Mollies

[fatfei]

Hi,

If I have white, black and orange mollies and they breed what colours can I expect? Will they come out with patches of black, white & orange or will they be one colour?

I like mollies but the constant breeding makes it difficult to keep them as they soon outgrow the tank & I know all males together isn't good either.

[Fishishy]

Fish generally have between 40 to 60 pairs of chromosomes half from the father and the other half from the mother. Chromosomes are made up of many genes that have traits inscribed in the DNA. The mother and father each randomly contribute one allele giving each allele 50% chance of being passed down. One is dominant over the other. (An allele for example is the color of the fish)

White with white will almost always produce white. Depending if both fish have dominant white alleles. If one or both have recessive white, then other colours will likely be produced. After a generation or two they will almost certainly be produced

In saying that it would be very hard if not impossible to determine what your fish are going to look like 100% without knowing their genetic background.

Live bearing fish tend to breed more than egg laying species. They may reproduce as much as once every few weeks although they produce fewer fry than egg laying species it still can be a lot of extra fish. What you can do is give the fry away to other people by listing them on kijiji or give them to aquarium stores, I know many aquarium stores take unwanted fish. You can also do a male/female only tank. Good luck!

[fatfei]

Thanks very much for that fishishy. That was very in-depth. Much appreciated. Gave me a lot to think about