Fresh water mollies in fuge to clean up pest algae?

[JoeMomma]

As the title says, has anyone tried putting fresh water mollies in their fuge to clean up pest algae? I have tons of it growing all over, the hairy variety. My concern is that the mollies will go after my cheato ball instead though...

Any ideas?

[Pulp Fishin]

Not sure if they will go after your cheato but I hear they will not live very long in a marine tank. My friend bought 5 for his tank and they all died in under 5 weeks. Just my two cents!

[returnofsid]

Mollies actually aren't "freshwater" fish. Nor are they strictly "saltwater" fish. They actually SHOULD be Brackish, however, they can be acclimated to fresh or saltwater. I know people who have slowly acclimated them to saltwater and kept them for a very long time, even having them give birth.

Keep in mind that the more "pest" algae you have in your fuge, the less you'll have in your display.

[qfrisco]

My recommendation would be to just leave things as is for a few weeks. If you've got nutrients feeding your algae (phosphates, nitrates) then your chaeto should be very happy and start growing like crazy. Assuming your fuge is large enough, your chaeto should eventually win the battle over your nutrients which will also take care of your algae.

How long are you keeping your fuge lit?

[JoeMomma]

My fuge is a 4'x2' pond. Its being lit for about 12 hours a day in reverse cycle to my display. The cheato ball is about 1.5'x1'x1' now.

There is hair algae all over the walls of the fuge where its exposed to light.