Dwarf molly

Poecilia chica

Also known as Chica molly

FreshwaterFish

Dwarf molly (Poecilia chica) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 7.0–8.2
Adult size: 1.6 in (4 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Easy
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Purificación basin, Jalisco, Mexico
Family: Poeciliidae

Overview

The dwarf molly behaves like a full-sized molly shrunk down, so keep it as an active colony with more females than males and expect the males to display and spar in miniature. It cruises the middle and upper levels and likes room to swim above planted areas. It is peaceful and community-safe with other calm fish that share its taste for harder water, though a species colony shows it off best. Give it an omnivore diet with a real vegetable share: flake with spirulina, micro pellets, blanched greens, and small frozen foods, plus the algae it grazes. About 40 liters houses a small group comfortably.

In the wild

Poecilia chica is restricted to a few small river systems in southern Jalisco on Mexico's Pacific side, including the Purificación, in warm, hard, mineral-rich water. In the aquarium give it neutral to alkaline conditions, pH about 7.0 to 8.2 at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius, with good light to encourage algae, some current, and hardy plants. A little added mineral hardness keeps it in better condition than soft water does.

Good to know

Poecilia chica is the smallest of the true mollies, the group placed in the subgenus Mollienesia, and was formally described by Robert Miller in 1975 although aquarists had known it since the late 1930s. Males stay near 3 centimeters and females reach about 4, the smallest of any molly, and like other mollies it is a livebearer that breeds freely. The name chica is simply Spanish for small, describing its size.

Did you know

Aquarists were keeping this fish for decades before science caught up: it was known in tanks from around 1939 and studied from the late 1950s, but was not given its formal scientific name until 1975.