Aquarium fish mollies: varieties, selection, care, reproduction

For an experienced aquarist, the maintenance of even whimsical underwater inhabitants no longer seems difficult, since all the necessary procedures are brought to automatism. But beginners should choose the least demanding living creatures, which include mollies. However, even this modest creature needs certain conditions, so let's try to figure out how to keep such a pet.

Molliesia aquarium fish belongs to the genus Peciliaceae, to which other species popular among beginners belong, like the same swordtails or guppies. If suddenly you are aware of what the petsilia look like as a whole, then it is possible that you will accidentally consider mollies a petsilia.

As is the case with most of the inhabitants of domestic reservoirs, those individuals that live in the aquarium are the fruit of selection work and look much more interesting than their wild companions. So, in the natural environment, mollies are a simple silvery fish, which sometimes has a yellowish tint, but at home you can see very spectacular black mollies, as well as slightly rarer yellow and speckled individuals... The differences do not end there: the varieties of mollies can have different sizes, not to mention the variations in the shape of the fins.

In its natural environment, mollies live off the coast of North and Central America.At the same time, there are officially recognized species (namely species, not breeds) that do not occur in nature and are purely aquarium heritage. Most types of mollies are freshwater, but there are exceptions to this rule.

The significant species diversity affects not only the region of habitat and the appearance of the fish, but also how long it can live. The range of life expectancy of mollies is on average 4-8 years, while some species from among those that are not found in the wild, in principle, do not reach such indicators and live modest 2-3 years. Moreover, the life expectancy of an average female is always slightly higher than that of her friend.

We have already said above that mollies is a diverse fish and should not be taken as one species. In fact, there are about three dozen species of such fish in nature. These include both those that appeared naturally, and those specially bred by humans. At home, they often contain exactly those that were born thanks to breeders. Such varieties have a more attractive appearance, and are often deprived of the ability to survive in natural conditions.

To understand what kind of fish you should get for your color preferences, let's take a look at the names of the most popular species and breeds.

• Peten - This is a relatively small creature, which is often confused with swordtails, since this species also has a characteristic process on its tail, although not so large. Petain is characterized by monochromatic mother-of-pearl scales, but on the fins there is a clearly visible identification mark in the form of a red line.

• Free mollynesia may have different "color schemes", but almost always her color consists of two colors: the main color is inherent in the body, while the fins are distinguished by increased variegation and beauty. Quite often, this fish is found in the following "design": with a black matte body, its pelvic fin has a very bright silver tone.

• Sailing mollies got its name for the oversized fins, which, for greater expressiveness, are also emphasized by a border of a characteristic red color. At the same time, the fish itself cannot be called very bright. Her body colors can be called typically fishy: gray, silver, bluish and greenish. Nevertheless, this breed is also distinguished by its impressive size - unlike most brethren, it can grow up to 12-16 cm in length.

• Sphenops - one of the most popular species, which is not surprising, because such a beauty is simply unable to get lost in any aquarium. This mollies has an oblong, tightly knit body with small fins. Aquarists are captivated by the deep black color of her body, however, she can have inclusions of other tones, among which are mainly yellow and silver.

• Snowflake - an artificially bred breed, whose appearance fully corresponds to the name, since it is a white fish with a turquoise sheen. Color deviation is allowed on the fins, which can be yellow, but purely white individuals also come across.

• Mollysia balloon - Another artificially bred variety, which got its name for the specific shape of the body. It can be identified by its bulging belly - absolutely all individuals of this subspecies seem to be pregnant, even if in fact they are not.

• Dalmatian - another breeding breed, whose name does not allow it to be confused with any other fish. This creature has white scales, but a bizarre pattern of black blots is scattered all over its surface, which makes the resemblance to the famous breed of dogs obvious.It is curious that the representatives of this species do not have a specific size: an adult can grow up to 12-13 cm, but 5-6 cm in length are not considered a pathology.

At first glance, the very fact that mollies are rightly considered one of the least whimsical fish allows you to choose any of the many varieties, focusing purely on the external data of each individual. Such an approach, of course, is incorrect, because it is necessary to take into account how the breeding work takes place.

