# Mollies: the secret weapon against BBA!!!



## ktownhero

I have had a fair bit of BBA in my tank for about a year. Nothing that detracts from the appeal of the tank, but enough that every six weeks or so I find myself trimming plants that otherwise wouldn't need to be trimmed. 

I swung by my LFS the other day to grab a few new fish and mentioned my BBA issues. Besides recommending DIY CO2 (which I started also), he told me that Mollies will eat the BBA as well. I grabbed two balloon mollies and they are NO JOKE. These guys have been going around the tank chomping at the BBA for two days straight now. 

So, why don't Mollies get recommended too often when people say they are having BBA problems? These little guys are the secret weapon!


----------



## Brian10962001

Wow, will Dalmation Mollies do this as well? I have the same exact problem, whenever my Co2 swing down I get BBA spots, it's annoying and I usually have to manually scrub it off, or pull whatever has it on it and let it air out for a bit. I really hate dosing the crap out of Excel, and that's not practical in the long haul.


----------



## JustJen

I had some swords that were covered in the stuff. I got tired of fighting it and pulled them out of the tank they were in, but then tossed them in my mostly unplanted molly tank (knowing nothing about their fondness for bba), just for holding until I got a little time to look at them closer and see if it was worth trying to salvage the plant. I went back a day or two later those plants were COMPLETELY clean. Not one tiny little sign of bba anywhere on any of the plants! Made a believer out of me!


----------



## Sophie and Mom

This is great info. Mollies next!!


----------



## ktownhero

JustJen said:


> I had some swords that were covered in the stuff. I got tired of fighting it and pulled them out of the tank they were in, but then tossed them in my mostly unplanted molly tank (knowing nothing about their fondness for bba), just for holding until I got a little time to look at them closer and see if it was worth trying to salvage the plant. I went back a day or two later those plants were COMPLETELY clean. Not one tiny little sign of bba anywhere on any of the plants! Made a believer out of me!


Awesome to hear. I'm just absolutely shocked that I don't see them mentioned more often for this purpose. They are such easy fish to keep, are readily available, and are cute to have around anyway. It's like a no brainer!


----------



## mistergreen

I've always wanted sailfin mollies, maybe they'll do the trick too.

*Ah, just found out balloon mollies are the same species as sailfin mollies.


----------



## londonloco

I've always heard Molly's do eat BBA, and other types of algae, until they realize they will be fed often. I'd be interested to see if they continue to eat the BBA after they have been in a "well fed" tank for several days.


----------



## TedP

London, you're right. I have a nice group of wild sailfins and flag fish in my 30g. They may pick at the red BBA once I hit it with Excel, but otherwise they don't touch it. They nip at the Blyxa, Anubias, and S. repens plenty though,


----------



## ktownhero

londonloco said:


> I've always heard Molly's do eat BBA, and other types of algae, until they realize they will be fed often. I'd be interested to see if they continue to eat the BBA after they have been in a "well fed" tank for several days.


I will let you know. I will say that even after I've fed them I still see them nipping at it. They come across to me like the type of fish that can essentially never be satisfied... 

For full disclosure though, I do tend to keep my tank a bit underfed overall. I only feed them once per day at the most when I get home from work, and it's not uncommon to skip a day. I like my tanks to be a bit of an eco-system, in that the fish have to hunt around the tank looking for some of their food


----------



## londonloco

I only feed once a day also, enough for them to eat in a few minutes, and skip once a week often. I've gone the molly route once, in a 20g long, adding one tiny one (turned out to be a dalmatian). Did help some string algae a little, but IMO, pulling out the algae helped more. 

Keep us informed, if after a few weeks your still seeing results, I might to purchase some balloon mollys


----------



## JustJen

londonloco said:


> I've always heard Molly's do eat BBA, and other types of algae, until they realize they will be fed often. I'd be interested to see if they continue to eat the BBA after they have been in a "well fed" tank for several days.


The mollies that just cleaned up the BBA covered swords of mine have been in their tank for nearly 6 months and are well fed typically twice a day


----------



## DarkCobra

I had them once, they are quite industrious at cleaning plants.

All was well until I didn't feed for a few days. During which time, one of them learned it could eat plants. It would grab a leaf in its mouth, then make a sudden jerk to tear a bite away. And the little piggy never stopped when I resumed feeding. Over another week or two, the others had picked up the example, and were eating plants too. Bye bye, mollies!


----------



## Da Plant Man

My swordtails pick at the rocks a lot also. 

I should get some mollies later. Have you guys seen them in a reef tank? Its insane.

-Caton


----------



## londonloco

Da Plant Man said:


> My swordtails pick at the rocks a lot also.
> 
> I should get some mollies later. Have you guys seen them in a reef tank? Its insane.
> 
> -Caton


nope, got links?


----------



## ktownhero

londonloco said:


> nope, got links?


