Mollies to cycle tank?

[timsedwards]

Hi guys,
So first question - I am finding it incredibly difficult to find a shrimp over here to cycle for a couple of days, can I cycle with anything else? a kind prawn? or is that just silly?!?!?!?
Secondly once spike is over and levels are zero, can I keep black mollies in there? What if i buy them from a freshwater source, can you just put them in the saltwater straight away? And what about when you hyposalinity or medicate? are they ok?
Thanks for the help,
Tim.

 

[barracuda]

Hi Tim,
you don't have to find shrimp only. You can put a piece of raw fish. This will do the same job.
You can put Mollies after cycling has done,imo. Ther should be no problem with that. Just feed them with flakes.
Best regards.

 

[timsedwards]

Great will a king prawn do? what just any piece of fish? how big?
Cheers,
Tim.

 

[barracuda]

King prawn will do that job or piece of fish let's say....1"x1" maybe less.

 

[timsedwards]

great they have those at my local supermarket!
Cheers buddy.
Tim.

 

[timsedwards]

Hi guys,
My question now is, when my tank had fully cycled and everything is la-de-da (as we say in England!), can I put Black Mollies in? Is there any other 'freshwater' fish that can go in saltwater? I find that whole concept really neat
Also how do you introduce them from a freshwater tank? do you have to do it gradually or something?
Also what happens to them when you medicate a Salt water fish? They jsut stay in there and tolerate it?
Also will they get on with a clownfish or a tang in the same QT?
Thanks for the help,
Tim.

 

[barracuda]

Hey Tim!
Also how do you introduce them from a freshwater tank? do you have to do it gradually or something?
You can adopt them by holding them in a fresh water container and adding little by little of SW. Add slowly, or they may get shocked and die.

 

[timsedwards]

Right ok!
How about when you perform hypo or treat a fish with medication, will the mollies be ok?
Also I have a 24'x15'x12 tank, how many mollies? 2?
All the best,
Tim.

 

[barracuda]

Tim, i'm not sure 'bout that. Maybe there is another way to keep QT alive w/o Mollies. Try to ask Beth or Terry B, just open the new thread "ATTN:Terry B or Beth" maybe
Sorry, i have no 24/7 running QT so i'm not the best help source for ya. I know about aclimating mollies to SW just because i cycled my second set up with them.

 

[timsedwards]

OK cheers! I jus thought it would be a good two fold idea to 1) keep tank cycled 2) keep some interest
All the best,
Tim.

 

[robb]

You can use mollies or you could use guppies too. Acclimate them over from FW to salt over a day or two and they should be fine. I don't think it would be a problem medicating them. If you happen to loose them they are easy to replace.
Here is a picture of the guppies I cycled my tank with swimming with my clown.

 

[entice59]

wait a minute.... a fresh water fish in a saltwater tank.... and its not dead???? can i put one in my tank? or is it just going to die off later on?

 

[robb]

Well my guppies have been in my tank for several months now so I think if they were going to die from the salt they would have already. The guppies and mollies can acclimate over to SW. There are other fish that can do this too but not all FW fish will.

 

[entice59]

thats amazing, i didnt even know that