missjerm

Hi, I just got 2 new mollies and a platy last Sat. (4th) and this past Tuesday, my gold colored molly had babies! I did not know I bought a pregnant fish, in fact, I told the person at the store I didn't want a pregnant one. Anyway, I have 10 new molly fry (I believe that's what they're called) and I'm not sure what to do with them. They seem to be doing ok so far. They are swimming and eating, from what I can tell. They seem to eat the small tiny dry flake food that sinks into the water. I also saw a few of them eating algae off one of the plants. I read a little bit about fry in one of my books under the breeding section that says only that they'll do ok if they're swimming on their own but that you should check the water daily and if necessary, do partial water changes. I've had a problem with my water before and I am started a new regime of weekly water checks and bi-monthly water changes daily to help combat my water problem. I intend to do a water check tonight as I have not done one since last Thursday but was planning on vacuuming out the waste and doing a partial water change on Sat. I am not sure if I can do this now with the baby fry in there. I do not want to suck them up!

What is the best way to take care of these little guys??

I do not think I will keep them all. My friend said she would like some of them. When is the best time to transfer them to another tank?

Is the flake food ok for them? The petstore recommended frozen blood worms every other day for my other fish as well for variety. That ok for them too?

Any help is appreciated. I lost one of my guppies recently to dropsy and I want to do everything right this time to ensure I do not lose another one.

Thanks so much!!!

COBettaCouple

When we had baby platys, we put them in a tank of their own as soon as we found them. a sponge filter and submersible heater with a small air stone and a couple caves/plants would make a safer home for them and give them room to grow. they'll just need frequent partial water changes. we took flakes in a sandwich bag and used a rolling pin to crush them to powder for the fry. we didn't try bloodworms on them.

with the fry, we used the turkey baster to clean up the bottom and scooped out water with a cup into a bowl (in case we caught fry) for water changes.

timg

All my fry are usually born into a breding tank, but if not, then they are caught as soon as they are spotted and transferred. (Can be a very difficult and long process, especially if their in a planted tank!). I prefer breeding them into a separate tank, purely because it reduces stress for the fry as they don't have to be moved around. The parent is taken back to the community tank once she has finished.

One of the ways I use frequently is BBS to feed them on with crushed flakes and water changing is normally done with a piece of air line into a bucket, then a very careful check before throwing the water away. I usually find several fry in the bucket and they actually look to go down the pipe now! They must enjoy the ride!

missjerm

Hi, I moved my baby fry into a breeding net tank today that I bought from Walmart because the momma ate one of them. He musta been one of the smaller ones. We saw her picking on him off one of the rocks in the tank and she just kept chasing at him and then she just munched him!! I thought I didn't need to do that originally because the fry seemed to be eating and swimming ok but after I saw the momma eat one today, I thought I'd better be safe and put them separate from her, just in case.

What I'm wondering now and I haven't seen a response to this yet is how much food should I be giving them? I have currently been feeding my fish twice a day but watching the amount as I don't want to much to sink to the bottom to become waste but since the addition of the 3 I got last Sat., I had to increase the food. The fry ate the dry flake food this morning and also this evening. I got home late tonight so the fish ate later than usual but I don't know if they need to eat more than twice a day since they are babies.... I also discovered as I was moving them into the breeding net tank that there are way more than 10 as I originally thought... Don't think there's more than 25 but... some must have been laying low, like the one that got eaten. We also lost one during the retrieval process into the net. Poor thing.

I have someone who will take some of the fry for me and this person has a much larger tank so she can take a lot of them as I can't keep that many in my 10 gal. When can I move them to her tank?

Thanks.

timg

Fry can grow out in a 10 gallon tank for about three to four weeks, but then you will need to thin them out. You need a sponge filter not a power-head and they will do fine. With no substrate, cleaning is easy and daily water changes keep the water fresh for them. I have up to 100 fry in a 15 gallon tank and they are fine, following the rules above. They will stay there for around three weeks, until the growing tank is cleared out again.

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Oh, I forgot:

Very young fry need feeding little and often, preferable on newly hatched Baby brine shrimp or frozen micro-worms and finely crushed flake food. I feed mine 4 times a day for the first week, then start to reduce the feeding to twice a day by three weeks old. It is very difficult to gauge how much to give them, since they will only be able to take small amounts to start with, and this is why it's important to have a bare bottom tank or breeder. If they are in a net, then the waste food will fall through the bottom and the adults should take care of it for you.

