{"id":2422,"date":"2019-11-29T09:54:56","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T09:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/?p=2422"},"modified":"2019-10-22T09:58:58","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T09:58:58","slug":"black-molly-poecilia-sphenops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/black-molly-poecilia-sphenops\/","title":{"rendered":"Black molly (Poecilia sphenops)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Characteristics\/origin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The black molly is the black cultivated breed of molly. As its\nname suggests, it has a black colouring: deep black scales covering its entire\nbody along with a velvety sheen. There are also many colourful varieties with\nspecial tail fins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mollies generally come from Central and South America, and can be\nfound from Mexico to Colombia. Black mollies belong to the live-bearing\ntoothcarp family. If kept correctly, mollies can grow to around 6 \u2013 10 cm in\nlength and live to be 5 years old. The males have larger dorsal fins than the\nfemales, making it easy to tell them apart. Like all livebearers, the males\nalso have a modified anal fin, the gonopodium.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aquarium and water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To create an appropriate environment, black mollies should be kept\nin an aquarium with a minimum volume of 100 litres. They can be kept in\naquarium water at tropical temperatures of 24\u00b0C to 30\u00b0C. Ideally, the water\nshould be slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (pH value: 7.2 \u2013 8.2) with a\nhardness level of approx. 11 \u2013 30\u00b0 dGH. While very robust, mollies are\nsensitive to fluctuations in temperature and pH value. They generally do not\nlike softer water and should therefore be kept in harder water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keeping conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Black mollies are not actually shoaling fish, but feel most\ncomfortable in groups of several creatures. There should always be more females\nthan males in the aquarium. These very peaceful fish are well-suited to\ncommunity tanks and mix particularly well with catfish, guppies and platies.\nBlack mollies tend to prefer the middle to upper regions of the aquarium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1199\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Lyretail-Black-Molly-72-1199x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Lyretail-Black-Molly-72-1199x800.jpg 1199w, https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Lyretail-Black-Molly-72-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Lyretail-Black-Molly-72-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Lyretail-Black-Molly-72.jpg 1313w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px\" \/><figcaption>Lyretail Molly black fish, freshwater aquarium fish; Shutterstock ID 1372347428; Kostenstelle \/ Nummer: 55110; Projekt (Nummer): Janine BERDELMANN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Planting and decoration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Black mollies feel most comfortable in water with abundant\nvegetation. There should be plenty of vegetation at the edges of the aquarium\nin particular to provide good places for the mollies to withdraw and hide. This\nensures that the creatures in the rest of the aquarium still have plenty of\nroom to swim. Fast-growing plants that reach the surface of the water are\nrecommended in particular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Diet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Black mollies are generally herbivorous. They should be fed mainly\nwith fine plant-based flake food like Tetra Phyll Flakes. For a treat and extra\nvariety, they can also be given Tetra Delica Bloodworms. They are also known to\neat algae. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Characteristics\/origin The black molly is the black cultivated breed of molly. As its name suggests, it has a black colouring: deep black scales covering its entire body along with a velvety sheen. There are also many colourful varieties with special tail fins. Mollies generally come from Central and South America, and can be found from [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Black molly (Poecilia sphenops) | Tetra Fishkeeper Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/black-molly-poecilia-sphenops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Black molly (Poecilia sphenops) | Tetra Fishkeeper Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Characteristics\/origin The black molly is the black cultivated breed of molly. As its name suggests, it has a black colouring: deep black scales covering its entire body along with a velvety sheen. There are also many colourful varieties with special tail fins. Mollies generally come from Central and South America, and can be found from [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/black-molly-poecilia-sphenops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tetra Fishkeeper Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-29T09:54:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.tetra.net\/en-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BlackMolly_72.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1244\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"829\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pete Cuomo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pete Cuomo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" 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