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Another stocking question....

Ok I was originally wanting to keep red eye tetra, livebearers, gouramis, angels, etc. but now I'm thinking:

-1m Sailfin molly (6"..as my centerpiece fish), other mollies (different varieties, maybe some more sailfins but females due to male aggression which I think they would have)

-guppies, swordtails, platys

-maybe rainbows (dwarf school) if there would be room

-a few snails

Only problem is I have only seen the sailfin molly sold at a LPS (that no longer sells fish) one time before. I have seen some smaller mollies with sailfins but I don't think they are what I'm talking about The one I want gets big, is semi-agressive, colorful, and has a BIG sailfin

The thing with mollies is that they really should be kept in brackish water conditions. I know that you will read that they can be kept in fresh water, but they will be at their best, be more active and live longer in brackish water.

Most of the fish that you mentioned as tankmates also can be kept with some salt in the water, however really not to to the level of the mollies.

Jim

---

Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Yeah I know they need salt so thats why I was thinking I could put them with other livebearers, at least they'd have a ltitle salt in their water. Do rainbows like salt? Will salt kill snails?

Hi,
I think you missed the point of Jim's post. The sail fin
molly is a BRACKISH water fish. It will actually swim
between a saltwater environment and a tidal area (brackish)
as it hunts food with no problems.

That means that it needs more salt in the water than
"just a little." What you are talking about is just a
teaspoon of salt for every few gallons, what we are talking
about is enough salt to make the Specific Gravity of the
water read 1.002 to 1.015 using a standard aquarium
hydrometer.

Only specialized plants will grow in that water:
http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_brackish.php

If your goal is to keep a Sail fin Molly, then you would
have to have other brackish water fish as well. These are
not other live bearers like guppies or swordtails.

You should decide between the two types of tanks,
Brackish, or Fresh, water tanks.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi there,
ok, only wild caught mollies from very specific areas are brackish water fish. Not all mollies come from brackish water in the wild, and NONE of the mollies youre buying in the pet store has been born, raised, nor its parents, grandparents, great granparents, or any ancestors for the past 30 years have been in the wild.

Mollies do perfectly well in freshwater tanks. I kept Sailfins in a freshwater tank and they lived beyond what is the general life span for fish. The only key to keeping mollies is that they need really clean water with low nitrAtes.

Another thing to mention - most "other" varieties of mollies, dalmation, lyretail, creamsicle, etc, are all different color or fin varieties of the sailfin molly species. This is important to note, as it seems people are thinking these are different species.
Most mollies kept in captivity are species Velifera (sailfin) or Sphenops (black and silver molly).

None of these captive bred fish require brackish water if kept in clean, low nitrAte water. The idea that these fish are brackish stems from back in the past when they were actually still wild caught specimens.
Today this is merely a myth.

So Bottom Line - theyre not brackish fish. Yes they can live in brackish water, but it is not required.
Wild caught varieties of these fish that have been identified by the catcher as being brackish water conditions will require brackish waters. Many Sailfins are found in pure freshwater areas, so not all will require brackish water.
None of your fish need brackish water, these are all freshwater species tolerant of a little salt.


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The molly I'm talking about is the Yucatan Molly:

http://www.acvarist.ro/poze/moli/poecilia_velifera.jpg

And yes they would need more salt than guppies or swordtails...if it was a wild caught molly...but tank bred in a tank with little or no salt then it should be accustomed to that and not need the added salt. Alittle in my opinion would be better than none at all, but even none at all should be okay with fish tank bred in freshwater.

Yucatan mollies like all mollies can be found in the wild from salt to freshwater. If you wanted to match it's wild environment you would have to know exactly where your particular specimen was caught since they are not all born or travel in water with lots of salt. You'll find some living out their lifespan in freshwater in the wild as well. If you don't know your just best off matching it to the salinity you want to keep the other fish in. Mollies live just as well in freshwater as saltwater provided they weren't wild caught directly from saltwater or high level brackish. Considering the mollies you get have probably been bred in freshwater or very low salt for generations it won't really have an impact on the health of the fish. Clean water and amount of breeding they are allowed to do has a much greater impact on the lifespan of livebearers than salt level.