Sailfin Molly (Poecilia Latipinna)

The Sailfin Molly belongs to Genus Poecilia Latipinna and is usually found in Mexico, Texas and Florida, California and Virginia areas. The male usually measures up to 4 inches or 10 cm and females up to 4.7 inches or 12 cm in length, so the minimum tank length should be up to 24 inches or 60 cm.

Sailfin Mollies prefer a water temperature from 68 F to 75 F or 20 C to 24 C. Its diet includes crustaceans, plant matter, dried food and worms. The fish prefer medium, hard and slightly alkaline water. Sailfin’s are livebearers so give birth to young ones.

A Sailfin molly is elongated in shape, laterally compressed and has a very large dorsal fin. The fish is usually olive green in color sometimes tinged in yellow giving it a slightly dark appearance on back and little paler on the underparts. The fish has pearly scales that appear iridescent with dark spots.

The marks unite to appear as longitudinal stripes. The Sailfin Molly also has six to seven dark transverse bars at the rear back of the body. The male of the breed is easily distinguished from the female as the male Sailfin is usually smaller in size and much slimmer than the female, and has a gonopodium. The male also has a sail dorsal fin which is absent in female Sailfin Mollies. The dorsal fins in males usually develop after two years of age.

The Sailfin Molly requires a spacious aquarium to swim in with very little vegetation. It is usually advisable to keep one pair in each tank as males are more aggressive towards each other. The female generally gives birth to 20 to 80 young ones after a gestation period of 8 to 10 weeks. At the time of birth female Sailfin Mollies usually prefer to stay isolated. She should be shifted to new tank as she may also eat her young ones. The baby mollies swim freely after birth and grow relatively quicker. They do need a lot of attention as they are easily prone to diseases.

Thinking about breeding Tropical Fish?

You have set up your tropical aquarium and have become efficient in maintaining your fish. Now you are looking to take things to the next level and get started with breeding. Fantastic, but first you need to decide on which kind of fish you will focus on breeding; live bearers or egg bearers.

Live bearers carry the babies to full term and give birth to live young, much like human mothers. But egg bearers will lay their eggs in the aquarium and the eggs will hatch when the minnow reach maturity. That is if they are not eaten first!

Most tropical fish experts would recommend that you start with breeding live bearers, especially for beginners with little knowledge or experience in breading tropical fish. New breeders can develop their skills with three easy to breed species; mollies, guppies or platys.

It is very important to organise a way to keep the baby fish safe from the adult fish. They will become dinner if left in the community aquarium after they are born. Baby fish have been known to be eaten by their own parents while they are being born.

It can be very disheartening and upsetting if your baby fry become fish food. If you have a good supply of thick foliage and plants in the tank it is possible that some fry will make it to maturity. But it won’t be very many. It is a much safer option to put the pregnant mother in a nursing tank when you think she is ready to give birth.

It can be tricky to start with to tell when the mother fish is ready to give birth. You will learn the signs in time. The main things to look out for is a very black and swollen abdomen. If you are unsure, it is better to move the mother earlier. After the babies emerge, transfer the mother back to the community tank, but leave the fry to mature in safety.

Live bearing fish are normally very easy to breed, they do not require too much attention and do most of the work themselves. Interestingly guppies will be pregnant several times from each insemination.

Breeding tropical fish is a very complex subject and this article only introduces you to the subject. If you serious about successfully breeding tropical fish it is advisable to do further research and even consult a specialist in the field.

Black Molly (Poecilia Hybrid)

In countries like Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia, there is one fish that is very popular among enthusiasts. It is called as the Poecilia Hybrid, also known as the Black Molly. The Black Molly can grow as big as 10 centimeters only. In order to live, the Black Molly requires water that has a small amount of alkaline. Moreover, Black Molly can also live in water that has a temperature of 25 up to 28 degree Celsius only.

You can easily maintain a Black Molly since feeding this fish is not actually hard. Aside from feeding it with the usually fish feeds, you can also give your Black Molly a doze of dried foods, insects, worms, plants, as well as crustaceans. This type of fish does no lay eggs. Instead, it is a livebearer rather than an egg layer.

Black Molly is also commonly seen in home aquariums as well. And it does not need a fish expert so you can breed it easily. This type of fish can simply breed while it is in your aquarium. One of the main features of a male Black Molly is its big dorsal fin. It can grow as big as 2 centimeters with a slightly curved shape. The black color of the male Black Molly is more intense compared to the color of the female Black Molly. The female can actually have a varied color than the male.

Unlike most of the fishes that you know, this breed is a livebearer. Usually, it takes only 40 up to 70 days before the gestation period ends. There will be at least 20 live young Black Mollies in a female specie but sometimes she can have as much as 60 live young Black Mollies inside. In order for the little Black Mollies to survive, your aquarium must have enough plants where they can hide. They would eventually leave the plants if they are already big enough to swim and not to be eaten by other fishes.

For those who would like to breed this kind of fish, it is best that you have more than two female Black Mollies for every one male Black Molly. This allows the female specie to have a respite since the male Black Mollies are three times aggressive than its female counterpart.