Tip toeing into FOWLR

This is my first Saltwater tank and I know bigger is best but sadly the finances aren't there. So I converted my 20 gal Freshwater tank to SW, Drained tank removed substrate, added Fresh RO water, salt, sand and live rock. First of all when the bag says (in not these exact words) If adding sand to established tank you should rinse it. I took this as if its a fresh setup save the time and dump it in, and well the dust was one battle I didnt expect to beat. So now I have a tank of saltwater with a sponged filter/aerator, EX70 and a EX30 HOB filter, 20lbs of sand, 6lbs of live rock(all the shop had in at the time). After doing some reading I decided to try the acclimating of my female dalmatian molly from my Freshwater tank and with great success she seems to enjoy the Saltwater tank, constantly cleaning the live rock. Heres a few pics of my FW55gal and SW20gal.

My 55 is getting a change of fish and scenery. (After 6 months the drift wood under the rocks has yet to water log, not sure if it been left floating at the top of the tank caused it to not water log or what.
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What happens when you don't rinse sand.
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Close up of a cool rock I bought.
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The tank after inital setup, Molly got added on day 7


The first molly I am acclimating to salt water
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Looks good!

 

Did molly make it?

 

Good question!

While Poeciliids can generally tolerate brackish water (Mollies far more so), I'd be a little concerned about keeping them permenantly in a full salt water environment.

I'd be interested to see how this goes in the long term.

 

I'd never heard of putting a molly in a fully salt-water aquarium... interesting. Was it something you just decided to try, or did you read up on it? Are there other fish that can make the transition?

 

I've heard of putting mollies in saltwater before. I have a coworker who has kept saltwater tanks since the 1970's and he puts mollies in his saltwater tanks to make sure they're established (he doesn't cycle with them) before he puts his saltwater fish in.

 

I am also interested in how the molly did. As a note it does seem like you need more rock in your tank.

 

My LFS stocks mollies acclimated to full Saltwater quite often. In the wild, P.latipinna can be found in coastal waters from NC to Mexico, so keeping them in a full Saltwater aquarium isn't as unnatural as it seems. I hear that they are unlikely to breed in full SW, though.