Breeders involved in the creation of new breeds of fish are always guided by an attractive appearance, and any adaptive abilities are taken out of the brackets. A striking example of how this affects hybrids is the molliesia balloon - a beautiful individual whose lifespan is 2-3 times less than that of its completely wild counterparts.

In addition, it is advisable to purchase fish only in pet stores that inspire confidence - so you can be sure that the individual you have chosen is completely healthy and will not bring any infection to your favorite aquarium. However, even with a well-groomed pet, everything is not always good, so when you come to the store to choose a new friend for yourself, pay attention to the behavior of mollies - she should be quite active, as this is a clear sign of health.

Distinguishing a male mollies from his girlfriend is easy and difficult at the same time. A key definition criterion, well suited to beginners, is that the female is much larger than her friend and this is clearly visible even to the naked eye. At the same time, significant confusion can be caused by the difference in age, which inevitably affects the size of the body of the fish, as well as species diversity - some mollies are smaller than others, therefore there is not even a certain general standard of size.

Besides, you can determine the sex by size only when in front of you is a whole flock of one species. Otherwise, you must first accurately determine the species, otherwise the result may be inaccurate.

The common statement that mollies are among the least whimsical aquarium fish is generally true, but this does not mean that they do not need any care at all. Usually, all the needs of this living creature are a minimum set of actions for caring for an aquarium with any other unpretentious fish.

A notable exception to the general rule is the already mentioned balloon mollynesia, whose unusual body shape is a direct consequence of congenital scoliosis. With all your efforts, you will not be able to achieve a life expectancy for this species of more than 2-3 years, and in general you need to take care of such a pet carefully, so such animals are not a toy for beginners.

If you are really a debutant in the aquarium hobby and have soberly judged that it is still worth starting with something simpler, choose those types of mollies that are closer to their wild ancestors. Setting up an aquarium for them is not difficult, but you need to know the basic principles that will make your fauna feel like fishy happy.

• The capacity of the dish. Mollies are usually quite large and need a significant amount of water, since they need free space for active movement.Even for two fish you need a decent size aquarium - within 35-50 liters.

• Water properties. Adepts of faith in the complete unpretentiousness of mollies should know that these creatures are very susceptible to changes in water temperature: it should be in the range of 24-28 degrees, any going beyond these limits is undesirable, and if it happens, it should be very gradual, therefore, with a substitution you should be careful. In terms of rigidity, mollies are also not so "omnivorous", they need an indicator of about 22-28 dGH.

The advantage for the owner is that it is hard water, which is usually easier to obtain than soft water. The pH range is also not too large - you need to adhere to the values ​​of 7.1-7.9 pH. Hard and slightly brackish water is exactly what these pets need.

• Priming. This is where mollies are really unpretentious, it is in the choice of soil for them. Representatives of all aquarium species of mollies live in the middle and upper layers of their impromptu reservoir, they do not squeeze to the bottom, and therefore you can freely use sand or pebbles, if desired, decorating them with any art of industrial origin.

• Vegetation. Breeding mollies literally requires abundant living flora in your artificial pond. Small-leaved algae and plants floating on the surface of the water are of interest to these fish as one of the food sources and it is definitely not worth replacing it completely with store food. You can also experiment with the rest of the greens, but carefully and subject to the presence of what was named above.

• Scenery. Another reason why vegetation should be present in a mollies aquarium is the tendency of colorful pets to seek shelter. Natural greens are the simplest and most versatile option, and for many more experienced aquarists, the container is a real canvas for a masterpiece. If you also consider yourself a creative person, experiment with the installation of artificial plants, find interesting combinations of driftwood, slides and stone grottoes that will make the underwater world believable.

• Lighting. If you remember, in the wild, mollies live in coastal, shallow waters, and the climate in the vicinity of the Caribbean Sea certainly does not suffer from a lack of bright sunlight. Similar conditions will have to be created for the one who decided to start such a living creature. Lighting devices should work on average 11-13 hours a day. It is not worth saving - for each liter you should have at least 0.5 W of power, if you recalculate for incandescent lamps.

• Aeration. Mandatory because mollies need a lot of air. Water poor in oxygen is destructive for these fish - it is naive to expect that they will hold out there long enough.

• Filtration. Another very important point in the maintenance of this species is the careful observance of the purity of the water, since mollies cannot adapt to polluted waters. A weekly change of a quarter of the total volume of fluid is a must and cannot be neglected.

