Molly tank mate question

[S.J. Exotics]

Hello I have 8 black mollies in a 20g tank. I wanted to add more fish but I don't know what ones to choose any ideas to brighten up my tank. Thanks for the help.

[lefty o]

neon tetra's add a good splash of color.

[Torrey]

On 4/7/2022 at 10:12 PM, S.J. Exotics said:

Hello I have 8 black mollies in a 20g tank. I wanted to add more fish but I don't know what ones to choose any ideas to brighten up my tank. Thanks for the help.

Mollies, as livebearers, appreciate harder water.

Ours tolerated a good range of temps (mid 60's to mid 80's), and were the most attractive against brighter green and red backgrounds (like A.r. roseafolia or lime green foliage plants).

We tried cardinal as well as neon tetras, but backs got misshapen in the mollies if we kept water soft enough for the tetras.

If I had a similar set up today, I would get bright, flashy endlers to accentuate the black of the mollies, and plant some high contrast plants (vivid pink, lime green, etc)  in the back and along the sides to make the mollies more noticeable. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 4/7/2022 at 11:28 PM, Torrey said:

If I had a similar set up today, I would get bright, flashy endlers to accentuate the black of the mollies, and plant some high contrast plants (vivid pink, lime green, etc)  in the back and along the sides to make the mollies more noticeable. 

I know guppies are related to endlers and that guppies and mollies can mate. Can endlers and mollies mate?  If so it's something to consider. I guess there's a larger size difference between an endler and a molly tho. 

[drewzero1]

I have heard rumors of mollies and endlers possibly interbreeding, but never seen it in person. I've kept them together but not for long enough to say it couldn't happen.

I always kept my mollies with cories. They're not the most colorful, but they add a bit of contrast. Cories do tend to like softer water than mollies. I have hard water out of the tap and haven't had major issues with them.

Edited April 8, 2022 by drewzero1

[Torrey]

Mollies are Poecilia sphenops  and endlers are Poecilia wingei. Since they are both in the Poecilia family, they can interbreed. Last I checked, whichever fish was the male determines the first letter for the fry:

Male guppy (also in the Poecilia family) + female molly = Golly fry.

Therefore, since Endlers are a subvariant of the guppies, the fry between a male endler and female molly would also be a Golly or an Enolly/Elly🤷🏼‍♂️

Female molly + male endler = Mendler fry (and much safer birthing than female endler with male molly, due to size differences).

Which is reflected in my original statement of "If I had a similar set up today, I would get bright, flashy endlers to accentuate the black of the mollies, and plant some high contrast plants (vivid pink, lime green, etc)  in the back and along the sides to make the mollies more noticeable."

I didn't specify that I would only get *male* endlers, as  I had already said "bright, flashy" and there really aren't many true endler females that meet that criteria, lol.

@Cinnebuns and @drewzero1 thank you for pointing out the potential for interbreeding, for anyone who wasn't already familiar with the two fish being cousins in the same family.