Molly in soft water

Question
Hi Chelsey!
Ok, firstly thanks for reading my question.
I have kept fish for some tie, and am actually a fish expert on here myself, but while I answer everyone else's problems, I get stuck on my own ones!
I will tell you all the details of my tank first:
I have a 100 litre community tropical tank with 6 Black Phantom Tetras, 2 Mollies, 4 Panda Corydoras and 2 Blue Rams. It has been running for around 10 months. The nitrite and ammonia are of course at 0.0, and the nitrate is at a safe 7ppm, as I have many plants. It is filtered with a Fluval 3 Plus.
My question is:
I have owned my mollies for around 8 or 9 months, without any major problems. I live in Edinburgh, so my water is very soft in my area, but my other fish shall not appreciate it if I harden it. The pH, however, is fairly high at 8.0. When I bought the Mollies and my other fish, I was not aware of their need for harder water, and I have grown attached to them.
I have been told I am just lucky and I will get a spate of problems and the best thing to do it rehome them.
As I said, I have grown attached to them so I don't want any random buying them from the fish shop if I take them back, and another tank for them isn't an option just now.
Do you have any ideas as to what I can do?
Thanks very much,
Kathryn

Answer
Hey Kathryn!
I know what you mean, I get stuck sometimes, too!

Mollies are actually very adaptive, they can live in either salt, brakish, or fresh water. The do prefer hard water, but can do fine in soft water as well.

As for having a bunch of problems with them living in the soft water, I really doubt. If they have been living in you tank for that long without problems, then they probably won't develop problems, at least not from the softness. I personally don't have to worry about hardness because I live about 45 minutes away from Philadelphia, Pa and we have very hard water.
Mollies are very hearty fish, I honestly don't think you will have any problems in the future by keeping them. If they haven't been stressed out in your tank for the past 8-9 months, they should be okay.

As for finding a good home for them, I'm really not sure. I have come across the problem where you can't keep a fish, and there really aren't any places you can take them. I understand what you mean about pet stores, if they survive barely getting fed at the pet store then you still need to worry about them getting an owner who doesn't care about them. Maybe you could ask friends if they have fishtanks that would be suitable for them.
I wouldn't worry about giving them away unless they appear stressed out though, they really are tough fish.

good luck! It was nice meeting you, I'll keep you in mind for next time I have a question. Maybe we can try chatting some time on the little chat room things this website has, I never used it before though so I don't know how to. LOL.
Best wishes, Chelsey