Caught some melanistic Mollies, how rare are these?
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, Apr 28 2014 10:30 PM
22 replies to this topic
#1
Guest_greatwun_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:30 PM
Caught some Sailfin Mollies at a local lake today. Spent 20 minutes chasing after an almost completely melanistic male sailfin! Never seen one before in the wild. Part of the caudal fin is missing which might have been from escaping a predator or fighting with another male. Also caught several males and females (4th pictured) with melanistic spots though not as dark as the one pictured first. So how rare are these in the wild? Seems that the Sailfins from this lake carry the melanistic gene heavily.
#2
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:38 PM
You can sell them for around $15 a pair, before shipping. Example: http://www.aquabid.c...rers
6 sold for $37 bid before $20 shipping: http://www.aquabid.c...ative1394992618
Personally, that's above my minimum profit margin to make them worth breeding and selling. I'm not sure what kind of license you'd need to sell a fish found natively in your state. You'd have to ask your local fish and game department.
6 sold for $37 bid before $20 shipping: http://www.aquabid.c...ative1394992618
Personally, that's above my minimum profit margin to make them worth breeding and selling. I'm not sure what kind of license you'd need to sell a fish found natively in your state. You'd have to ask your local fish and game department.
#3
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:43 PM
Also, while browsing the old auctions I found this.
whaaaaaat
http://www.aquabid.c...rersw1368506410
wild mollies be crazy
whaaaaaat
http://www.aquabid.c...rersw1368506410
wild mollies be crazy
#4
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:45 PM
Thanks for the info! I probably wont try to sell them. I figured they wouldn't sell for much since they are already available on the market anyways. However, I will try to breed this one to another melanistic female to see what kind of offspring can be produced. I just think its so cool that these can be found in the wild. I'm hoping to find more interesting morphs in this lake.
#5
Guest_greatwun_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:46 PM
Also, while browsing the old auctions I found this.
whaaaaaat
http://www.aquabid.c...rersw1368506410
wild mollies be crazy
WOW! that is amazing! I'd love to find one like this in the wild.
#7
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:51 PM
That price would be great if they were abundant but I spent three hours out there and found only one almost completely dark specimen. There other only have a few dark spots. Maybe if I can breed some more I could offer some for sale.
#8
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 10:56 PM
It's way easier to breed them than catch them. Mollies are super proliferative. They breed like rabbits. All you need to do is give them a nice sized tank where they're the only poecilia species so they don't hybridize, and let them do their thang.
Here is how to make mops (scroll down a bunch until you start seeing pictures) : http://fish-etc.com/...wledge/1174-2
The baby fish will hide in the mops. Try to match the salinity with the water you found them in using a hydrometer. This salinity might or might not exclude plants. If it's freshwater where they're found, add plants to your tank for the babies to hide in. If it's saltwater, add caulerpa prolifera, gracilaria, chaetomorpha, and other macroalgae (ebay has a bunch for cheap). If it's brackish, I guess you could try to collect some plants from the lake you got them from, after checking there aren't any endangered plant species. Be careful not to collect eelgrass; it's usually endangered. Regardless of the salinity, yarn mops always work.
Then when you have dozens and dozens of fry after a few months and are ready to sell, follow this shipping advice:
http://forum.nanfa.o...ow-i-ship-fish/
and catch them either with a net or, if they are fast swimmers, make a soda pop bottle fish trap:
http://youtu.be/tXHfER3-WYY
youtu.be/tXHfER3-WYY
Oh, and, a lot of people recommend those super expensive 'algae sheets' sold for herbivores in the pet store food aisle. It turns out that nori for sushi in the asian grocery story is the same thing and way cheaper. ( 海苔 ) Try adding that to your fish's diet, and a few foods that have an algae called 'spirulina' in it, too. Your mollies will benefit from some veggies in their diet.
Here is how to make mops (scroll down a bunch until you start seeing pictures) : http://fish-etc.com/...wledge/1174-2
The baby fish will hide in the mops. Try to match the salinity with the water you found them in using a hydrometer. This salinity might or might not exclude plants. If it's freshwater where they're found, add plants to your tank for the babies to hide in. If it's saltwater, add caulerpa prolifera, gracilaria, chaetomorpha, and other macroalgae (ebay has a bunch for cheap). If it's brackish, I guess you could try to collect some plants from the lake you got them from, after checking there aren't any endangered plant species. Be careful not to collect eelgrass; it's usually endangered. Regardless of the salinity, yarn mops always work.
Then when you have dozens and dozens of fry after a few months and are ready to sell, follow this shipping advice:
http://forum.nanfa.o...ow-i-ship-fish/
and catch them either with a net or, if they are fast swimmers, make a soda pop bottle fish trap:
http://youtu.be/tXHfER3-WYY
youtu.be/tXHfER3-WYY
Oh, and, a lot of people recommend those super expensive 'algae sheets' sold for herbivores in the pet store food aisle. It turns out that nori for sushi in the asian grocery story is the same thing and way cheaper. ( 海苔 ) Try adding that to your fish's diet, and a few foods that have an algae called 'spirulina' in it, too. Your mollies will benefit from some veggies in their diet.
