# sailfin molly sexing



## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

Well I baught 3 gold sailfin mollys. They are great and much mre aggressive than I thaught they even gave my angel a scare(for a second). Anyway I know how to sex livebearers by looking for the gonopodium(mind my spelling) on males but they all look like females! They are about 2 inches long so im hoping that they just haven't matured enough yet. I have noticed two of them constanly fighting could that mean they are males? SO basically my question is at what size can I sex sailfin mollys and at what size do they develop that gorgeous sailfin?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

They should start growing the fin after only several months, and any gonopodiums should be plainly visible by 2 or 3 months.
Your spelling was correct, by the way.
The dorsal fins can take over a year to fully grow.


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

well I figured out they are all females. when I went to the pet store today I saw a wild variety male slightly shorter than mine. I baught it! They had it with the assorted mollies so it was only like 1.50. The funniest thing is they had sailfin molies in the next ank for like 6 bucks. Anyway the one I baught is already starting to develop that fin and his gonopodium is visible.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Mollies do better with salt in the water. They can even live in a marine enviroment. They will develop and look better with salt.


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

Well I have heard that alot so I figured if they can adapt to a fully marine enviornment why not a fully freshwater enviornment. I did add some salt to my tank but slowly I will stop using it.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Mollies are a much more delicate fish than many people realize. Table salt is better than nothing but much better would be a little marine mix. What they REALLY need is hard water with a high PH and marine salt mix will help that. They also need a higher than normal temp.. say 80F or higher. Freshwater is fine if it is hard/ high PH otherwise they are disease prone, especially "shimmy".


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

well my natural ph is like 7.4 so it's not that hard and it's pretty close to neutral and because I keep angels the water is always between 79-82 degrees usually 80 though. I don't mind using salt but I have to do it in small portions because I have corydoras.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Yeah... I see what you mean. Well all the fish will probably do OK in your water. Its a shame tho. Those sailfin mollies are a knockout in the proper conditions. That's the problem when you mix fish with different water requirements. Actually with the cories the salt might be a bad idea. I agree with you about that. And regular table salt doesn't do a whole of good for the mollies anyway. Its the high PH that is really good and your cories won't like that either.


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

yeah I do feel really bad that I can't give them perfect conditions. What I might do is setup a brakish water tank just for them but it will have to be later. I would put them in with my africancichlids the water has a high ph and salt in it(not marine salt) but im afraid those africans would just tear them to pieces.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Yep don't put thim with african cichlids. Just remember, if you set up a tank for the mollies don't use table salt. It's marine salt you need and there is a difference. Table salt won't make your water hard like marine salt will. Just keep your mollies where they are until you are ready and then come back here or do a google search. Lots of info...


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## rrcoolj (Jun 29, 2009)

okay, thanks ron V for all the help!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Sailfins grow wild down here, but you never see them in fresh water. The brackish areas are full of them, though.


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