Mollinesia are fish from the family of Peciliae. This name is due to the fact that before they were attributed to the genus Mollienesia. Now they belong to the genus Poecilia (Pecilia). Thanks to the efforts of breeders, mollies with different colors can be found: snow-white, black, yellow, etc. Species with a lyre-shaped caudal fin are very popular. Below we’ll talk in more detail about snowflake mollinsia, its content, breeding and care.
General information
Mollinesia is considered a popular and unpretentious fish, the content of which will be mastered even by a novice aquarist. This species is characterized by live births, which indicates fertilization and development of eggs in the female’s womb. The fry are born already fully formed and ready for independent nutrition. It is easy to get offspring from molliesia even in a common aquarium, which adds popularity to this species. The fish are quite large, mobile and peaceful. They will decorate any aquarium with non-aggressive species.
What are
There are four natural species of these fish: sphenops, latipin, freestyle and velifera. Mollies lyre, snowflake, balloon and others appeared after the crossing of four main species and are breeding forms.
What does it look like
The appearance of molliesia has several characteristic features:
- The body is compressed laterally and elongated, the head is not large, the eyes are rather large, the mouth is upper.
- The fins are short.
- The caudal fin has a rounded shape.
- Females are usually larger than males and can grow up to 10 cm
- Males have a special breeding organ - gonopodia.
- The female anal fin is rounded and triangular in shape.
Molliesia silver snowflake - a very spectacular fish. It is characterized by a snow-white color and often has a silver tint. It looks very nice together with pure black species (photos of mollinesia-snowflakes are presented in our review).
Care and maintenance
Molliesia is best kept in small flocks in which there will be from 7 to 10 individuals. The fish should be selected in such a way that 2-3 females per male. This is necessary to reduce intraspecific aggression. Mollinesia needs a classic rectangular aquarium with a minimum of 50 liters, as they like to swim actively. An important condition is the lid, as these fish can jump out of the water.
With the content of snowflake mollies, the length of daylight should be at least twelve hours, since she loves bright lighting. As a soil, pebbles of a dark color of medium fraction are best suited. You can make several shelters from stones or snags. Females ready to spawn will hide there.
Water
Snowflake mollies can adapt to a wide range of water parameters, as they are considered very hardy fish. Nevertheless, neutral or slightly acidic (pH = 7-8) water with a hardness of 10 to 20 ° dGH and a temperature of 23-28 ° C is optimal. Sharp temperature fluctuations are unacceptable, it negatively affects the health of fish.
Plants
Mollinesia feel great in aquariums with living vegetation. Therefore, you should take care of creating thick islands with plants, not forgetting to leave free space for swimming. This species likes to eat up delicate leaves, and fish can also scrape off algae from the surface of the soil and scenery.
Wolifer's molliesinia (snowflake) is an indicator of the state of the aquarium. With a lack of oxygen, the fish go up, and in the event of an excess of metabolic products, they begin to move more slowly or jerkily and fold their fins.
Compatibility
The content of mollinsia in common aquariums, as a rule, does not cause any difficulties, as these are extremely friendly fish. It is better to keep snowflakes in flocks with more females than males. When choosing neighbors, fish of similar size are preferred.
Mollinesia coexists well with other viviparous, parsing, haracin, corridoras, zebrafish, ancistruses. They can also be neighbors with various types of barbs. When kept in a general aquarium, it is important to have a sufficient amount of water and shelters. If you want to maintain a clean breed, you should not contain snowflake mollinsia with other species of this family in order to prevent crossbreeding.
Feeding
Mollinesia is considered an omnivorous fish. Both plant and animal foods should be present in their diet. Snowflakes are not picky about food and gladly eat any food: dry, alive, frozen. Experts do not recommend feeding these fish only with food of animal origin, because a prolonged lack of fiber in the diet leads to disruption of the digestive tract.
Many aquarists put scalded cucumbers, lettuce or zucchini in the aquarium to supplement the deficiency of the plant component. You should be aware that such products spoil the quality of water.
The most optimal type of feeding is considered dry food. Since it is balanced, well absorbed and contains all the necessary vitamins. In addition, dry food is much easier to store and give to fish.
Mollies need to be fed several times a day. The portion should be such that the fish can eat it in a few minutes. A characteristic of mollies is considered a tendency to overeat, so they should be fed little by little.
Breeding
First of all, you need to choose a pair of manufacturers. This is not difficult, because this species has distinct sex differences. Males are smaller and have anal fin (mobile gonopodia).
Females are much larger in size, have a thick abdomen and a triangular anal fin. Sexual maturity in females occurs in 5-6 months, and in males a little later - in 8-12 months. Manufacturers are best to choose the most beautiful and strongest individuals.
Unlike most other fish, mollies produce fully formed fry. Caviar develops in the abdominal cavity of the female. This increases the chances of survival of young fish. It is worth knowing that the male’s reproductive products can be stored in the female for a long time, periodically fertilizing new caviar.
Spawning
Snowflakes can reproduce both in the hight plant and in common aquariums. The first option is the best. The reason for this is that the aquarium neighbors can eat fry. Eggs develop within 30-40 days. It depends on the temperature of the water.
Ready to spawn a fish should be sent to an aquarium with a volume of at least 5 liters, in small containers the female will not be very comfortable. It is also necessary to add here various plants and shelters, which will then become a shelter for fry. After all, even the mother herself can eat them if she can catch them. The water temperature in the spawning aquarium should be 26 degrees. Aeration, and ideally filtration with a small flow, is also required.
How to understand a female’s readiness
Females ready for spawning have the following symptoms:
- swelling of the abdomen;
- frequent solitude in dense vegetation;
- increased dark spot near the anal fin.
It is possible to stimulate the throwing of fry by raising the temperature by 1-2 ° C. Do not rush too much - with early stimulation, an underdeveloped fry can be obtained. In addition, if the conditions for spawning in the tank are poor, or the water temperature is above 28 degrees, fry can appear premature or dead.
How to feed babies
The born fry of mollinsia are usually large in size and immediately begin to feed. Feeding them is very easy. Usually, a simple pounded fish food is sufficient. For rapid growth, you can feed the fry with a chopped tubifex and naupilii of brine shrimp.