Platy in Saltwater?

[Claeth]

I know that many aquarists have proven that Mollies can be acclimated over to use in Saltwater, and even are able to reproduce after the switch. Has anyone ever tried this with Platy?

[carmenh]

I've heard platies don't tolerate high salt levels like mollies do...

[vwtanker]

Platyies are not found in brackish or salt water conditions in the wild. They live in central American river systems with higher ph and salinity but not over 8ppt. If it works pm me I would like to know. I have however seen mollies in brackish and saltwater coastal habitats. I saw green sail fin mollies in a documentary shot of the coast of Florida.

[Claeth]

yes, mollies live in mostly brackish conditions in the wild. A majority of their lives are actually spent in mostly saltwater environments. They do move upstream into freshwater environments to breed like many types of fish such as salmonids, although they can successfully breed in saltwater since they are livebearers, and their young are tiny miniatures of the parents. Platy's however, much less is known about their life cycles. My first experiment with a 24 hour slow drip acclimation to saltwater was unfortunately a failure. The test subject (a red wag platy) showed signs of distress within 12 hours of drip acclimation, and was removed safely from the experiment. Within a few hours of being re-acclimated to freshwater, the subject expelled its egg clutch, which presumably may have been the cause of the distress. It also may have been brought on by the salt. Further tests would be needed to create a hypothesis on this. Test subject #2 is a male, to eliminate pregnancy as a factor in this experiment, and has been slow drip acclimating now for 12 hours, and shows no signs of distress yet. It will be watched closely for any signs of distress, and removed to be slowly re-acclimated to freshwater if any sign of stress is seen. I will update with my further findings on this test.

[Almenmarine]

yes, mollies live in mostly brackish conditions in the wild. A majority of their lives are actually spent in mostly saltwater environments. They do move upstream into freshwater environments to breed like many types of fish such as salmonids, although they can successfully breed in saltwater since they are livebearers, and their young are tiny miniatures of the parents. Platy's however, much less is known about their life cycles. My first experiment with a 24 hour slow drip acclimation to saltwater was unfortunately a failure. The test subject (a red wag platy) showed signs of distress within 12 hours of drip acclimation, and was removed safely from the experiment. Within a few hours of being re-acclimated to freshwater, the subject expelled its egg clutch, which presumably may have been the cause of the distress. It also may have been brought on by the salt. Further tests would be needed to create a hypothesis on this. Test subject #2 is a male, to eliminate pregnancy as a factor in this experiment, and has been slow drip acclimating now for 12 hours, and shows no signs of distress yet. It will be watched closely for any signs of distress, and removed to be slowly re-acclimated to freshwater if any sign of stress is seen. I will update with my further findings on this test.


Cant wait.

[Claeth]

The 24 hour acclimation is complete. The male platy has successfully survived, at least through the acclimation process. I tried moving him over into my saltwater tank, but there is a problem. Platy's are not strong enough swimmers to deal with the amount of water flow currents in the tank, and after fighting against the current, he tires out, and allowed himself to get sucked into the overflow slots. He is strong enough to pull himself away from the overflow slots when I try to net him, but he ends up right back there in only a few minutes. This gives me no choice but to re-acclimate him to the freshwater system that he came from. So, its a successful failure. In conclusion, my findings are that Platy are Not suitable fish for a saltwater fish tank.

[Reefer Steve]

What about in a refugium with lower flow? They are good grazers and shouldnt mess with the critters much.

[Claeth]

I would suppose that would be possible. I didn't have any luck with females though, so I would suggest using Mollies instead.

[Claeth]

Final step of my experiment with platy's . Hypothesis: Red wag platy can peacefully co-exist and maintain a reproducing colony with Jack Dempseys if given thick Live, floating vegetation to hide in. Suprisingly, 24 hours into this experiment, zero casualties out of 12 adult red wags. Possibly a few small .2mm fry, but who knows where they went? The Dempseys started abnormally attacking each other as if they are holding a nest. May be some maternal instinct type situation triggered by the tiny fish. The Jacks have not eaten at all during this period, so further attention will have to be paid to properly assess this outcome. I will leave the red wags in for another 24 hours, under supervision. Best possible outcome of this experiment: I will not have to start up a new red wag tank, with lush vegetation. :P

[Claeth]

48 hours into the experiment, and still no casualties. Jacks are openly displaying breeding behaviors now.