salt in tank, black molly competition?

[mona]

Hi!
I read that black mollies especially need a lot of salt in their tank to live properly. How do I ensure this? does the stress coat help?

Also, I have a pair of mollies (don't know their sex), and one has been following and bothering the other for a long time. Any ideas why?

Thanks,
Mona

[BaileyGurl]

Hi,
yes mollies need salt in their tank to thrive. you can get a freshwater/community salt at any fish store just make sure its for freshwater tanks and not reef/marine salt. i have heard many different opinions on how much salt to add, if mollies are the only fish in the tank i would say about 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons of water is a good start.
you probably have a male and a female, the males will chase the females around trying to breed. you can tell the difference between the sexes just by looking at the anal fin. the female's is more fan shaped and the male's is like a rod.
hope this helps http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif


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~Bailey*Gurl~
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oo-oo

[mona]

Hi!

Thanks for the reply. So if the male molly follows the female, then it's trying to breed, and not trying to get the babies? Is that correct. I was going to put my female fish in a separate container for it to give birth.

secondly, I have 2 mollies and 2 platies in the same tank. What temp do you recommend I maintain the tank at?

Thanks@
Mona :-)

[BaileyGurl]

Putting the female in a different comtainer to give birth is a good idea if you want to save the fry. the parents and other fish will eat the fry so you will have to remove the mother after she gives birth.
I have platies also and i keep the temp between 74-78 degrees F
or about 20-25 degrees C
Good luck, let me know how it goes...
right now i have one 3 week old platy fry, thats the only one i could save because the female gave birth while i was away. She's really cute http://petshub.com/ubb/smile.gif shes big enough to stay in the same tank as the adults now too.


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~Bailey*Gurl~
,-._,-.
\/)"(\/
(_O_)
/ \/)
(| | | |)
oo-oo