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| FAQs on the Molly
Selection Related Articles:
Mollies, & Poeciliids:
Guppies, Platies, Swordtails, Mollies
by Neale Monks, Livebearing Fishes
by Bob Fenner,
Related FAQs: Mollies 1,
Mollies 2,
Molly Identification FAQs,
Molly Behavior FAQs,
Molly Compatibility FAQs,
Molly System FAQs,
Molly Feeding FAQs,
Molly Disease FAQs,
Molly Reproduction FAQs,
Livebearers,
Guppies,
Platies, Swordtails,
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_fishNew to mollies, new fry and questions 2/20/09
Hello! Very informative site. Glad to find knowledgeable and enthusiastic folks
willing to share time and info about our fishie friends.
My question(s):
Have two female mollies (one about 3 yrs old, the other adopted over Christmas)
and this weekend introduced a male. Just THREE days later, one of the females
gave birth to only three fry, though she still seems VERY pregnant. I separated
the male (as he is rather relentless in his pursuit of the pregnant molly) into
a floating plastic breeder type enclosure (only thing i had on hand) and also
cordoned the fry in a breeding net. All fish are still in same tank, within
their respective enclosures. My first question is whether it is possible that my
pregnant molly got stressed by a recent move (hours before the birth. I moved
the entire tank to another side of my room, CAREFULLY), or is it possible that
the aggressive male caused her to birth the fry? Next, I just read something
about fry needing a different nitrate level than adults, and I am worried that
maybe I should not keep the fry in the community tank--though they seem to be
doing great (save for one who got stuck between the net and the plastic frame of
the breeding net and died ; ( )? I also get algae in my tank; i have one algae
eater and I do scrub the sides often enough to maintain crystal clear water (i
do leave a little bit for my algae eater though), and I read that too much algae
is also not good for fry.
Finally, my male is NOT happy being so
constricted, but every time I let him out he pesters the pregnant molly
incessantly! (I mean INCESSANTLY!)
The older molly also picks on her a bit
too. : (
I was considering getting another female or two...what do you think
about that. Aside from the three mollies and one algae eater, I have 5 neon
tetras (who stay together and never bother anyone), so I am pretty positive I
have ample room for additional fish.
I have a bio-wheel filter (with two
wheels and two filters), an aquarium heater (which I keep around 78-79 since the
fry were born), and I also have two aeration hoses, one on either side of the
tank.
I only have two very small live plants, and after reading a lot of
molly info, it seems that I may need to add more.
This is a long email, but
yours is the best Q & A site I have found, so I really appreciate your taking
the time to read through this and look forward to your advice/answers!
Peace,
Jenn
<Hello Jenn. Yes, female Mollies (and livebearers generally)
are stressed when moved. At the most extreme, they can miscarry. Mollies are far
too large for breeding traps and should never, ever be put in one. Frankly, only
Guppies are small enough for them, and I wish they were sold with a warning
label on the box! Secondly, aggression from males can, will stress the females.
As I've written repeatedly, males should be outnumbered by at least twice as
many females. Keeping equal numbers of males and females is cruel, precisely
because the males don't treat the females well, and will essentially forcibly
mate with them again and again, even if the female is already pregnant. In the
wild this instinct is understandable, the males being smaller and much more
likely to be eaten to predators. Males also hold territories containing schools
of females, and spend much of the time driving off other males. So the actual
opportunities to mate are few, and need to be seized. But in the aquarium the
females can't hide, the males don't have any challenges, and the result can be
the female fish equivalent of Hell. Personally, unless the tank is above 180
litres/47 US gallons in size, your tank should have just a single male from a
large Molly species (e.g., a Sailfin Molly) or up to three specimens of a small
Molly species (e.g., a Black Molly). All the other Mollies should be females.
Your tank should also have lots of floating plants. These are crucial for two
things.
Firstly, they provide hiding places for the fry, making traps and
breeding nets irrelevant. Secondly, they provide cover for the females, so they
can rest hidden away from the males. All Molly species need minimal nitrate
levels when maintain in freshwater aquaria. As you have hopefully read before,
Mollies do not always do well in freshwater tanks, and sodium chloride helps to
reduce the toxicity of nitrate, helping the Mollies do better. Mollies do even
better in brackish water tanks where marine salt mix is used, because this
raises the carbonate hardness and pH, further
improving their health.
Obviously, Neons can't be kept in tanks with salt or marine salt mix added,
which is why Mollies and Neons are NOT COMPATIBLE fish. Algae is the perfect
food for adult and baby Mollies alike. Much of this written elsewhere on this
site; start at the link below, and follow the links:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Wild mollies, ID, sel. 9/27/08
hi
i live in the united kingdom and have kept a few Sailfin mollies. i
would like to have a fool grown molly of about 6" and i feel the best
way for me would be to raise wild mollies as i feel tank bred mollies
may have stunted growth due to cross breeding and interbreeding.
