(Poecilia sphenops)
Origin
This species is generally recognized as molly and was discovered by Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes in 1846.
Molly belongs to the ordinal Cyprinodontiformes, suborder Cyprinodontoid, family Poeciliidae, subfamily Poeciliinae, genus Poecilia and finally the species Poecilia sphenops, being found on the watercourses of rivers from the coasts of Mexico to Colombia, having a life rate of 3-4 years.
Can live in fresh, brackish or even salty waters, but prefer the brackish and salty, having a higher predisposition in fresh waters to several diseases, therefore in freshwater aquarium is recommended to add salt noniodate about one tablespoon per 10L of water reaching even a concentration of one tablespoon of salt noniodate to 4 l of fresh water.
Molly Food
He loves vegetable food, although he is omnivorous and eats with pleasure and animal food.
Keep in mind that the aquarium has many live plants and offer vegetable fish in the daily menu.
Do not overfeed fish. It is preferable to feed them less and let them look for food in the aquarium than to feed them in the axces.
Appearance Molly
In any aquarium they bring an extra charm by their black, dark, soft appearance with the appearance of velvet. They are suitable for children because they can play by watching the finger drawn on the wall of the aquarium.
Often a whole group can thus follow the owner's finger, giving him fun. The male has a leaner and elongated body, the female has a rounder body. The male has an anal fin transformed into a gonopodium.
Besides the Black Molly fish there are also the silver Molly, the balloon Molly and the dalmatian Molly. It reaches a maximum size between 8-12 cm in captivity.
Features Molly
Aquarium water should never fall below 24 degrees C. The temperature of 25-26 degrees is ideal for Molly fish. At lower temperatures Molly will get sick.
To prevent infection of the skin of fish it is good that the water in the aquarium is harder than softer. If you do not have plants in the aquarium, the aquarium bedding is good to be made of crushed coral.
Take care that the aquarium is clean, either because you do cleaning often or because you use sanitary fish, otherwise the water in the aquarium will become acidic due to rotting dirt on the bottom.
Species/types of molly
white Potbelly molly hybrid
black mottled hi-fin lyretail mollie
black molly
green lyretail molly
golden lyretail molly
gold latipinna molly
green Sailfin molly
dalmation molly
golden lyretail molly
White sailfin molly
black balloon molly
red mottled molly
yellow sailfin molly
silver sailfin molly
Breeding Molly
Reproduction is easy and that is why it is one of the fish recommended for beginners in aquaristics, this of course if you have at least one fertile pair, and the ideal ratio between males and females is: some say 1m/3f ,others 1m/2f, due to the stress that causes the male (female) who is always eager to mate initializing the sex act and chasing the female through the entire aquarium.
A characteristic also found in the female platy is the ability of the female to store sperm in a deep crease of the fallopian tubes thus succeeding from a single fertilization to be able to give birth 4-7 times. The gestation period is 4-6 weeks, and in the case of stressed females the pregnancy can absorb or give birth to dead Cubs.
The brood at birth is fully developed, able to swim, fend off predators and feed from the first seconds of life.
