"Creamsicle" Lyretail Molly (Poecilia latipinna)
"Creamsicle" Lyretail Molly (Poecilia latipinna)
Diet: Flake, Frozen, Freeze-dried
Maximum size: 3"
Water temperature: 72-82° F
Swimming level: Middle
Experience level: Beginner
Tank Setup: 10+ gallons, moderately planted
This little fish is a beauty. A medium-sized community tropical freshwater fish that eats flakes or blood worms. I do believe this is a female. She was slightly aggressive her first few days with the Sunburst Platy but has since calmed down. She swims all over the tank but seems to like hanging out at the very top or down low by plant cover.
Cremesicle Mollies have extrudable wide mouths that can suck in big flakes compared with many other fish like Platys. It is a little freaky to watch them extrude their mouths so far! Reminds me of big bass fish. Instead of swimming up to the food or sucking it in, the Lyretail can just "grab" the food without moving. Maybe they developed this feature to conserve energy :-).
Cremecicle or Creamsicle Butterfly or Lyretail Mollies are bred for their unusual coloration and finnage. They have white and pale orange bodies with varying patches and patterns. The fins are longer than normal mollies and most have a forked lyretail.
As with all livebearers, they are prolific breeders and are best kept in a "harem" ratio of one male to two or three females. This allows the females to have some relief from the males' constant pestering. Males have a modified pointed anal fin known as a "gonopodium" while this fin is held fanned out in females.
These fish are fine in community tanks as long as they are not overstocked with many other fish. Mine seems fine with about 20 other fish though. They eat flakes, pellets, and frozen food. This one loves blood worms. Make sure you feed them some flakes and or pellets with vitamins and minerals too though to maintain good health.
Mollies are generally brackish water fish, meaning they like a salt level between that of true freshwater and full saltwater (usually with a specific gravity of 1.005 to 1.015). While they can be acclimated to freshwater, they still should have a higher pH - around 7.4 to 7.8 - and will benefit from some aquarium salts. My tank is lightly salted at about 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons.
UPDATE 18 September 2010
My first Creamsicle died a couple weeks ago. Nothing major, no changes. Shaylee did say she was helping me feed the fish that week without me knowing so could it have been over fed?
In any case, last weekend I got another Creamsicle and three white Lyretail Mollies to match. They are bigger and fatter than the last one and they seem pretty happy so far. Voracious eaters and fight for food. Hum.....
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