Here you go :icon_bigg


----------



## londonloco

As soon as I hit post quick reply, I thought...utoh, google alert. Sorry, I did go to google and search, to me, it looks unnatural. I don't know why, it just does.


----------



## TedP

Maybe not reef, but they are found in brackish and marine conditions here in Florida. I collect them in freshwater, though.


----------



## kalawai2000

What about Guppies? Do they eat algae?


----------



## fresh.salty

londonloco said:


> nope, got links?


http://youtu.be/paGXJ0aL9PE

Here's mine from a few years back. Not good quality but you can see the marbles especially towards the end when I dropped some flake food in.

And yes, it was loud in that room, 500g of SW, several tanks with overflows on a common sump with a 1.5hp pump. lol


----------



## ktownhero

Well, three days with them and they've done a pretty good job of cleaning up the tank so far. One half of my back wall is completely clear and most of my plants have been cleaned quite well. I know they are crushing the BBA not only because I can see the difference, but also because when I come home after a long day's work ready to feed them they already have giant strings of detritus hanging from them! These guys are total pigs haha.

I also added DIY CO2 to the tank on the same day that the mollies went in, so that may be helping too. I have noticed that some of the BBA in the tank appears to be turning a lighter color.


----------



## DogFish

Reading this, makes me think they would be great to keep in a Q-tank to keep it running in between use to Quarantine new fish.

Then when you need them to go to work on BBA, put them hungry, in the tank needing cleaning. Your own , "Molly Maid" service on call 24/7.
:icon_mrgr


----------



## ktownhero

DogFish said:


> Reading this, makes me think they would be great to keep in a Q-tank to keep it running in between use to Quarantine new fish.
> 
> Then when you need them to go to work on BBA, put them hungry, in the tank needing cleaning. Your own , "Molly Maid" service on call 24/7.
> :icon_mrgr


I love it!


----------



## ibmikmaq

molly's are great for BBA but sadly they will eventually perish in a fresh water tank since they come from brackish water! 
true siamese algae eaters, some snails and shrimp is the best way to go for BBA battle!


----------



## DogFish

ibmikmaq said:


> molly's are great for BBA but sadly they will eventually perish in a fresh water tank since they come from brackish water!
> ...


Another + for my Q-tank idea as some low salinity is the old school ICK treatment.


----------



## TedP

ibmikmaq said:


> molly's are great for BBA but sadly they will eventually perish in a fresh water tank since they come from brackish water!
> true siamese algae eaters, some snails and shrimp is the best way to go for BBA battle!


This is not strictly true. I collect sailfin mollies from an entirely freshwater pond. I've collected them from several lakes and ponds in my area and none are within 60 miles of brackish or marine water.

They are also found in estuaries systems here where the water can be anywhere from completely fresh water to completely marine and anything in between. There are many species of fish that can live in these conditions their whole lives.


----------



## DogFish

TedP - I saw a large group go sail fin molly at J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, when visiting Captiva Island 20 years ago. Just really amazing to see them in the wild. 
Your fortunate to be able to collect them.

Any pics?


----------



## ibmikmaq

Be interesting to see the hardness of those ponds where you found the mollys in. Maybe you can do a PH and hardness test on the water and post results? I am just curious to know because everything we are told on molly's, is that, they never live long in strictly fresh soft water with lower PH.

I would love to see pics of Molly's in their natural environment!


----------



## CrazyMidwesterner

ktownhero said:


> Here you go :icon_bigg


That is awesome. I've not seen that before lol.


----------



## fresh.salty

I've had a single black molly in a 20g for two years. Water change water is 100% RO/DI, no additives or ferts at all in the tank. I can tell you for sure it doesn't eat hair algae. lol

He's in this tank...


----------



## gagaliya

i know about this for a while unfortunately have zero luck keep mollies alive for some reason. In a well planted "aged" tank, all my fish (tetra/rasboras etc..) are doing fine, i put in a molly or two with proper drip acclimation etc.., but they just die. I tried a few times and finally gave up not willing to risk any more deaths...

I think they need to be in slightly salted(brackish) water but i was not willing to add salt to my planted tank.


----------



## fresh.salty

I don't have anything to base this on but I just think the breeders are raising these in at least mildly brackish water. Then they get moved into FW tanks at the stores and are already on the decline when we buy them.

I raised mollies from wild locally caught stock in the late 60's and early 70's. Some salt seemed important but just as much they seemed to want +80° temps or they would shimmy. But these were wild so it could be different with commercial stock.


----------



## TedP

Here is my prize male, in the crowded 10g quarantine before going into the 30g.










There are some females in the background.

I also have a Rubbermaid tub on the back patio full of guppy grass and a breeding colony of sailfins, mosquitofish and least killifish.

No salt at all. My 30g is kept at a pH of 6.7. Moderate hardness.


