What To Feed Molly Fish: A Quick Guide For Beginners

Molly fish are popular aquarium pets for their vibrant colors and playful personalities.

Taking care of them is easy; it is the food you should be careful about. Feeding the wrong type of food can harm your fish’s health. Every fish breed has different food needs; the same goes for molly fish.

If you are a new aquarist and want to know “What to Feed Molly Fish,” this article is for you.

In this article, we will discuss the right food for Molly fish and explore the various commercial and live foods that are suitable for them.

So Without further ado, let’s get into it!

What To Feed Molly Fish?

Ideally, you should feed your molly fish with a variety of foods, including commercial foods like high-quality flakes, frozen foods, granules or veggie pellets, etc., as well as some homemade foods like Beef heart paste and egg yolk. You can also occasionally give them properly cultured live foods such as blackworms, bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc., as a treat.

As molly fish are omnivorous, they generally eat anything they can get in an aquarium. Hence the fish should be provided with a good mix of proteins and vegetables to thrive and live a healthy life.

When feeding your Molly fish, it is important to provide a varied and balanced diet that includes both commercial and live foods.

Avoid overfeeding, and always remove any uneaten food from the aquarium to prevent it from fouling the water.

By providing the right diet for your Molly fish, you can help them thrive and enjoy a long and healthy life in your aquarium.

Recommended Commercial Foods for Molly Fish

Commercial foods are a convenient option for feeding Molly fish. There are many different types of commercial foods available, including pellets, flakes, and frozen or freeze-dried foods. It is important to choose a high-quality commercial food suitable for your Molly fish.

The main benefit of commercial foods is that they are packed with all the necessary vitamins and nutrients that a fish needs making them an ideal option for Molly fish.

Below are the commercial foods you can feed your molly fish:

1. Flakes

Flakes are a common type of fish food that is widely available and can be a good option for molly fish. High-quality Flakes typically have the vitamins, protein, and nutrients that a molly fish needs to live a healthy life making them a good choice as a base of a balanced diet.

You can see the packaging to find the ingredients used in flakes, so you are aware of what you are feeding.

To feed your molly fish flakes, sprinkle a small amount of the flakes into the aquarium and allow your fish to feed. You should feed your molly fish once a day, as overfeeding can lead to excess waste in the aquarium and harm water quality.

One of the best flakes for mollies is TetraMin Plus Tropical Flakes.

2. Veggie Pallets & Tablets

As mollies are omnivorous, you can’t just feed mollies meaty food alone; you’ll also need to feed them a diet with high vegetable content.

That’s when you’ll want to go with Veggie Pallets & Tablets. Veggie pallets are another type of food that is suitable for molly fish. The pallets are made from a mixture of plant-based ingredients, such as algae, plankton, and spirulina, and provide your molly fish with the vitamins and minerals they need to stay healthy.

You can also add spirulina tablets as a part of molly fish’s diet as they help the fish develop beautiful colors and protect their fins, skin, and tails against infections.

One of the best Veggie Pallets for mollies is Omega One Veggie Mini Pellets.

3. Freeze-dried Foods

Freeze-dried foods like brine shrimp, tubifex, and blood worms are a great source of protein for molly fish.

These foods are made by freezing live foods and then drying them to kill off bacteria and parasites, which makes them safe for your mollies.

The frequency of feeding freeze-dried foods to your molly should be once or twice a week. You should occasionally give it as a treat to maintain variations and complement their diet.

Aquacarium Tubifex Worms Freeze Dried Bulk Tropical Fish Food can be a good choice if you are looking for suitable Freeze Dried Foods.

Recommended Homemade Foods for Molly Fish

If you are someone who is unsure about commercial foods and prefers to feed their fish with an all-natural, nutrient-rich diet, then you can’t go wrong with the homemade foods mentioned below:

1. Veggies

Veggies should also be incorporated into a molly fish’s diet. As molly fishes are omnivorous, they need to consume vegetables to stay healthy, meet their needs for nutrients and fiber, and complement their diet.

Wondering what vegetables you can feed a molly fish?

Usually, you can feed your mollies any veggies you can get your hands on, like broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, peas, etc. Just blend them together to make a paste and put it in a sealed container in the freezer.

2. Cultured foods

One of the most beneficial and nutritious foods for molly fish is cultured foods.

Live foods have high protein content, and most of them, like brine shrimp, daphnia, etc., can be cultured at home. The most common cultured foods you can feed your mollies are brine shrimp, Daphnia, Micro worms, and Vinegar eels.

These foods are rich in protein and can provide your molly fish with the nutrients they need to thrive. Let’s look at each of them in detail:

Brine shrimp – Brine shrimp is the most optimal food choice for mollies because they are an excellent source of protein and other essential nutrients.

With the help of a hatchery kit and brine shrimp eggs, you can easily culture them at home and feed them to molly fish.

Additionally, brine shrimp are ideal food for both adult molly fish as well as molly fry.

Daphnia – Daphnia is yet another protein-rich food for molly fish that can be cultured at home for molly.

Micro worms – The tiny worms are loaded with essential proteins and nutrients and can be a great addition to your molly’s diet.

Vinegar eels – Vinegar eels are yet another food that you can feed your molly fish which can be cultured at home. However, harvesting them is a difficult task, and because they contain 20% fat, you shouldn’t give them too often to your mollies.

3. Beef heart paste

A great occasional treat to feed your molly fish is beef heat paste. It is super easy to prepare at home; all you need is the freshly cleaned beef heart, a blender, spirulina powder, shrimp (for consistency), and veggies.

Grind all the ingredients mentioned above to make a paste, then freeze it and break it up into small chunks for your fish to eat. Your molly fish will love it.

Although one thing to keep in mind is that molly fry can eat this food as a part of their diet, you should give it occasionally as a treat to adults mollies because it has a high-fat content

4. Egg yolk

Simply hard boil and crack an egg, separate the yolk from the white, and crush it to make a paste that you can feed to your mollies.

You should only feed it in small quantities and be careful as it may foul the water fairly quickly.

As with beef heart paste, egg yolks are also high in fat content. It’s fine to feed it to molly fry, but it should only be offered occasionally as a snack to adult molly fishes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Can Mollies Go Without Food?

An adult molly fish can live for up to two weeks without eating food, provided the aquarium water conditions are ideal. On the other hand, molly fry cannot survive without food for more than three days.

Why Is Not My Molly Fish Eating?

If your molly fish is not eating, it generally means that the fish is stressed. Poor water conditions, old age, other health issues, etc., can also be the reasons why your molly fish refuse to eat the food.

Furthermore, it might be that you are offering the wrong type of food to the molly fish and hence the fish is not eating it.

How Often Should You Feed Your Molly Fish?

You should feed your molly fish once or twice a day, not more than what they can eat within five minutes.

Conclusion

After reading this article on what to feed molly fish, we hope you can now take better care of them and offer them a healthy life.

In a nutshell, you should offer molly fish with high-quality commercial fish food as the base of their diet and supplement with occasional treats of cultured foods and veggies is the best diet you can offer to a molly fish.

Feeding a varied diet that includes a mix of commercial fish food and homemade foods helps ensure that your molly fish receive all the nutrients they need to stay healthy and thrive.

Cultured foods, such as brine shrimp and daphnia, can provide a good source of protein, while beef heart paste and egg yolk can be excellent sources of protein and can be offered occasionally.

Veggies, such as carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, etc., can provide a source of fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals for your molly fish.