As for moving them, it depends on how far away she is as to whether you can move them sooner or later. If they only have a couple of minutes in a bag then you can move them as soon as you like, but be sure to acclimate them to the new tank water slowly. If you have to travel very far, then you will need to wait for a coupe of weeks at least, or you risk losing more. At this age they are very susceptible to rapid temperature changes and will catch cold if you are not careful. I lost 30 one day, just moving them from the breeder to the growing out tank, because the water temperature in the growing tank was 2 degrees cooler. Now all my breeding and growing tanks are at 80c so I don't get the problem any more.

missjerm

Thanks for the advice. I am not sure what a sponge filter is but I will find out. Since we plan to give about 90% of the fry to my friend, do I really need to get another tank with a sponge filter? I assume you mean the growing tank? Or can I use a sponge filter on my current tank and I am assuming when you say power-head filter, you mean the kind that uses the carbon filter right? I bought a tank kit and I am using what it came with. Also, if I don't buy a "growing" tank, after 3 or 4 weeks when the fry are bigger and by then probably have outgrown the breeding net, can I just let them out into the rest of the tank until I am able to transport them to my friend? Also, she lives about 30 min away from me. Is there a specific way to transport them for that long that's better than just putting them in a big ziploc bag with lots of water? I'm not really sure about the temperature in her tank. She doesn't usually keep a light on in her tank but she's been able to keep fish and not do a whole lot of work so...

I will increase the fry food to smaller meals per day instread of the 2 I'm currently doing. I think I am putting too much in there anyways. It's just there are lots of them and I don't know how hungry they are!! I saw them eating algae off the plants in my tank before I moved them. But there is no algae yet on the little plants that came with the breeding net.

I do not currently have the heater that came with the tank kit in my tank. On the advice of the clerk at my local Petco (I have been getting the advice from the same person for the last couple of weeks) he said it's not necessary for me to keep a heater in my tank as long as the temperature in my house stays about the same and it does, btw 71 F and 73 F. I just bought a new thermometer and it looks to be staying between 75 F and 78 F I think. I keep the light on all day but turn it off at night. This is probably ok for the other fish in the tank but what is the optimal temperature for the fry?

Thanks again!

timg

You do realize that you will almost certainly have a lot more babies within the next couple of weeks, don't you?
The reason I say this is that mollies and most live-bearers have the ability to store sperm, so can get pregnant without a male present for up to six months. They also breed on average, every month or so. The average batch is between 60 and 100 fry. With this in mind, it might be best to let nature take care of them, by leaving them in the community tank where a few of the best from each batch will survive. If you do it this way, there are no special requirements at all, other than making sure that your tank doesn't become over-populated.


If you want to help them along, then the breeding net you have will be sufficient for this batch for the first four weeks, after which time you can pass them on to your friend or release them back into the community with the adults. I would suggest that it may well be worth getting a second tank if you want to continue with breeding, purely to take the young for a while until they are large enough to sell on to the local store!

That's not a problem for fry at four weeks or more, just make sure that they have plenty of water in the bag and they will be fine. When they get to your friend's tank, put the bag into the tank and let the temperature level out for about 15 minutes or so, then start adding a little of her water to the bag every five minutes to get them used to the differences of water. Within about 45 minutes they can be gently released into her tank.

Fry are susceptible to rapid changes in temperature. If the temperature in your tank varies like this, I would guess that it's over the 24 hours, which isn't a problem.

Fish are very adaptable as a rule and can handle quite a wide range of temperatures. I have found that mine do best at a steady 80F, but if they are used to lower temperatures already, there's no need to change it.

Everyone overfeeds young! There is no guide to how much they will eat, but they will always want more, like any growing infant. As long as you remove any excess then it won't be a problem.
Algae is a very small organism, so they would go for it, as it's small enough for them to eat! Don't worry too much about food. These fish are able to handle most small foods.

Whatever happens, you'll do fine. Don't worry too much about them, they are built to survive. Nature is a wonderful thing and it will find a way, it always does. When I started breeding, a lot of people tried to tell me that I was doing things wrong, or must do it this way or that way. There are no rules cast in stone where fish are concerned, and we tend to find the best way for our setups, and I'm sure you will be able to do the same.

Most of all, enjoy the hobby, that's what it's all about. Expect the unexpected, laugh at the funny things and ask when the problems arise. It's a wonderful world, and tropical fish are fun!

COBettaCouple

the sponge filters we like to get are this line (just the best model for the tank size since they have at least 10 different ones):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113424

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Cheers Dave, I didn't recommend anything, cos I don't know what you can get over there.

COBettaCouple

lol, well that was all that was left to type in after you gave such a thorough post.

timg

sorry, I'll leave you more to talk about next time!

COBettaCouple

LOL, not a problem.

missjerm

Um, no I didn't know that about the momma fish....great....well, I know I will probably have to let nature take it's course although it seems a little mean to let her eat them...

I hadn't planned on breeding fish, I wanted a few more but not this many. I didn't even intend to get a female. I actually believe now that I have two females!!! If she has babies too, I don't know what I'll do.

My friend's tank is pretty big although I don't know the size and I don't think she even remembers. I doubt she'll be able to take them all off my hands though. Once they're big enough, is it safe to maybe release them to the local lake by our house or will they just become big fish food??

timg

Why not have a word with your local fish store, they will normally take them in, or trade them for other fish. All you need to do is raise them to above one inch long first, which won't put that much strain on your existing tank for very long.

Sam Livingston

Yes the best thing to do is take them to local pet stores; tropical fish would not last long in a lake; temperatures would not be kind to them and they would become fish food most likely to bigger fish.