<Your analysis is correct. The Sailfin Mollies sold in shops are
primarily Poecilia latipinna, but likely hybridised with other species
or else strains developed for colour rather than size. While these
Sailfin Mollies can get to about 10 cm or so, they don't ever seem to
reach the full 15+ cm lengths possible in the wild for either this
species or the related Giant Sailfin Molly (Poecilia velifera). However,
genetics is not the only factor. Mollies have been studied by scientists
because their size is dependent not just on genes but also the social
structure of a population and environmental factors (i.e., diet and
water quality/chemistry). In other words, it's complicated. Male body
size is smallest in dense populations, in the wild at least, so keeping
a single male alongside a group of females might work best. Mollies,
like all other fish, grow fastest when young, and while growth slows
down as they mature, it doesn't stop. Among breeders, it is said that
male Mollies stunt very easily if overcrowded when young, so one
approach to take might be to rear a new generation of Mollies at home,
and remove some of the males to a very clean, spacious tank so that
stunting couldn't occur. This is likely related to the observation
mentioned above, that in the wild males are smaller in denser
populations.>
can you help me in finding either young wild Sailfin or about 2 pairs of
adult wild Sailfin mollies.
<In the UK, wild-type Poecilia velifera or Poecilia latipinna simply
aren't traded. If you want them, you have two options. The first is to
place a special order with a retailer you can trust. Several stores
handle top quality wild-caught fish, for example Wildwoods in London
(who do mail order as well as being retailers). What you don't want is a
retailer passing on plain Green Sailfin Mollies as wild-caught fish of
either species: Green Sailfin Mollies may look the same, but they're
captive bred and likely won't get so large. Your alternative is to
contact a livebearer special interest group, such as the British
Livebearer Association. This group has auctions at which you can buy
fish carefully bred to ensure they're not hybrids. These will be cheaper
than wild-caught fish, but just as good.>
thank you
<Cheers, Neale.>
Compatibility with Platies
and Loaches... Mollies et al. sel., no reading 2/25/08
Hello!??
I have? a relatively new 20 gallon tank setup.? I have 3 Yoyo Loaches and
3?Mickey Mouse Platies.? They seem to? be getting along? well. The platies keep
to themselves? and the loaches are a little? more aggressive, but tend to play
with and chase their own species only.? I was wondering what other fish I can
get??? I am going to wait a few weeks, but would Mollies be an option?? I have
read that they like some salt in the water, do they require that? I am looking
to add more color (i.e. yellow, reds, blues)
?
Thanks,
<? Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
and learn to/use the search tool, indices... Bob Fenner>
Black Mollies for a 6 year old 10/23/06
Hi Crew,
<<Good morning, Angel. Tom>>
After visiting my house, my niece became inspired to have an aquarium of her
own! So my sister got a small 5 gallon kit for her daughter, Caitlin.
<<Love to hear about children becoming interested in the hobby!>>
Never having had such a small sized tank myself, when my sister asked for
stocking suggestions, I explained the cycling process and got her started
growing some Aponogeton bulbs. I figured this would help cycle the tank and
give me some time to research small and hardy fish that would be OK for this
tank, while still giving them something to look at and watch grow.
<<A breath of fresh air here, Angel! You can’t imagine how many e-mails we
receive that start similarly only to dismally sink into a tale of how many
fish had expired BEFORE the hobbyist learned about cycling. Well done!>>
This was almost two months ago. The plants did well and had a big growth
spurt after I added some liquid CO2. They got too big so they are out of the
tank now and living in my outdoor pond.
<<Okay.>>
After the plant adventure Caitlin really wanted a couple of black mollies,
so this is what her mom got her. They seem to be doing fine, their little
tank completed cycling with plenty of green algae growth in the sand and on
the tank glass. Water tests showed nitrites 0, nitrates ~10 ppm, PH 7.6. The
mollies are eating well, even eating some of the algae in the tank. Addition
of aquarium salt really perked up the mollies, we added 5 tsp. I know some
of the salt will eventually be removed with water changes...how often should
we add salt again? Also is Epsom salt ok to use? I am thinking it is the
same thing as aquarium salt but not sure.
<<Aquarium salt is pure sodium chloride, Angel. Not the same as Epsom salt.
As for replacing the aquarium salt with water changes, to maintain the same
ratio I would add a “light” teaspoon to every gallon of water added back
into the tank. Note that this won’t be necessary if only “topping off” the
tank due to evaporation since the salt won’t evaporate with the water.>>
My last question is: one molly is very fat and we're certain she's pregnant.
