What kind of salt do mollies need

There's usually a little of both kind in any given aquarium strain. The Problem When mollies are kept in freshwater tanks, they often become sickly.

Common symptoms are fin-rot, fungus, and the "shimmies". Fin-rot is a gradual decay of the fins, often with obviously dead, grey patches on the fins. Left untreated, this will kill your fish. Fungus usually looks like fine white threads and can appear anywhere on the body, though it's most common on the fins. Again, untreated, this is serious.

Both fin-rot and fungus are easily treated with over-the-counter fish medicines. The shimmies are, as the name suggests, a bit like the dance of the same name.

The fish seem to tread water, wobbling from side to side. Yet again, left untreated, this will kill your fish. The Solution Add marine aquarium salt mix. This will turn your tank into a slightly brackish rather than freshwater aquarium and the mollies will be much healthier. Fin-rot and fungus will not set in, and if present, should fix themselves, especially if you treat with the appropriate remedy as well.

The shimmies usually go away. You don't need a lot of salt, around grammes per litre will do the trick. Use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity the concentration of salt in the water.

You are aiming for a specific gravity of about 1. Don't add the salt to the aquarium directly! Make up some salty water in a bucket, and then pour it into the tank. Be sure and follow the instructions on the package with regard to how long you need to stir the salt into the water for, etc. The salt doesn't just make the aquarium salty, it also raises the pH and hardness, which is just as critical for mollies. Note that table salt and aquarium tonic salt aren't acceptable alternatives.

Always use marine aquarium salt. It isn't expensive, particularly not in the small amounts needed for keeping mollies. However, most freshwater fish don't like salty water, especially not things like tetras and Corydoras.

Mollies basically aren't an option for aquarists wanting to keep strictly freshwater fish. Hence, water hardness mineral content appears a bigger factor for Mollys than salt. For example, P. I doubt there is any "salt" NaCl at this elevation, but the substrate is volcanic in nature and full of minerals. The easiest way to add calcium hardness is to use crushed coral or shells as a substrate additive or in your filter. Even adding a few large seashells to your tank or filter should do the trick.

The salt debate comes about when one deals with the less hardy and adaptable fancy livebearers, such as the Black Molly or Red Velvet Platy. These are genetically non-diverse varieties and thus prone to sickness, usually requiring higher temperatures and clean water red velvet platies are another example.

As Molly legend Dr. Joanne Norton who was responsible for many of the varieties we now enjoy advised nearly 30 years ago: " If water changes are large enough and frequent enough, and if all the water is well aerated and circulated, livebearers all the species I have kept do fine without salt added to the water. If these conditions are not met, or if the fish are too crowded, then troubles appear.

Livebearer expert Derek Lambert concurs with this general idea, as do many in the American Livebearer Association. I admit I do use salt in some of my livebearer tanks, as my maintenance practices are far from ideal. All the other mollies are considered short finned mollies.

However, there are many commercial also called domestic molly strains resulting from hybridization among the three wild sailfins and some of the short finned molly species. Any of these hybrids with large dorsals are also called sailfins. Now with that out of the way, why is there controversy concerning mollies and salt?

That said, they do seem to prefer hard, alkaline water. Your use of cichlid salts to increase the hardness and pH is appropriate. Now can salt help some disease conditions? Yes, salt at ppt will cure most freshwater protozoan diseases such as ich and Chilodonella. Salt can also be effective against freshwater fungi and bacteria. But, at 6 ppt some plants will be adversely affected. Mandee, the upshot is do what works for you. If adding salt helps reduce fungal infections, then use it.

I do wonder why your tap water is so soft. Most US water sources are not soft. Are you using a water softener? If so, can you access water before it goes through the softener?