Are lyretail mollies more fragile?

GingerKoala · #1 ,

I have lost two female lyretail mollies since setting up my tank (one at the start of the cycle two months ago, one just today), and the male lyretail was sick during the cycling process but he recovered once the water quality stabilized. The black molly with the normal tail has never shown any signs of stress or disease and he has been there since the beginning. I have been told that mollies these days are weakened by generations of specific breeding, which got me thinking...

Does anyone know if breeding these fish for the lyretail characteristic makes them particularly fragile? They are beautiful but I'm not having a good track record with them.

I was just wondering - I think I should probably avoid lyretails for a while...

Dano · #2 ,

All live bearers are long term cross bred, inter bred, and selectively bred. They come from huge ponds to a distributor, then shipped to another distributor which in turn ships them to stores..................They change climate and water conditions many times before you get them.................They are weakened fish and prone to disease.

This is why you must have well established tanks with good water quality when you get them..............You must acclimate them and continuously provide good nutrition and excellent stress free living conditions.......In spite of the fact that many articles tell you that Mollys and some other Livebearers can live in cooler water, never allow your tank temp to go below 75*f..........................It has been noted that Mollys, Platys, and Swordtails will get chilled and often it leads to disease and death.

GingerKoala · #3 ,

So I guess what I read about them being good starter fish isn't true. Maybe they were back before all the hybrid varieties appeared. I still really enjoy them so far - they are very interesting fish.

I am very fortunate here in South Florida to have the hard, alkaline water that they like straight out of the tap so I don't need to add anything other than Prime to new water. Also, because of the warm climate year-round here it would take some real effort for me to get the temp below 78. But from what you say I'm fighting the odds even before I get them home. It's a shame because these poor fish really suffer.

Is there any way to get livebearers these days that aren't so weakened? There is a huge tropical fish farm not too far from me here - would it be worth checking out?

Dano · #4 ,

I doubt the fish farm would sell to individuals unless they had a retail shop on the premises. They may give you a tour and that would be interesting.

I still believe they would be good starter fish if the person getting them has a good healthy tank waiting on the fish and a good maintenance routine going on..........................The trick is to observe the fish you want to buy...............Look for disease and stressed behavior such as clamped fins and hiding................Look for diseased and dead fish in the same tank...............Get the seller to feed them and get the most robust feeders....................Usually the fish that are healthy will come to the front of the tank looking for food.

GingerKoala · #5 ,

I think I will stop by the farm sometime - the website says they sell to the public. And it definitely looks interesting.

http://www.tropicalfishmiami.com/shop/

Thanks for the advice about choosing fish - I had been picking the active ones and avoiding tanks with dead fish but I didn't think about asking the seller to feed them. Definitely a good thing to look for.

Dano · #6 ,

That was a great link....thank you!.......................Many years ago I operated a very successful fish store and had many dealings with some of the fish farms in Fla. There was also a distributor and breeding farm in a near by town that I did a lot of business with. I really got a lot of pleasure visiting these places. It gave me a feeling of what goes on in the lives of the fish you buy in your local fish shops.

If you visit your place, please share it with us.