----------



## fresh.salty

That's a beauty. Similar to some I caught years ago. Wonder if my Dad remembers where he would drive me to for the collecting. I think a was 12 or so. lol


----------



## OVT

DogFish said:


> Reading this, makes me think they would be great to keep in a Q-tank to keep it running in between use to Quarantine new fish.


That's exactly what I do with Black Mollies.
Also keep them in my planted 'staging' tank: soft ~6.5pH with no salt. The biggest problem with them is that they reproduce like rats. Never noticed any health issues due to 'sweet' water


----------



## Assassynation

Do you think mollies would harass my zebra plecos or breeding Cherry shimp?


----------



## mordalphus

Mollies would eat your shrimp


----------



## OVT

No problem with plecos but the shrimp is a snack.


----------



## TedP

It doesn't look like much, being the cool season and it is just an old boat ramp, but this is sailfin molly territory.










There's definitely no salt in this water. I haven't tested it, but it's probably fairly hard but there's a lot of decaying material in there. 

The dark fish you can barely see way up shallow on the ramp are, believe it or not, sailfin plecos.


----------



## Sophie and Mom

I found this thread last week and was psyched. We bought mollies as a direct result, and they have done a number on a lot of the algae in our tank. Honestly, I wish they'd done a little better, though. I think the poor things are sick of it. I've been taking out plants one at the time and washing them in the sink.

I'm almost expecting a big green slimy monster to crawl out of the drain some night and eat us all.


----------



## mistergreen

TedP said:


> Here is my prize male, in the crowded 10g quarantine before going into the 30g.



Did you catch this guy?


----------



## TedP

I sure did. He's the dominant male, but not the largest I've caught. The males can be quite aggressive and I had trouble with more than one even in the very densely planted 10g Q tank.


----------



## CrazyMidwesterner

If I could find a Mollie that looked that cool in the pet store I would buy one in a second! That thing is awesome


----------



## TedP

I'm considering offering wilds or F1s for sale on the SnS. I was going to put a post up there to gauge interest but I can't do anything for the next couple of months.


----------



## mistergreen

TedP said:


> I'm considering offering wilds or F1s for sale on the SnS. I was going to put a post up there to gauge interest but I can't do anything for the next couple of months.


You might need a license for that. We don't want you to get a knock on the door from the dnr people one day.


----------



## TedP

As a matter of fact, I've researched it. It's a commercial freshwater fishing license that's a measly $25. This is also good for recreational fishing. Add another $40 for a Resident Freshwater Fish Dealers license and I should be covered at least for the permitting. That also allows me to import and export, not that I am looking to do that.

Not a bad deal, really.

I am also looking to see if I'd need an aquaculture permit to sell F1 fish from my tub. I don't believe so.

I'm on short term disability from a kidney transplant and I am not sleeping very much. I've done entirely too much research on too many things.


----------



## mistergreen

Cool, I'll get a pair of mollies from you then.


----------



## ibmikmaq

Ok last week after this thread was started I got a couple of sailfin mollys and I didn't find they did any major a job on my BBA, i dont think i seen them eat it once, they did, however, start eating my HC! I ended up giving them away to my cousin. today I went and got 3 female American flag fish, and as soon as they were in the tank they went right after the BBA, and every other algae I have in my tank! 
I would say American flag fish hands down is the best BBA grazer! And if you get only females then you don't have any aggressive behaviors to worry about!


----------



## TedP

I really wish I had the success you are all having with these Florida fish eating BBA. Neither my mollies nor my flags touch it. They tore up all of my HC. I switched to S. repens and while it stays rooted, they rip leaves from it. They will also uproot Blyxa and eat fresh Anubias growth. I has some beautiful Wallichi and they stripped it clean. The only thing they have not touched is Java fern and the franstoeffel sword I have.

But, I really enjoy the Florida natives so I tolerate it. In that tank, the plants have become secondary.


----------



## ibmikmaq

Are yours wild collected? Perhaps the difference lies between captive bred and wild collected? Even perhaps, if BBA, was apart of the diet of a fishes genetic pool? 
Look at different species and evolution, even though a particular species might be the same species but are found in different locations, depending on the availability of food in each particular location, each may be genetically imprinted into their DNA to only select that particular food item. So if by chance BBA has never been in the diet over multiple generations then BBA would not be seen as a food source. My flag fish are from a line of captive bred flag fish that have raised over generations in aquarium environments where BBA has been a food source so perhaps it is imprinted in the fishes DNA to recognize BBA as a food source! 

I don't really know, this is all just speculation on my part.


----------



## TedP

Very good point, my mollies are wild caught. I have a mixture of wild and LFS flags. I purchased several larger flags at the LFS. Their origin is unknown, of course. I also have one wild caught juvenile. 

I like your line of thinking. It makes sense anyway. I am inclined to go with it.


----------

