molly for algae control
- Thread starter JohnBRZ
- Start date
Takes some time to get them totally acclimated since most stores keep them in 100% freshwater. Better option would be something like a Lawnmower Blenny, Emerald Crab or Sea Hare. 405 Tropical has several right now. Sea Hares and Emerald crabs that is.
I have a Pincushion Urchin I’d sell for $10(what I paid) will do the job. But if you have frags will knock them over. But algae will be gone and rocks spotless. I’m in HB.
I have a Pincushion Urchin I’d sell for $10(what I paid) will do the job. But if you have frags will knock them over. But algae will be gone and rocks spotless. I’m in HB.
Yeah, they're not the best swimmers and I think there are better alternatives for algae control. Astraea snails or a single turbo snail will do more than a single Molly. The jester goby may not last long term in your tank, especially when the algae is gone. If you get a captive bred one, then you'll have better luck. Snails and crabs are a better choice in a nano, also, use a small bottle brush to twist the algae by hand to remove it. Don't forget some good ole manual labor here.
14g tank - any powerheads? IMHO work well in smaller tanks if you don't have any pumps inside the tank or crazy flow. I have a few in my IM20 with stock pump that do a great job grazing algae. There's a guy in San Diego that sells saltwater acclimated black/dalmatian mollies for $2ea. Snails are great but not many consume hair algae. PM me if you want his contact info.
I have a molly in my 30 gal and she's fat and happy! does well with film algae on the glass and sometimes picks at GHA, but not the best if you're looking specifically for GHA removal. They have great personalities, so I feel like it's a good addition to any community tank, the slight utility is more of a bonus.
Side note, not sure if there's any merit to it but, it seems like females do better than males. I tried a trio of 2 males, 1 female and both of the males died after a few weeks, wouldnt really eat much. Eventually tried another male and it died as well under similar circumstances. The female has been a voracious feeder and has had a few babies in the tank that have since disappeared.
For GHA control, the thing that has helped me the most is a small algae reactor in the back chamber of my AIO. Just a small pump, some pvc, and a mesh screen that gets sprayed with water. GHA grows quicker out of water due to higher gas exchange and light, so it grows super quick in the back chamber and has pretty much disappeared from the display. Nutrient control is the name of the game. GFO/carbon works well, but I've found the algae reactor to be much lower maintenance and more predictable
Side note, not sure if there's any merit to it but, it seems like females do better than males. I tried a trio of 2 males, 1 female and both of the males died after a few weeks, wouldnt really eat much. Eventually tried another male and it died as well under similar circumstances. The female has been a voracious feeder and has had a few babies in the tank that have since disappeared.
For GHA control, the thing that has helped me the most is a small algae reactor in the back chamber of my AIO. Just a small pump, some pvc, and a mesh screen that gets sprayed with water. GHA grows quicker out of water due to higher gas exchange and light, so it grows super quick in the back chamber and has pretty much disappeared from the display. Nutrient control is the name of the game. GFO/carbon works well, but I've found the algae reactor to be much lower maintenance and more predictable
I've been looking into acclimating mollies to salt too. Best advice i've gotten is from aquarium co op, the adults will always have a hard time adjusting and will just slowly die. It's the babies that are born in saltwater will have a much better success rate. So maybe slow acclimate the adults to a salinity that they can handle, and wait till the babies grow up and raise salt levels again. Might take a few generations to do this tho.
the mighty jet is set to the lowest setting with an IM spin stream. it's a little noisy at night so I might try to do some DIY this weekend.A few years ago, I had a few mollies introduced. Soon after, I lost all my fishes in short time including two rare eating eight line butterfly. I have kept my fishes for several years before the die off. I believe it was some kind of hybrid disease that I unintentionally created by introducing freshwater fish with saltwater one that my fishes had no immunity on. But, don't know for sure.
I have salt water birthed mollies. Started off with a male and a female. Now I have 6 in all. Traded a few of the others for some corals.
My advice? I keep them in my QT to keep the tank cycled as well as act as a canary in the coal mine. They are pigs and devour food so it was easy to set up an auto feeder with pellets. I have some turn algae in the tank unfortunately and they only nibble at it once in a while more so our of curiosity not because they want to devour it. Maybe they'd do better with GHA?
As for putting them in my DT. They never lasted long but I only ever tried with two of the salt water birthed mollies when they were still juveniles. I think the flow was a shock for them. Now that they are adults they would probably fair better but id rather not use them to increase my bioload when I put a much more beautiful fish in the DT.
My advice? I keep them in my QT to keep the tank cycled as well as act as a canary in the coal mine. They are pigs and devour food so it was easy to set up an auto feeder with pellets. I have some turn algae in the tank unfortunately and they only nibble at it once in a while more so our of curiosity not because they want to devour it. Maybe they'd do better with GHA?
As for putting them in my DT. They never lasted long but I only ever tried with two of the salt water birthed mollies when they were still juveniles. I think the flow was a shock for them. Now that they are adults they would probably fair better but id rather not use them to increase my bioload when I put a much more beautiful fish in the DT.