When the babies grow it will be too many fish for that tank. I was wondering
if when the babies are newly born if it would be ok for me to take them to
my house and use them as feeder fish? I know mollies breed so often...
<<I’ve not heard of Mollies being used as “feeders” but you’re quite correct
that the offspring will overload the tank. If the adults don’t get to the
fry first, I’d say to help yourself and see how this works out for you.>>
The tank has crushed coral sand for substrate, two bushy fake plants for
cover and a large piece of slate. Lighting and filtration is built in to the
hood. Anything else we can do to make sure these mollies live happy lives?
Maybe an air pump and a couple of airstones?
<<I like the airstone idea simply because many small aquariums are often
taller than they are long which doesn’t provide a lot of area for oxygen
exchange at the surface. I don’t think this would be a bad idea in the least
and, besides, the bubbles are kind of fun to look at.>>
Thank you for your help! I know you are so busy helping people with many
bigger issues but honestly I have never had such a little tank and it is
challenging thinking of what to do about algae, babies, etc. in such small
volume of water.
<<You’ve done very well in getting your niece started, Angel. Perhaps we
should be thanking you, instead. :) >>
Many thanks, Angel
<<You’re welcome. Tom>>
Molly ratio's in a small community tank - questions
Hello, I've been reading over the site and have found it to be very
interesting and informative, and I have several questions that I was
hoping you could help me out with, so here goes:
I have a 10 gallon tank that has been set up for about a year and a half
now which currently houses a female black molly, a glassfish, and a
longfin danio. I was considering adding a few more fish, and my first
choice would be to add more mollies. I have read that it is best to keep
mollies in 'harem' type setups with several females per male, but I am
also concerned that if I added enough fish to obtain a proper male to
female ratio I may end up overcrowding the tank (I was told up to 8 fish
for a 10 gal., but I don't know how close to the truth that is...). At
what minimum number of females per male can I assume the molly I have now
won't be at risk of being harassed to the point of death or illness by
the male (she has become my favorite, and part of my intention in adding
more mollies would be to make her 'happier', so I'd rather not risk it)?
I have heard 2 females to 1 male as a minimum, but this still sounds
risky to me.
If my tank is too small to safely add both a male and the proper number
of females, what about adding one or two more female mollies? Would they
be aggressive with each other, happier to have a 'friend', or just
indifferent to each others presence?
Speaking of aggressive behavior, my molly had always been very peaceful
and kept to herself in most of the little over a year time that I've had
her, but recently I notice her harassing the other fish now and then.
Would adding more mollies possibly stop the aggressiveness towards the
other fish, or is it likely that the other mollies would also be
aggressive with the other two fish and just make matters worse for them?
Once again speaking out of aggressive behavior, I was wondering if
communities of fish ever designate a 'pecking order', so to speak, as
other animals in group and community settings sometimes do. Although
I've never heard anything to this effect and it seems especially unlikely
in a tank with several different kinds of fish, I've noticed in the past
that when the most aggressive fish in the tank dies, it seems that soon
afterwards one of the formerly peaceful fish soon assumes the role of
the aggressor. Just out of curiosity, does this indeed have something
to do with dominance roles and ranking, or is it just a coincidence?
Also, out of curiosity, what is the likelihood that the mollies would
breed if both genders are present in the tank (the molly I currently have
was the only survivor out of 16 fry and the mother, who gave birth only a
few hours after I had purchased her. Although the babies are quite cute,
I'd feel bad if I ended up with more of them only to have almost all of
them die again!)?
Lastly, if there is no way I can safely add more mollies to the mix, are
there any other fish I could safely add? Maybe more longfin danios or
glassfish, or a different species all together? Or would adding anything
else just be a bad idea no matter what?
Thank you in advance for any answers or advice you can give me!
--Lea
< Your tank is small so making sure that everyone gets along can be somewhat
tricky. If you want more mollies then by all means get more mollies. The
tank holding capacity is determined by a few factors like (How many fish?
How big are the fish? How much water goes through the filter per hour? How
often do you do water changes? How much water do you change? Etc...)First
lets determine how many fish you could keep in you 10 gallon assuming that
everyone gets along just fine. Your filter should turn the tank over at
least 30 to 50 gallons an hour. The ammonia and nitrites should always be
zero and the nitrates should not exceed 25 ppm. If the water gets above 25
ppm before you do your next water change then you have too many fish and the
nitrates will build up so you need to do bigger water changes or change the
water more often. Now for them all getting along. A male molly always want
to breed. So he is always going to be pressuring the female to breed. If you
have more than one female then his attentions will be divided between the
two. Obviously when there are more females his attentions will be divided
between all of them and then none of them will be stressed to any great
degree. You could lower the water temperature down to 77 F . Then there will
not be as much demand for then to breed.-Chuck>
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