# Mollies in the reef?



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I know from my years in fresh water that mollies are great at controlling algae.

I understand they are natively brackish fish but can live in both fresh and salt water.

My question, has anyone used mollies in algae control in reef tanks? If so how did it work out?

I don't even have algae but have read that this is a huge issue in new salt water tanks and most of the regular clean up crew come with some negative baggage. Like snails that cant turn themselves over or knock rocks over. Or hermet crabs that bother coral or eat snails for their shells.

What do you think?


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

I love them. They are non aggressive and unassuming fish that eat algae. They also provide live food and grow bigger and more vibrant in saltwater. You can toss them in straight from freshwater but easier on them if you drip them for an hour or so.


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

What kind of algae they will eat in a reef tank?


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

Hair algae for sure.


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## cica (Feb 10, 2013)

I have one for more then a year. I aclimated it slowly, over two days to salt water. She seams happy and always picking on glass / rock.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Well then I guess if I ever have a bad case or algae. I'm going to get a Molly.

I had a pair in my 125 fresh years ago and they really did a great job keeping everything clean.

They never bothered anyone and no one bothered them. But they ate like pigs at tank feeding time.


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

I like to add mollies at the same time as adding a salt water fish, the mollies act as a distraction so the agression is shared between the mollies and the other new salty fish. They do eat hair algae... Nowhere near as quickly as a mexican turbo snail. 

I have never had a problem slowly acclimating them to salt water, but they are not very strong swimmers straight from the pet store. I leave them in a QT tank for a couple weeks, slowly ramping up a powerhead so they become athletes before entering the crazy flow in the reef.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

CoralConnoisseur said:


> I like to add mollies at the same time as adding a salt water fish, the mollies act as a distraction so the agression is shared between the mollies and the other new salty fish. They do eat hair algae... Nowhere near as quickly as a mexican turbo snail.
> 
> I have never had a problem slowly acclimating them to salt water, but they are not very strong swimmers straight from the pet store. I leave them in a QT tank for a couple weeks, slowly ramping up a powerhead so they become athletes before entering the crazy flow in the reef.


I laughter at the training of mollies to compete.

So what do you recommend as the best clean up crew ?

Mexican turbo snail are for sure.


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

I use Mexicans, nassarius, some of the pointy turbos (not sure exact name).
I also use a few crabs. Just emeralds and blue legs. I have never had an issue with them picking at coral, but have read that some others have. So caution there. The blue legs are super easy to remove if they become a problem. I don't imagine getting an evil emerald crab out to be easy.
I also use a cleaner shrimp and had a few peppermint shrimps for the aiptasia at the start.

Clean up crews are often a huge debate. I am sure others have very different opinions from mine.

Edit: forgot to mention conches! Fighting conch or strawberry conch. I can't tell the difference, maybe they are the same creature? But they do a great job on the sandbed!


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Thanks,

The Internet is a great resource but it also has so many conflicting opinions.

I also understand that the clean up crew are added first then the fish. This is backwards to fresh. 

I have been adding Seachem stability to the tank since adding the small piece of live rock and nothing is moving ammonia wise.

I'm feeding the tank fish food very small amount of flake. My dry rock looks amazingly white and bright and the little piece of live rock looks the same dirt brown.

I'm hoping to grow some algae soon actually any noticible change would be nice.

Good job I didn't add the piece of shimp to decay. Because I was told it would culture flesh eating bacteria that would harm the tank and that once they are established you can never get rid of them.

I took that with a grain of salt like all the advice I get.


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Don't waste your time with mollies in a reef. If you are bored and want to see some motion while your tank establishes go with a damsel. Stick to the standard SW clean up crew like snails, hermits etc. I researched and tried all sorts of CUC and the only real advice I can give is it's trial and error to see what works with your setup. Pick a variety of snails and hermits and let it work itself out. Get hermits that are smaller than the snails.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

Please for the love of everything do NOT get a damsel. It will become the devil and you will be forever trying to remove it.


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## rburns24 (Jan 31, 2011)

darkangel66n said:


> Please for the love of everything do NOT get a damsel. It will become the devil and you will be forever trying to remove it.


