The Molly fish basics – Important things you need to know

When talking about livebearers, Molly fish is talking an important place in the livebearer family. They are looks really colorful and with the various patterns of colors.

If you are an aquarium lover I am so sure that you have an experience of this fish since the mollies are really famous among aquarium keepers.

As an aquarium lover, I thought it’s nice to write an article about the molly fish. In this article, basically I am trying to cover the basics things that every Molly lover needs to know.

This article would not be a long one, yet I will write out almost every important point that you nice to know.

So it will be sharp and short and direct to points. Let’s begin.

What is the speciality of Molly Fish?

This fish is one of the coolest smaller fish in freshwater aquariums. Before going to talk about the basics of Mollies, let’s see why people like them. What would make them famous and special in the freshwater aquarium world?

Well, there are several reasons that make people love Mollies. Also, these reasons will make them popular among aquarium lovers.

I will point out below some common reasons which explain why Mollies are nice to have as one of your aquarium fish or as your first aquarium fish as well as how they got special attention from aquarium lovers.

• They are easy to care for.
• Less cost when compared with most other fish types.
• Very common in every country.
• It comes with many different varieties.
• Colorful and attractive.
• Easy to breed them.
• No need big tank space.
• Not aggressive or harmful.
• A good algae eater.
• Growing up quickly.
• Easy to breed hybrid species.
• Can add in ponds also.
• It doesn’t need any real specific water conditions or heat conditions.
• Best for planted tanks as well as normal tanks.
• Good for beginners

If you read these points with full attention you will also feel that it will be a nice experience to have them in your tanks.

The above list of points clearly explains why this small livebearer gains the attention and love from all most all freshwater fish lovers. I will explain each of these points under the next heading which is about the basics and care tips for Molly fish.

Basics and caring tips for Molly fish

Molly fish is a livebearer fish (same as Guppy and Platy fish types). And this fish is a very common fish for most fish keepers.

This fish is a good fish for beginners also. The main reason for that is, Mollies are easy to care for. So if you are a beginner for this hobby, I would suggest to keep reading this and improve your knowledge.

Basic Details of Mollies

When talking about the behaviour of the Molly fish, they are peaceful. Normally this fish doesn’t show aggressive behaviours with other fish types. This behaviour can be changed with some situations like crowded environment.

The size of an adult Molly will be about closer to 4.5 inches. But the size of this fish may be different from the food they get also with the environment they live

This fish can live up to 5 years with a good environment and food.  Also, add them with the fish which not harm them. Other livebearers are good fish types to add with the Mollies. Just avoid adding with bigger fish types like Carps or Catfish types.

Care tips for Mollies

As the most famous tank mates for Molly fish, I can write out Cherry bars, Platy fish, Guppy variations, Corydoras types, Barb types, Tetra types, and Loaches. These fish types are good choices too add with Mollies. Just avoid adding aggressive fish types with them.

Molly fish are like to live in planted based tanks. So if you have a planted tank or if you are planted based tanks, Molly will be a good fish to add in your tank.

As the minimum tank size, Mollies need to have at least a 10-gallon tank to have a better life in your aquarium. So take care of the tank size if you are going to have them. This fish also a good choice to add in your ponds.

But with larger Molly types like sailfin types need to have at least 25 – 30-gallon tank to have a better life in an aquarium.

When it comes to the diets for Molly, the omnivores diets are the perfect diets for this coolest little fish. Mainly in natural life, they eat mostly plant-based foods and algae.

Algae are one of a big part of their diet, so basically, a Molly fish is a good algae eater too. You can also buy artificial food flakes from

As the diet plan, feed them with natural or aquarium based foods twice a day. Giving more food or less food is neither a good practice for any kind of fish.

When talking about the tank setup, All the Molly types can live in similar tank setups. Sand bottom tanks with real plants are will be a good tank setup for Molly fish.

The water temperature of the tank should be between 72-78°F and the pH count is should be between 6.7 to 8.5 pH.

Different types of Molly Fish

Same as other livebearers, Molly fish also come in various types (varieties). Each type has its own beautiful look and mostly they will change by colors, color patterns, and tail patterns.

We can see those variations easily in the freshwater world. They are not rare and not hard to find. Black Molly, Dalmatian Molly, Gold Dust Molly, Sailfin Molly, and Balloon Molly are the most famous Molly types in freshwater aquariums.

I will link one of a YouTube video that I created and shared through my channel (Tech Nova) to give a better idea of how each type looks like.

 

Breeding Molly fish

Breeding Mollies is not a hard job. You should prepare the environment for the breeding tank (planted based environment is a good option).

The important fact is you should separate the female fish from the tank in breeding period and once she gives birth to baby Mollies, You should take care to remove the mother fish from that tank and add back to the tank she lives.

The reason for this is the same as some other livebearers types, this fish is also can harm baby fish after birth. I have some bad experiences like that. So I would suggest separating them and let babies grow up with the planted environments.

Conclusion

In this article, I tried to cover up some basics about the molly fish and why they are popular between aquarium lovers.

I only gave short and simple descriptions but, I think you can get a nice basic idea about the very basics you need to know about this fish. Once again this is nice fish to have. So if you are a beginner, I would suggest you have them get experience.

If you are taking care of them nicely according to the care tips that I have mentioned above. You can have a nice Molly tank which is very attractive.

You might be a pro on this hobby. So if you feel to share your knowledge with people, please add a comment below or contact me through the contact page of the website and give me suggestions or corrections about the articles. I am happy to update this article anytime with the knowledge from my readers.

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