#10
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 28 April 2014 - 11:50 PM
Good luck 
It's not a bad idea to check the lake's salinity and hardness with a $10 hydrometer and a cheap $15 GH and KH test kit from the pet store. It'll be hard to detect as a human, but easy for the fish to tell. I'm not sure what the salinity and ion concentration are in the lake, but a little bit of crushed coral or aragonite sand can buffer up your fish tank's calcium hardness if it's much lower than what they're used to, and some Instant Ocean can match the specific gravity of the lake water.
It's not a bad idea to check the lake's salinity and hardness with a $10 hydrometer and a cheap $15 GH and KH test kit from the pet store. It'll be hard to detect as a human, but easy for the fish to tell. I'm not sure what the salinity and ion concentration are in the lake, but a little bit of crushed coral or aragonite sand can buffer up your fish tank's calcium hardness if it's much lower than what they're used to, and some Instant Ocean can match the specific gravity of the lake water.
#12
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 08:41 AM
Good luck
It's not a bad idea to check the lake's salinity and hardness with a $10 hydrometer and a cheap $15 GH and KH test kit from the pet store. It'll be hard to detect as a human, but easy for the fish to tell. I'm not sure what the salinity and ion concentration are in the lake, but a little bit of crushed coral or aragonite sand can buffer up your fish tank's calcium hardness if it's much lower than what they're used to, and some Instant Ocean can match the specific gravity of the lake water.
I will try that. I have an old hydrometer from a saltwater tank I use to own.
#13
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 08:43 AM
Aquarium hydrometers dont work well for very low salinity (less than 5 ppt). A cheap conductivity meter would be better. Or maybe a refractometer, but I've never tried those on low salinity water. Then of course there's the salinity meter you carry with you at all times: For most people approx 0.5 ppt is the threshhold where you can taste the salt. If you opt for keeping them with no salt, at least make sure the Ca/Mg hardness and Alkalinity are not too low; at least 5 dGH (90 ppm) each, or higher.
#14
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 09:38 AM
Aquarium hydrometers dont work well for very low salinity (less than 5 ppt). A cheap conductivity meter would be better. Or maybe a refractometer, but I've never tried those on low salinity water. Then of course there's the salinity meter you carry with you at all times: For most people approx 0.5 ppt is the threshhold where you can taste the salt. If you opt for keeping them with no salt, at least make sure the Ca/Mg hardness and Alkalinity are not too low; at least 5 dGH (90 ppm) each, or higher.
I will make sure to do that. I'm gonna go to the LFS today and pick some supplies up.
#15
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 09:57 AM
Before you spend money, try calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife and get on the phone with someone who can answer your questions about the laws regarding the selling of captive bred fish that are found within the state borders.
http://myfwc.com/fishing/
For example for my state I can sell any fish not found natively within the state border as if it were a tropical fish (unregulated). If I sell fish found natively within the state borders, the guy said to call him back and we can have a second, different talk. I'm not sure what that would involve, because none of the fish I breed and sell are found in my state. If the license is like $50 or less, that's totally monetarily worth it with the amount these fish sell for. You can do a return on investment calculation assuming the fish sell for around $4 or $5 each, lowballing it, and that each female would produce around 10 babies a month (again, lowballing it). If the return on investment is less than two years, in the business world the opportunity cost is not prohibitively high and it is a good investment of your money. Let us know what the Fish and Wildlife people say, and I can help you with the calculations. lol, I know it's weird but this is the sort of thing I find fun
http://myfwc.com/fishing/
For example for my state I can sell any fish not found natively within the state border as if it were a tropical fish (unregulated). If I sell fish found natively within the state borders, the guy said to call him back and we can have a second, different talk. I'm not sure what that would involve, because none of the fish I breed and sell are found in my state. If the license is like $50 or less, that's totally monetarily worth it with the amount these fish sell for. You can do a return on investment calculation assuming the fish sell for around $4 or $5 each, lowballing it, and that each female would produce around 10 babies a month (again, lowballing it). If the return on investment is less than two years, in the business world the opportunity cost is not prohibitively high and it is a good investment of your money. Let us know what the Fish and Wildlife people say, and I can help you with the calculations. lol, I know it's weird but this is the sort of thing I find fun
#16
littlen
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 10:55 AM
I don't believe greatwun is interested in selling these fish at the current time. Some of us like to sample our local waters and display the specimens we collect--and are not always concerned with making a buck on them.
