DudleyTeam

Santa brought my 3 yr old son a 10g freshwater with 2 female lyre-tailed mollies. All going great - but now have 7 fry separated into breeder section/insert. Bought 30g tank today w.more decor/fake plants, etc. Going to move adult mollies into 30g tank, keep fry in 10g until matured. No problems w. health/water quality, etc. but want to get more variety of fish soon. Any suggestions on best companions for mollies, and how many fish to add would be appreciated. We keep water at about 79, and add a bit of aquarium salt to tank. Fish store says add a male molly to keep bullying down, and as many as 20 tetras to keep fry population in control. We'd like to do something like a freshwater (iridescent or ??) shark, or something different for variety, but first priority is sanity and health of the first 2 fish.

MasterShake2003

Mollies are really pretty peaceful fish. Most livebearers are. I have 2 lyre-tail mollies in my tank (1 gold and 1 silver). Guppies, Platties, and swordtails are all good tank mates. Neon or cardinal tetras would also do fine. My first tank was a 29 gal. and I had 1 lyre tail molly, 3-4 guppies, a platy, 4 neon tetras and a small species of pleco that won't get above 4-5 in.

The best way to go about stocking your tank is to figure out big the fish will get when they are completely matured. Lyre-tail mollies can get up to 5 in., I believe. The rule of thumb is one inch of mature fish per gallon of water. So with 30 gallons, you could have your two mollies and that's ten inches of fish. Neons only get up to about an inch, but you don't want to throw 20 of them in the tank because they will be very cramped. They are a schooling fish and prefer to be in groups of six or more, but I had four and they seemed very happy.

So, on this logic, it is simply up to your tastes. just remember, you already have about 10 inches of fish in that tank already. A few neons would be ok, but I don't know with the salt you have in there or how much you have added. Salt actually isn't essential to the mollies survival and they will be quite happy in plain, dechlorinated tap water.

As for fry control, the best way to control fry is to avoid buying females at all. If no females are present, most males don't even bother their tank mates(at least this has been my experience).

Iridescent sharks are a big no no for your 30 gal. They can get up to 4 feet in length. However, if you have a local fish store nearby that will take trade ins, then when the shark gets too big you can take him back for some store credit. I would however avoid them all together.

Swordtails, platies and especially guppies have AMAZING color variety and should make your little boy very happy. Just try and avoid the females if you don't want fry, that's your best bet

DudleyTeam

Thanks! I didn't know sharks got sooo big! The fish store guy admitted / bragged that he has 4 oscars plus in a 10g tank - so we are taking his advice with a grain of salt.

Re: adding salt - they were getting a little ich, and we got it cleaned up, but find many websites advising to add a little touch of salt to help the mollies stay healthy - our water is very hard out of tap - and we are on well. we have taken to buying bottled spring water for the tank - testing of tap, boiled, spring, and distilled show that the spring water is the closest to "right".

Brilliant advice re: getting only MALE fish - that certainly would put a stop to baby fishies! DUH - and to think NOBODY we've talked to has suggested that yet!

Maybe we'll get a small batch of neon tetras and a couple of another species to liven things up a bit. Our son is totally "stoked" because the grown mollies ate from his hand tonight. Very cute.

Thanks again for the feedback!

MasterShake2003

Just as an FYI, the salt can most definately help when treating illnesses like ick and fin rot (I myself have a guppy fighting through this right now). I you do add neon tetras or any other fish, do a 50% water change before adding anything, especially tetras as they tend to be fragile.

I live in Indiana and my water is EXTREMELY hard (I blame all the limestone), but anyway, my two mollies seem very happy in the water. Most freshwater tropicals can adapt and thrive in most any water, regardless of pH or hardness. The trick is jsut to take some extra time acclimating them to your water. I'm sure you know the whole "float the bag, add some water, float the bag, add some more tank water, float the bag, dump out half into a bucket and repeat" process. That's the best way as it slowly acclimates your fish to the chemistry of your tank.

Good luck and keep asking those questions!

EDIT: By the way, make sure your new 30 gal. is cycled before adding any more fish besides the two mollies. If you don't, your ammonia will get out of control and you may end up losing your new fish. I assume you already know enough about all this since the post title implied you had some knowledge of marine tanks. If not, though, read up on the Nitrogen Cycle on the Fishlore home site.

DudleyTeam

well - hubby checked water and tank levels are good - so off to shop we went. got 6 tetras (2 each of 3 varieties) and 4 guppies (one each of 4 varieties). everyone seems to be doing well - white molly came out immediately to greet the new arrivals, and now the black molly seems to be getting acquainted as well. one of the neon tetras has a belly fin that seems to have been eaten off, but hubby says it'll grow back over time. guess we'll bring in one or two molly fry when they are big enough, and then call it full. sure is prettier now with the other fishes in.

MasterShake2003

Glad to hear everything is going so well! Would love to see some pics if you get the chance!!!

DudleyTeam

hey there - got pics now - some duplicates but can't figure how to delete them yet?? lost 3 of the tetras within 24 hrs. and one of the guppies is kind of lethargic, but no signs of distress - no gulping, listing, etc. just quietly hanging out at top of tank. pulled him and treated him for 24 hrs, but he is holding steady, so hoping he settles into the groove with his 3 guppy friends. found that our thermometer was way off, so we probably cooked the poor little tetras - tank was actually close to 90 instead of 80. poor babies. all squared away now - happy kids. have u heard that fish will race up and down in a corner (top to bottom) if they are in shock? all of our fish seem to have done this at one time or another and no other evidence of problems...