-
+1
Thought they looked cool at the time. Got one with my first tank and it was a terror.
-


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## svc123 (Feb 5, 2012)

depends on the damsel. I have a school of 10 yellow tailed blue damsels and they are pretty peaceful.


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## Bayinaung (Feb 24, 2012)

I'd just be careful with CUC. hermits are known to eat clams and anemones. snails are annoying for knocking off frags ALL THE TIME. best CUC is let live rock take care of it. Bacteria are pretty efficient cleaners. Reef tanking takes a lot of ZEN. 

I used some mollies to cycle my old tank. they lived about a year and died. Other brackish fishes can be used as well. worth a try. damsels are not a bad idea either. or just go ahead and put in a clownfish or two if you were going to have them. they are about as tough as damsels.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I just got 3 mollies from BA and tried this. I acclimated them over 6 hours and dropped them in. Two died overnight, and the 3rd one seemed to be struggling. I took it out and put him in a bucket at 15ppt salinity and a powerhead. It seems to be doing much better. I will try to acclimate it over a few days and see if it works.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I have already done this. I bought two Dalmatian Mollies from super pets male and female and added doses of salt from the tank to their water.

I did this for about an hour or two and added water pretty quickly.

I dumped them into the tank and they have been doing fine. Pecking at the rocks and swimming in the current. Been about a week. I'm also using seachems stability in my tank and dosing every day. Weird thing is the ammonia is not rising and I have no algae and have the lights on for 12 hours a day?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

TBemba said:


> I have already done this. I bought two Dalmatian Mollies from super pets male and female and added doses of salt from the tank to their water.
> 
> I did this for about an hour or two and added water pretty quickly.
> 
> I dumped them into the tank and they have been doing fine. Pecking at the rocks and swimming in the current. Been about a week. I'm also using seachems stability in my tank and dosing every day. Weird thing is the ammonia is not rising and I have no algae and have the lights on for 12 hours a day?


Do you have strong flow in your SW tank?


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

solarz said:


> Do you have strong flow in your SW tank?


Pretty good flow, I have the two outputs that came with the tank and a uv sterilizer that has a really strong powehead. But not crazy flow.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I want to give this a try again. I'm reading contradictory stories. Some say it's better to just dump them in, others say they should be acclimated over days. On my previous attempt, the mollies seem to be really bothered by the flow, but I don't know if that's because they're weakened by the full saltwater.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I'm not sure, I bought adult Mollies or at least close to it. They are almost two inches and thick bodied. The female looks like she swallowed a pea so babies?

Down side they eat like pigs and poop a lot .


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## loonie (Mar 29, 2008)

I am wondering why nobody talk about Tangs as good algae eater esp. for hairy algae. I have tangs in my tank, they keep the tank clean from any algae on rocks.


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

Which of your tangs eat hair algae?


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

loonie said:


> I am wondering why nobody talk about Tangs as good algae eater esp. for hairy algae. I have tangs in my tank, they keep the tank clean from any algae on rocks.


I think most Tangs require large tanks. I don't plan on having a tank large enough to accommodate a tang.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

loonie said:


> I am wondering why nobody talk about Tangs as good algae eater esp. for hairy algae. I have tangs in my tank, they keep the tank clean from any algae on rocks.


A yellow tang is 40$, a molly is 2$. 

I also like the idea of molly fries in the tank.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Quick update on the Molly pair.

Kind of a mystery

I visited Aquariums by design yesterday. they had a sale on Yellow watchman gobies and I have always wanted one.

I picked up one about an inch long he's pretty sweet and a fighting conch.

There was other stuff but I have to be patient.

I added my new purchases and then after a few hours feed the tank with some new frozen myst and some new life spectrum pellets.

The pair ate like pigs but then a few hours later I noticed the male Molly hovering on the bottom near some rock and the female close beside.

He then started to do the cichlid death roll. The zipping around the tank herky jerky and then stopping to float lifeless to the bottom.

He did this for an hour at least. In my fresh water experience this is caused by bad water parameters or sudden temp changes. 

I did neither. Plus I tested the water and everything looked great. No other fish or cuc were effected. Usually if a fish dies like this it is followed by more deaths.

That was about 20 hours ago and everyone else is fine.

I'm a little uneasy about this event.


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