Sailfin Mollies

[Mollygirls]

Hi there,

I have a quick question about my sailfin molly. He is the only male in the tank so I know he is going to be the "daddy" My one female has now had 3 drops and I am assuming that he is now officially "dad" What I would like to know is when can I sex the babies as they all still look like girls and when can I tell if they will be sailfins? Or will I get any sailfins?

Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

It can easily take 3 to 4 months to get a molly big enough to tell male from female.

 

[Mollygirls]

Thanks for the help.. One more quick question if you dont mind..


Will all the males be sailfins for sure?? the LPS told me only males are sailfins..

 

[darklight]

Dont quote me but I think only the dominant male develops a sail fin. I think maybe if they die, the next dominant male will develop a sail fin.

Well I hope so, I just lost mine, but there are loads of much smaller ones, no doubt vying to become dominant.

 

[helterskelter]

all males will develop a sail fin. but they do take a while by 4 months your know what are going to be males as the gonopodium (males pointed anal fin) however you do get late developers with most livebearers and i've seen some take up to 6 months to develop

 

[The Gourami]

And is it still possible that the male may not be the daddy, as the female can hold sperm for ages.

 

[OldMan47]

The female could still be using stored sperm for another month or two. It becomes less likely with time and with a male present.

 

[The Gourami]

Oh Ok

 

[hotpink143]

I was thinking about it and I don't think I have ever seen a female with a sail fin. Bummer because it's beautiful.

 

[Mollygirls]

Thanks everyone..

I hope I get a sailfin out of the bunch.. I have 2 male sailfins in my tank and a ton of females so I got everything crossed that I get at least one..

I really should post a pic of my orange male.. He is a fine looking fish. He does however have red eyes which is kinda odd looking.. The female I bought along with him has the blood red eyes as well but she is more of a yellow then orange.

Hopefully I can get a pic of them up soon.. I do have 4 babies from the orange and yellow/orange.. So we shall see if one of those little ones are boys..

 

[Mollygirls]

The store tells me these 2 are "blue platy" Not sure I believe them but they sure are pretty..


My sailfin.. Sorry about the pics quality but its hard as anything to get a good one as he is always chasing the girls around..LOL

 

[helterskelter]

yes their blue platies and the other is a red/orange wag

 

[Mollygirls]

Thanks Helterskelter

I wasnt sure about the blue platy as the male doesnt show blue at all where as the female only shows a touch of it.. The baby blue platy I have looks more like a sunset with a black tail.. She might grow into her colour though.. We shall see..

Would the molly in the other pic be a blood red molly like the store suggested it was? He is very pretty as is his mate (well one of them hehe) its the red eyes that I found interesting.. even the 4 babies that survived have the red eyes.??? Odd yet beautiful fish..

 

[helterskelter]

Well their not true blue but as they have clear fins but it's based on a blue platy

As for the Molly their an albino gold, never seen a true red in mollies but shop call then what ever they want to get the sale if it helps.

 

[LauraFrog]

Those are both true sailfin mollies. Assuming that the female is pregnant to either your male or another true sailfin, then all your babies will be genetic sailfins. This does not mean that you will get the enlarged fin on every single one of them. Obviously the females will all look like yours (although maybe with the males' colouring); females don't get the sail fin.
The males have the potential to develop the sail fin but all might not. They are likely to show smaller or undeveloped sailfins if they are cramped, too cold, or in tanks where there is ammonia. (Ie overcrowded growout tanks, especially without heaters/filters, are not going to turn out fish like that male you've got.) Also, if you've got loads of males already in a tank the young males will take longer to develop secondary sexual characteristics (sailfin and gonopodium) and may not develop the sailfin at all. So separate fry according to size. Don't keep three quarters grown fry with six week olds.

'Albino' in mollies is extremely odd, it produces the red eyes and the loss of the black pigment (that would usually fleck the sides and dorsal fin of a wild male of P. latipinnia which you've got there) but the yellow, orange and blue pigments are not affected.