What Do Mollies Eat?
Many people wonder if mollies eat the same thing as other fish do. So, this article is a compilation of research that answers the question about what mollies eat.
What Do Mollies Eat? Mollies are omnivores, and they eat plants, algae, and small invertebrates. Although they are often regarded as vegetarians, they still need protein-rich pellets in their diet.
You can get most mollies food from fish stores. However, this article will further provide tips on how to prepare homemade mollies food.
Table of Contents
Foods to Give Mollies
Firstly, when picking food items, you should go for high-quality products. Moreover, this will make them happy and healthy. However, low quality food can make them unfit by reducing their growth rate.
Also, mollies love to feed on protein-rich foods and green colored vegetables. Likewise, you can feed them with a mixture of slow and fast sinking food, so they can browse for their food.
Also, you should provide foods that are rich in vitamins for them. As it will keep their immune system strong, make them grow faster, and improve their color varieties. Moreover, mollies are algae eaters, so this will help in keeping your aquarium clean.
Here is a list of food items you can give mollies:
- Green Vegetables: Aquatic plants, Lettuce, Cucumber, Zucchini, Algae, Spinach, Boiled and fresh vegetables, Peas, Flame food
- Protein-Rich Foods: Protein pellets, Glass worms, Brine shrimps, meaty foods, small-sized insects, blood worms.
How to Prepare Homemade Food for Your Mollies?
Sometimes, molly fish gets to die early, due to inappropriate preparation of foods, or improper use/mixing of ingredients. However, with the right knowledge, you can prepare a natural, rich, and hygienic food for your mollies, to keep them healthy. Moreover, preparing mollies food yourself is not a tough task.
Recipe 1
- As mollies love eating protein-rich foods, such as shrimps or white fishes, you can add some vitamins to it.
- The next step is mixing these food products and use a blender to crush it to a powder form. Moreover, the smell this will produce is good enough for your fish.
- Moreover, you can add gelatin – a product from an animal source to the mixture. Also, gelatin is a protein-rich ingredient.
- The next step is shaping the food into beautiful forms. Also, you can shape them into ice cubes, and pack them in an airtight bag or ziplock bags. This ensures that the fish is not contaminated by germs.
- Lastly, cool the food by keeping it at a low temperature for future use.
Recipe 2
- Measure a desired quantity of peas into a bowl. Then, peel the pears and separate the seeds.
- Microwave the peas, but ensure not to use plastic utensils.
- Remove them, then separate the shells. However, you can either serve them hot or when it’s cool.
- Also, you can slice and chop garlic, then add it to the peas to provide healthy and improved servings.
- Then mix the peas and garlic, and slightly drop them into the tank water.
That is! The preparation of homemade mollies food is that simple!
Moreover, the addition of garlic will help prevent internal parasites present in the food. Also, you can cook the peas, but microwaving them will help save a lot of time.
Nevertheless, the pea is a good option of peas for mollies, as it will help them to digest quickly. Also, you can save time by setting aside some peas when preparing them for yourself. You will just make sure you haven’t added salt before separating them.
Feeding Mollies to Get Them Prepared for Breeding
To get a better breeding result, food also has a role to play in this. For those keeping molly fish for the main purpose of breeding them, you should feed the mollies frozen or live foods for a treat. Sometimes, a lack of fresh food in your fish diet may cause them not to breed. However, some of their favorite frozen foods are; daphnia, blood worms, and brine shrimp.
Four Most Popular Food Options You Can Get for Your Molly Fish
Bloodworms
Mollies love feeding on varieties of foods. Occasionally, you should feed them with meaty blood worms, as it makes it good and treats. Moreover, bloodworms are often packaged as freeze-dried. And this makes them free of parasites and bacteria.
Also, it makes it completely safe for mollies consumption. Although blood worms do not contain as many vitamins as plant sources, they are very rich in protein. Moreover, blood worms are being sealed with nitrogen, which helps increase shelf life by reducing oxidation.
Brine Shrimp
Brine shrimps are rich in vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients that mollies need. Moreover, shrimps are enriched with nutrients, which your molly fish will absorb upon digestion.
However, this contributes to the beautiful color we all love to see in Molly fish today. Also, the help to aid digestion, and build a strong immune system. Moreover, they are good tasty snacks, especially for picky eaters.
Krill
Usually, krill have some similarity with brine shrimp. However, the difference is both seen in the type of animal each is composed of. However, krill still has a slight taste difference from brine shrimp.
Moreover, they are meaty, and this makes them a great choice for occasional meal supplement or treat. Also, krill contain sufficient protein to make your mollies grow big and strong, and sustain them.
Although, they contain a large number of minerals and vitamins, about 60% of it is pure crude protein. Also, krill has a large amount of calcium which helps improve the health of bones, scales, teeth, gills and more.
Daphnia
Daphnia are small crustaceans that can serve as a little, nice, and tasty treat for your mollies. Like most mollies food, they are also freeze-dried, which makes them safe for consumption.
Related Questions
There are some questions related to what mollies eat, which will also help you in dealing with your fish. However, some of these questions include;
Do Mollies Eat All Plants?
Usually, mollies are lovers of algae. As they also help to clean up the tank and it nicer in appearance by feeding on the aquarium plant.
However, they don’t eat the plant, rather the algae that grows on it. Also, mollies have fun in nibbling on plants with meaty and soft leaves. Some of the plants we recommend include; Amazon Sword, Hornwort, Duckweed, Anchors, and Java Fern.
What Do Mollies Fry Eat?
Mollies baby’s foods are usually more specific. This is because they need adequate food to grow strong and big, and their mouth is too small to chew most food items. If you want to feed babies, make sure you crush the food very well, to turn them into very fine particles.
Also, you can use it from a variety of good options, including, baby blood worms, baby brine shrimp, crustaceans, and other super small insects.
Can I feed my Molly Fish with Cucumber?
Yes, you can feed with Molly fish with cucumber. But, remember to peel and blanch them in boiled or hot water until they are soft and tender. However, peeled and blanched cucumber is a good option for Molly fish.
Conclusion
You will observe that feeding mollies are not at all tasty. However, the most important thing you need to bear in mind is serving them diets that meet their nutritional requirements, feeding them frequently, but not much quantity at a time. Hopefully, this article makes you realize that molly fish also deserve a happy and healthy living.