Sailfins are very abundant in the hobby as mentioned. I can understand where their might be some interest in a wild strain but not worth the time and effort to become the largest distributor of them on the east coast, IMO.
Sailfins are very abundant in the hobby as mentioned. I can understand where their might be some interest in a wild strain but not worth the time and effort to become the largest distributor of them on the east coast, IMO.
Nick L.
#17
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 11:05 AM
If this was a fish like a rainwater induced spawning killi, or a long time low temperature spawning induced shiner, sure, display your specimens.
But mollies are livebearers. If you have females, without any effort on your part, you will have baby production. Your response can either be:
1) Remove bushy decorations so the parents can see their young or just add darters. The end result will be that larger fish eat the fry before they become juveniles.
or
2) Add some yarn mops or some plants and allow the fry to hide themselves from the larger fish. The end result will be generation of juvenile fish.
Myself, I like to pick parents with interesting genetics, give the babies a place to hide themselves, and let the population gradually expand on its own with minimal effort on my part. Case in point my skiffia francesae, my xiphophorus xiphidium, my neoheterandria elegans, my guppies. These are all fish I don't have to do any extra work for, but because of how the tank is set up with hiding spaces, they generate babies. Baby fish are just a byproduct of keeping happy fish. Am I the #1 distributor on the east coast? Do fish sales pay my rent? No, lol. But I ship them out periodically. The fish buy their own fish food. I'm not saying you have to breed the fish you collect. That's your decision. But when the fish is a livebearer like mollies are, they are breeding just by you keeping them. And apparently these particular babies sell for $5 each. Neat.
But mollies are livebearers. If you have females, without any effort on your part, you will have baby production. Your response can either be:
1) Remove bushy decorations so the parents can see their young or just add darters. The end result will be that larger fish eat the fry before they become juveniles.
or
2) Add some yarn mops or some plants and allow the fry to hide themselves from the larger fish. The end result will be generation of juvenile fish.
Myself, I like to pick parents with interesting genetics, give the babies a place to hide themselves, and let the population gradually expand on its own with minimal effort on my part. Case in point my skiffia francesae, my xiphophorus xiphidium, my neoheterandria elegans, my guppies. These are all fish I don't have to do any extra work for, but because of how the tank is set up with hiding spaces, they generate babies. Baby fish are just a byproduct of keeping happy fish. Am I the #1 distributor on the east coast? Do fish sales pay my rent? No, lol. But I ship them out periodically. The fish buy their own fish food. I'm not saying you have to breed the fish you collect. That's your decision. But when the fish is a livebearer like mollies are, they are breeding just by you keeping them. And apparently these particular babies sell for $5 each. Neat.
#18
Guest_Erica Lyons_*
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 12:28 PM
I'm getting some private messages, so I'm just gonna clarify:
I'm not demanding that everyone breed their native fish and sell them online. I'm just saying that mollies WILL generate babies. Breeding is going to happen if you have females of this fish. If you want to sell the unavoidable babies online, I've provided the link to the shipping information and the licensing information you need to do that easily and legally. If you want to kill all the babies, I've mentioned that darters in the tank will do that for you quite efficiently. When I added a dozen darters in my 55 gallon livebearer tank, fry production dropped to zero. With my mildly planted tank setups I've seen my populations go from 5 to 50 in four months. So really what I'm saying is that you have options, and here's how you do both, and you can take your pick which one you do. That's how I answer the question of how rare a fish is: The fish is X rare, where X is $6 a fish actual selling price given this link to a sold auction.
I'm not demanding that everyone breed their native fish and sell them online. I'm just saying that mollies WILL generate babies. Breeding is going to happen if you have females of this fish. If you want to sell the unavoidable babies online, I've provided the link to the shipping information and the licensing information you need to do that easily and legally. If you want to kill all the babies, I've mentioned that darters in the tank will do that for you quite efficiently. When I added a dozen darters in my 55 gallon livebearer tank, fry production dropped to zero. With my mildly planted tank setups I've seen my populations go from 5 to 50 in four months. So really what I'm saying is that you have options, and here's how you do both, and you can take your pick which one you do. That's how I answer the question of how rare a fish is: The fish is X rare, where X is $6 a fish actual selling price given this link to a sold auction.
#19
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 12:35 PM
Like some posters said, the melanistic mollies are not that rare in the aquarium hobby and can be brought for less than $1 depends on where they are being sold at. Molly babies are sold for 10 cents at most times at any stores. Lot of stores carrying the wild types of sailfin mollies. Also I don't believe that OP is going to selling them, just want to displaying them or breeding them at home. No need to add more on the selling subject.
#20
Guest_Subrosa_*
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Posted 29 April 2014 - 12:48 PM
Start breeding and selecting like Adrian did and you can have all of them you want.Also, while browsing the old auctions I found this.
whaaaaaat
http://www.aquabid.c...rersw1368506410
wild mollies be crazy
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