tank....but it's had no ill effect on any of my fish, and I've had no problems with ich, other diseases, or excessive algae growth since I started adding it.