Freshwater Tropical Fish-Mollies and Guppies

There is a large variety of freshwater tropical fishSkirts.if given the proper environment and care
that you can add to your fish tank but my twoMollies can grow to be five inches long and live to
favorites are Mollies and fancy guppies. These fishbe five years old.
are livebearers meaning that instead of layingFancy Guppies
eggs, they give birth to a little tiny fish and theyThe male fancy guppy is beautiful with a long
are, in fact, quite easy to breed even for aflowing tail light comes in a variety of beautiful
novice aquarist.colors - golds, greens, blues, Reds, blacks. The
Molliesfemale, on the other hand is rather plain coming in
A Molly is a great fish for a beginner hobbyist.grayish brown. Many people love the guppy is a
These fish are fairly hearty and will withstandfreshwater tropical fish and keep tanks with
adversity and conditions well so if you make aseveral copies in them which really maximizes the
mistake you can have a good chance of you forbeauty of their colors as they swim in a school.if
surviving. You want to be sure that you have ayou plan on keeping, or maybe even breeding,
least a 15 gallon tank and you have a good heaterfancied up these then you want to be sure to
as these fish like the temperature to be betweenhave a big enough tank to provide them with
70 and 82°F.enough room in a good heater as they like it to
There are two general types of Mollies to choosebe between 78 and 82°F.
from the Sail fin and the short finned. MostOn the whole, guppies are pretty easy to keep
typically what you will find a short finned Mollies -that you can feed them floating flake food
the Black Molly and the gold dust Molly at yoursupplemented with frozen brine tramp or freeze
pet store. This Sail fins are much larger than havedried blood worms.
a striking shape but are harder to care for.You want to keep twice as many females as
Mollies can be fed the regular flake food that youmales in your aquarium. You can also keep Neon
find in the fish store but you might want to thinkTetras, ghost shrimp, glass fish, gouramis, dwarf
about mixing in some freeze dried blood wormsfrogs and catfish. Given the right conditions
and even throwing in a few black worms or twoguppies can grow to be about 2 inches long and
for a treat. If your finish tank does not have a lotlive for around three years.
of algae you'll want to also supplement their dietBoth mollies in guppies will do better if you add a
with spirulina flakes.little bit of marine salt to your freshwater fish
When keeping Mollies it's important to have moretank - just one tablespoon for every 5 gallons
females than males. other fish that will coexistshould do. You might be able to keep them in a
good in a fish tank with mollies include thefish tank together but just be aware that the
Plecostomus, Swordtails, Angelfish, Corydoras,larger mollies can attack the guppies.
Catfish, Silver Tip Tetras, Red Serapes and Black