# mollys



## Benz_020 (Mar 3, 2008)

reading online it says black mollies for alge control.

looking at a petco(not that i would trust their info) but it says the whilte and other types are the same species. 


any reason thoes would not work also?


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## joycould (Mar 13, 2007)

Mollies no matter what color eat algae somewhat but I find they prefer to eat flakes. If you are looking for a good small algae eater check out the otto catfish make sure you know for sure you are getting an otto and not a chinese or siamese algae eater. Some places don't know the difference. They eat algae like crazy but will die for no apparent reason.


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## Benz_020 (Mar 3, 2008)

joycould said:


> Mollies no matter what color eat algae somewhat but I find they prefer to eat flakes. If you are looking for a good small algae eater check out the otto catfish make sure you know for sure you are getting an otto and not a chinese or siamese algae eater. Some places don't know the difference. They eat algae like crazy but will die for no apparent reason.


have and haved had oto's, they are just too small when you get them, other fish are able to eat them.

mix up an oto and a sae? dont see how that possible they are nothing alike.

dont give the mollys and option for food, then they turn to alge.
they may like flake, & my cats like steak. dosent mean they need it, mice and bugs will do / alge.


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## DaveS (Jun 9, 2006)

Benz_020 said:


> have and haved had oto's, they are just too small when you get them, other fish are able to eat them.
> 
> mix up an oto and a sae? dont see how that possible they are nothing alike.
> 
> ...


That will work if you only plan on keeping mollies in the tank. If you have other fish to feed, the mollies are going to take their share of food at feeding time.

Dave


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## Danger69 (Nov 26, 2006)

How about some snail? A local guy is selling Malaysian trumpet snail that helps with algae control and doesn't kill your plants. Any truth to this?


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Mollies won't work in a planted aquarium due to their preference for alkaline water over the acidic water of planted aquaria. I take it you're talking about a plant tank?

And yes, mollies will most definitely eat flake and other foods you feed the tank. Fish are opportunistic feeders- there is no telling it to eat algae and only algae. 

You best bet for algae control is otos, shrimp, doing water chages with RO water, reducing the photoperiod, and feeding more nutritious foods (flakes are the bottom of the barrel as far as quality foods like frozen or live). 

I don't know what steak and cats have to do with anything fish related, but fish cannot be delt with like a mammal.

GL.


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## Jareardy (Feb 14, 2008)

Lol, go back under your bridge benz. Joycould was only suggesting to be careful of your selection if you don't know that much about fish yet.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

The inappropriate comment in question has been removed from this thread. Please let's keep things civil.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I have had Mollies do a really good job on brown algae (Diatoms). 
In my brackish tank they will follow me around while I scrape the sides where algae grows, stuck on too firmly for them to remove. They grab it as it comes loose. 
Mollies in pet stores are so much a hybridized mix of species that yes, they will all pretty much do a similar job on algae. An individual fish may be an odd one that does not eat it as much, of course.
Yes, Mollies prefer hard, alkaline water, salt is optional. Many plants do fine in hard water tanks, too.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

I did an experiment in my 20L.

Black Mollies
Endlers
Glowlight Rasboras (werent in long enough to truly be a subject)
Ramshorns
Pond snails
Green Swordtails

Out of all of them, the Endlers did the most algae eating but were the least effective due to size.

The green swordtails were the absolute best.

The Black Mollies would occasionally nip at the the algae but overall ignored it.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Florida flagfish are excellent algae eaters, and will eat many species of hair algae.


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## jilly (Feb 16, 2008)

just a funny thought - I had a $3 plant with black hair algae on it that I wanted the algae gone from, I ended up spending about $20 in fish to eat the algae, a bristlenose pleco, siamese algae eaters and black mollies but nobody really ate enough off the plant - so finally I pulled the plant and replaced it. But I was just thinking about the cost balance and time of getting different fish to save the plant - LOL - I guess it was because it was an "I MUST WIN!" battle with the algae


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