As you can see, in terms of conditions, mollies is still not completely unpretentious: a beginner is able to maintain it, but it can hardly be called the easiest to care for. In many ways, they are ranked among the host of unpretentious ones because they are really undemanding to food, but even this indicator is often achieved due to the eternal desire of an underwater beauty to get food for themselves by plucking algae or scraping them off stones.

One of the advantages of breeding mollies at home is that they are viviparous creatures, which means that caring for offspring for a person turns out to be much easier. Here, however, you should also pay attention to certain nuances.

The female becomes sexually mature before the male. - depending on the species, at 5-7 months of age, she is already able to become pregnant. If you bought the entire population of about the same age, then the offspring will have to wait longer, since the male is far from so early maturing - it will take him from 9 months to a year to achieve the necessary conditions.

Even if there is a couple in your aquarium that clearly should like each other, a miracle will not happen if the water does not meet certain conditions.

• The water should be warm - by allowing its temperature to drop by an extra degree, you unwittingly control the population towards a decrease in its number.
• The chemistry of fish relationships is that mollies only reproduce in salted water. You can prepare it yourself - for this, both sea and ordinary table salt are suitable, which will need a spoon for every twenty liters of water
• Experts usually create almost the same conditions for fish that in such a situation they are trying to create for people.: expectant parents are heavily fed, with an emphasis on vitamins and minerals.

Signs that one of the females in your tank becomes pregnant are common to most simple aquarium fish... First of all, the female begins to predictably gain weight due to the rapidly growing abdomen, in addition, a characteristic black speck can be seen in the lower abdomen - the skin of the fish is thin enough to see ripening fry through it.

The duration of pregnancy in mollies is 33 to 45 days. It is desirable that the owner knows approximately when fertilization took place. Then, having calculated the approximate timing of the birth of babies, he will have time to plant the pregnant female in a separate spawning ground in advance, where her babies will not be threatened by overly hungry adults.

By the way, immediately after giving birth, the mother herself should be returned to the common aquarium, because in her habits she is no better than other people's fish, and she has nothing like the maternal instinct. Further the ex-woman in childbirth should continue to be monitored, since mollies, like many other peciliaceae, have an interesting feature: they are able to store male milk in their body and independently fertilize themselves with them several times in a row. This means that a fish that has given birth can become pregnant again even without new contact with the male.

The number of one litter usually ranges from 45 to 55 fry, and at first they turn out to be very small and weak. Nevertheless, they do not need the help of the mother - on the contrary, she poses a threat to them, therefore, it settles as soon as all the fry come out. A person should take care of the younger generation. His main responsibilities are: to provide a spacious reservoir and change the water very often, since young people find it hard to endure being in dirty liquid. In order for young fish to have better health and strong immunity, the same table salt should be added to the water.

Naturally, children will never grow up if they are not fed, so this should be done quite often and practically from birth. There can be quite a lot of options for the diet: from feeds designed specifically for young pecilia, to simple dry feed, worn out to a state of dust. Other popular "dishes" such as cyclops or brine shrimp nauplii are also suitable.

The fry can be transplanted into a common aquarium only after they have grown enough so that their relatives do not see an easy meal in them. It is not a fact that the growth of representatives of one brood will be uniform - the stronger one consumes more food and grows faster. To prevent such a bias from aggravating even more, plant the younger generation in a common aquarium in batches, as they grow.

Mollies, like any pecilia, have a good-natured disposition and get along well in the same aquarium with most other aquarium fish. This living creature goes well with any of its relatives, including guppies and swordtails, and also does not conflict with most types of neons, gourami and barbs. At the same time, in a small population, one male often chases another, and the lush fins of a goldfish and other similar living creatures sometimes mislead pets, and they begin to bite, mistaking someone else's body for climbing plants.

Of course, peacefulness does not always save mollies from conflicts. - in order to avoid a quarrel, it is important that the other side is completely for the world. Predatory fish, especially if in size they are theoretically capable of eating a rival, do not differ in kindness, therefore this underwater beauty will definitely not get along with the same cichlids. Dangerous are tetradon, apistogram and all other cichlids, Sumatran and tiger barbs, as well as predatory catfish species.

The following video will tell you about the maintenance, reproduction and care of mollies.