duckiesaysily

My new molly just gave birth to 3 newborns. I have never taken care of newborn fish, so Im at a lost as to what to do. I could really use some help.

I currently have the newborns in a breeder, to separate them from mom and other fish.

How do I feed them?
What do I feed them?

What to do?


Helpppp!!!

Thanks!!

Dino

Feed them flakes ground to dust.
They should be able to eat that as soon as they are born.
Give them something to hide in,( live or fake plants).
If the adult fish can see them, they will try to get to them.
Feed them a very small amount.
Remember, a fish's stomach is about the size of their eye.

duckiesaysily

How can I put something in the breeder without weighing it down?
I dont know how many we're born before I noticed, since I didnt know she was pregnant, but I currently have 3 babies in the breeder.

Matt318

Just a quick question for this thread. Will the mother of the fry also eat the young? Or does she know enough not to. I have one female (the survivor of a terrible tank travesty) who gave birth to about 4 (at least that's what I can find) fry. Do I need to seperate her from them? She is still recovering from water poisoning.

heartsongsinger

yes she will matt. all livebearers eat their young.

duckie a small plastic plant won't weigh down the breeder box, it may even float

Matt318

Good to know. I acted on my own paranoia anyway and seperated as many fry as I could into a breeder tank. I found 7 alive and 3 dead. The caresheet FAQ says they have as "little" as a dozen, so I am assuming I may yet find more some where in a day or two, providing mother doesn't find them first. Thanks for your reply =) I put a few floating plants into the breeder box and the plants themselves actually float so it defiantly doesn't get weighed down.

heartsongsinger

yes the first time I found babies I found 4 and they can give birth to around 30 or so. It depends on their age and size

diptisidharthan

Hey can someone help me with how can i breed mollies n also how do i know they r pregnant

heartsongsinger

You just put the male and female together. Mollies are livebearers. Behind the stomach of the female is a gravid spot (dark spot) if the females are pregnant. The female will remain pregnant for several months after the male is removed because they store sperm. They give birth about once a month. I pull out my females every 3 weeks. If you can I would isolate the females when you first get them to make sure they aren't pregnant.

KyWildFish

I bought them a special fry food and after a while switched to the flakes. Other than that just follow Dino's advise, its what I have done and have raised several "litters."

coyoteoverdose

you can feed them ground up flake food ground to a dust like someone suggested above that what i do which mine isnt in a breeder net mine is in a 55g tank with all other fish they hide on the java moss and floating plants but everyone different

biscotti

I've killed more molly fry by moving them around than I've ever lost by adult mollies eating the fry. The babies are super fast and can usually flee when an adult gets too close. My babies usually hide out in the back of the tank and hide in the gravel and other plants. They eat the tiny bits of flake food that find their way to the bottom of the tank. I have a very high survival rate. I had one molly deliver as many as 25 babies, but most of my mama's deliver between 1-10 babies. The only trouble I have is that they like to swim down into the gravel and they get trapped. I have a long plastic spatula that I use to move the gravel off the side of the tank to free the babies. Make sure you have a plan as to what to do with the babies after they start growing into teens .