Mollies (Poecilia sphenops): Molly fish - One of the Famous Livebearer Fish for Beginners.

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 Molly fish commonly known as mollies are the best fish for the beginners, because they are easy to maintain. These fishes come in lots of variety and colors.  Color range includes black, white, silver, red and orange. Mollies are peaceful in nature and can keep them in community tanks.

Mollies are from parts of Central America to the southern United states. Mollies can grow up to 4.5 to 5 inches in length and the lifespan of these fishes are about 5 years. Mollies can be found in the wild but they are dull and silver-gray in color.

Mollies

Male and Female

It is easy to differentiate male and female in mollies. We can differentiate by anal fin, males have pointy anal fin whereas females anal fin are broad. Females also have visible "gravid spot " near the anal fin. The spot where they hold babies during pregnancy.

Types of Mollies

Sailfin Molly Fish

In sailfin mollies, the dorsal fin is much larger and stretches up to tailfin. The look of these fins is similar to the sail of the boat, hence sailfin molly fish.

Sailfin Molly Fish
Lyretail Molly Fish

In lyretail mollies, top and bottom of the tail fin have pointy rays to form forked shape.

Lyretail Molly Fish
Balloon Molly Fish

Balloon mollies are named for their round balloon shaped belly. Balloon mollies have short bodies in rounded shape, like inflated balloons.

Balloon Molly Fish 
Dalmatian Molly Fish

Dalmatian mollies are covered with base color of white or silver with black speck and resembles the dalmatian dog. Dalmatian mollies can be balloon, sailfin or lyretail.

Dalmatian Molly Fish
Black Molly Fish

As the name suggests, black mollies are mollies' bodies covered with black color. There may be some yellow or orange splashes on the fins.

Black Molly Fish

Food and Diet

Mollies are omnivores and eat invertebrates, plants and algae. They also eat vegetables like lettuce, spinach and zucchini. You can also provide flakes or pellets readily available in the market.

As for the frozen foods, you can feed them bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp. You need to maintain their diet to keep mollies healthy. Feeding these food in rotation is the best way to give nutrition to the fish. Try to feed in small amounts as they are small fishes.

Breeding

Mollies are easy to breed, because it happens without human intervention. So, for the beginners who try to breed a fish, mollies will be the perfect choice. These fishes breed a lot and can give birth to babies several times in lifespan.

These fishes do not lay eggs, they are live-bearers. Females hold the eggs in their body until babies are ready to hatch. The released fry are full-formed and free swimming in the water.

Thank you for reading this article.













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