Assorted Lyretail Molly (Lot of 6)

These fish are fine in community tanks as long as they are not overstocked with many other fish. Mine seems fine with about 20 other fish, though. They eat flakes, pellets and frozen food. This one loves bloodworms. Make sure you feed them some flakes and/or pellets with vitamins and minerals too, though, to maintain good health.

As with all livebearers, they are prolific breeders and are best kept in a "harem" ratio of one male to two or three females. This allows the females to have some relief from the males' constant pestering. Males have a modified pointed anal fin known as a "gonopodium", while this fin is held fanned out in females.

Mollies are generally brackish water fish, meaning they like a salt level between that of true freshwater and full saltwater (usually with a specific gravity of 1.005 to 1.015). While they can be acclimated to freshwater, they still should have a higher pH, around 7.4 to 7.8, and will benefit from some aquarium salts. My tank is lightly salted at about 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons.

Lot Size: 6

Male to female ratio approximately 1:1.

Quick Facts

Care Guide

Tank setup: Mollies like hard, alkaline water. Give them plants, open swimming space and good filtration, since they are active and produce a fair amount of waste. Aquarium salt is optional; they also do well in brackish tanks.

Feeding: Mollies graze on algae, so feed a quality flake that includes vegetable matter once or twice a day. They also enjoy algae wafers and frozen brine shrimp.

Tankmates: Mollies get along with most peaceful community fish that like similar hard water, such as platies, swordtails, guppies, danios, rainbowfish, corydoras and plecos. Avoid fin-nippers and soft-water specialists. Keeping more females than males keeps any one female from being harassed.

Good to know: Mollies are livebearers that breed readily. Fry are born free-swimming and will be eaten unless there are dense plants or a breeding box for them to hide in.