View Full Version : What the heck are these? :)
ArkyLady
11-28-2002, 3:56 PM
Hubby came home with some random fish that I don't know what they are. Hoping someone here might recognize them. Oh and I wanted an excuse to play with my digital camera ;)
This one is about 1.5":
http://www.voltage.net/~sward/fish/whatisit.JPG
These are about 2.5":
http://www.voltage.net/~sward/fish/whatarethese.JPG
Thanks for any info!
ArkyLady
11-28-2002, 4:31 PM
I had thought they might possibly be mollies, but haven't been able to find any photos that looked quite like these (markings and fin shapes).
Richer
11-28-2002, 4:40 PM
definately looks like mollies.
-Richer
Rocketman
11-28-2002, 5:11 PM
Look like guppies to me, but that could be a bad guess, as I don't have much experience with mollies.
The top one almost looks like a platty...
The second could be a discolored Lyretail Molly... Definetly a molly though...
It's not a guppy Rocketman...;)
GobyGuy5
11-28-2002, 5:43 PM
I have a few platies in my tank, and I'd have to say the top kind of looks like a platy, but could be a green molly? also, the top fish in the bottom pic is definetly a lyre tail molly of some kind
Darkangel
11-28-2002, 5:44 PM
Both of those fish are for certain mollies. The top fish I would say is P latipinna. Otherwise known as the sailfin molly. The second fish are lyretail mollies. You want to see some pictures try Baensch aquarium atlas photo index 1- 5. pages 539 and 540. Domesticated varieties of mollies are crosses of so many different species that colours cover everything from grey to red and mottled, spotted or solid colours. Check out there needs. Mollies are notoriously difficult to keep in a community tank. They have some specific needs, namely a higher temperature and the addition of salt. A very nice fish though. Good luck with them.
Serrateeth_2002
11-28-2002, 10:18 PM
The top photo could be a mosquito fish
ArkyLady
11-28-2002, 11:28 PM
Well, it seems I'm in a bit of a dilemna then. I read that mollies and guppies don't always get along well together (though I've had no problems so far, the mollies are not much bigger than the guppies yet). Guppies and mollies like a bit of salt in the water, but the cories can't handle the salt. I've been keeping the water at 80 degrees and the cories also don't like that either.
I suppose I should move the cories somewhere else, but well I don't have any other tank other than a 55gal with ropefish and bala sharks and I'm afraid as small as they are the ropefish might be a problem (also it's a 24" deep tank and they don't apparently like deep tanks).
Maybe I'll get a super small 2galish tank for my desk at the office to keep 4-6 cories so they'll be happier :)
On a lighter note, I do have some babies in the tank today. Not sure which fish had the babies, I have two pregnant guppies and the two mollies are pregnant as well I think. I didn't think any of them looked big enough to be having babies yet, but apparently I was wrong hehe
Thank you all so much for the information! At least now I can do some research and decide what to do with these fish so they'll be as happy and healthy as I can possible make them.
Serrateeth_2002
11-29-2002, 1:19 AM
mollies can grow much larger than guppies,sailfins can grow up to 12 cm or 4 inches,i hope i am right,not so good at converting
Faramir
11-29-2002, 4:16 AM
Mollies - no question. I particularly like the top one, but I have a penchant for fish in their natural colouring.
FISHGUY_CA
11-30-2002, 1:14 AM
Originally posted by ArkyLady
I had thought they might possibly be mollies, but haven't been able to find any photos that looked quite like these (markings and fin shapes).
Dear ArkyLady,
From what I've generally seen they certainly look like a strain of mollies to me. The first pic looks like a female Redtail Mollie however you never know there are so many strains of Mollies. I'd SAY the second one is some kind of Albino Lyretail Mollie or maybe even a White Labyrinth perhaps ?? Who the heck knows for sure like I said there are tonnes of different strains of Mollies nowadays. A word of advice to you keeping them happy, they benefit from being fed Red Mosquito Larvae and also Freeze Dried Tubifex but be careful not to overdo it with Tubifex, it makes a mess BIG TIME and it's kinda nasty stuff to clean up :p You can also try adding salt to their water in small quantities but if I were you I'd talk to a breeder or reputable Pet Store about what kind of salt and how much you should use depending on your tank size. Try keeping the temp around 78-80 degrees, perhaps even a degree or two higher when they are breeding as this usually makes the fry develop faster !!!! However if you notice mom is fanning her eggs or the fry constantly you may wanna turn it down a notch. Just glad I can be of any help to ya and good luck with the "kids" and happy fishkeeping :D
Best of Luck and I wish you Well :)
FISHGUY_CA
" Do or do not there is no try" - Yoda aka Jedi Master
Serrateeth_2002
12-01-2002, 2:13 AM
i completely disagree,mollies are livebearers,they don't fan their eggs,temp diff doesn't affect the growth,you obviously don't know about fishes FISHGUY_CA
Richer
12-01-2002, 12:29 PM
Agreed with Serrateeth on the part that mollies are livebearers. Thus, they don't lay eggs. However, a temp diff may affect growth. Generally, with a higher temperatur, a fish's metabolism will increase. So I hypothsis that a slight increase in temperature may increase overall growth. However, it will also slightly decrease a fish's lifespan.
IMHO, don't bother with a temperature increase, keep your tank at a normal tropical temperature, and leave it at that.
HTH
-Richer
ArkyLady
12-01-2002, 12:51 PM
I've been keeping them at 78 degrees. I suspect that the albino one has some ich (somewhat hard to confirm due to her coloring though), so I bumped the temp up to 80 and started medicating them.
FYI the white mollie with black spots had babies the day after I posted and 10 or so are alive and doing well. The albino one had her babies while I was sleeping, but I can't find any of them this morning. Not sure if they're just hiding too well for me to see or if they were all eaten :(
jiggerpolebill
12-02-2002, 3:10 AM
i have a silver lyretail molly that looks just like the 2nd picture. dont albinos usually have red or pink eyes?
TnCgal
12-06-2002, 2:27 AM
I'm going to move this thread over to the General FW forum since this is not directly a beginner's question ! :)
jiggerpolebill
12-08-2002, 2:03 AM
ever find out what you had? im thinking the 2nd picture is a silver lyretail maybe and a dalmation molly. as for the first picture, im not sure but maybe a mosquitofish? here's a link to check out:
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/efish/families/poeciliidae.html
im interested to see what the first pic is. the mosquitofish is a native north american species. let us know if you ever find out.
check the filter for the babies.
NJ Devils Fan
12-08-2002, 8:02 AM
The top one has the exact same design as the long finned danio I have.
ArkyLady
12-08-2002, 9:02 AM
That top one is going to be tuff to figure out for sure I think. She looks like a lot of different fish :)
The top fish is quite definitely pregnant now though. Are platties, mosquito fish, danios or any of the other fish we think she could possible be also live bearers?
I've never breed fish that lay eggs before, do they get noticeably fat before they lay their eggs? I'm going to try to get a small tank setup to keep her in by herself until she has her babies and maybe what happens there will help narrow the possibilities a bit.