Molly Fry care questions

Hi,
This morning I realised that there were fry swimming around in my 65 litre Tropical Tank. I did some thinking and came to the conclusion that I purchased a pregnant Molly. I put the 7 fry in a sieve whilst I went to the aquarium to buy a Raising Box so that they didn't get eaten. All 7 fry are now in the Raising Box / Breeding Box floating around in my tank and are rather happy. I've done a lot of research but I still have a few questions as this is my first time dealing with fry.

1) How long should I leave them in the Box for // when will they be ready to be released into the tank with the other fish?
2) How will I know when my Molly is about to give birth again so that I can put her in the Box?
3) Any suggestions on what to feed them? I am currently feeding them crushed up Tropical Fish Flakes.

Here is a photo of what I have set up at the moment.




Thanks ❤️

 

My Mollies never touched their fry - maybe overfeeding.... So I can't speak to the Box.

Food - grounds flakes are good but put a plant piece or 2 in the box - even the fry will stay busy nibbling on algae/growth.

I do have Molly fry experience now - eek! So I must ask you this - are you ready to deal with the surplus fish as they outgrow your tank? I was fortunate enough to work with an LFS for donation/store credit or I would NOT be encouraging Molly breeding. My quarantine tank (with RCS) soon became an overflow for Molly fry. I have had the tank overloaded so I have 2 filters going at all times. As soon as the fry are about 1" I can take them to the LFS.It is fun to experience a cycle or 2 but you will need to put some thought into it.

 

HI Tropical fishfins and welcome to Fishlore!

Congrats on your babies! It's always exciting to see little ones in the tank and to watch them grow.

If you only have females or bought only that one molly, she was either already pregnant, or carrying the sperm and may still be carrying sperm. Livebearing females can carry sperm for 6 to 9 months after they have mated.

I see you have an angel in the tank. What other fish do you have and what size tank do you have? A picture of the entire tank will be helpful. We also love to see pictures of tanks anyway!
My rule of thumb is to keep young fish separated until their heads cannot fit in the mouths of the other fish in the tank. With livebearers, you can get away with putting them in sooner because, unless you separate the males and females, you will end up with a population explosion. Also, it looks like you have a planted tank. The live plants will give the fry plenty of hiding places.

I hope this helps.

Again, congrats!

 

They will be big enough when they no longer fit in the mouths of the other fish in the tank.

HikarI makes fry food called first bites. Culturing bbs would be good.

 

My Mollies never touched their fry - maybe overfeeding.... So I can't speak to the Box.

Food - grounds flakes are good but put a plant piece or 2 in the box - even the fry will stay busy nibbling on algae/growth.

I do have Molly fry experience now - eek! So I must ask you this - are you ready to deal with the surplus fish as they outgrow your tank? I was fortunate enough to work with an LFS for donation/store credit or I would NOT be encouraging Molly breeding. My quarantine tank (with RCS) soon became an overflow for Molly fry. I have had the tank overloaded so I have 2 filters going at all times. As soon as the fry are about 1" I can take them to the LFS.It is fun to experience a cycle or 2 but you will need to put some thought into it.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I only put the fry in the box because I read online that the mother will try and eat the fry and so will my other fish so I wanted to be safe not sorry, as the saying goes. Yes, I have a couple of plants floating about in the box but it is hard to tell from the photo And I am certainly ready for the adventure ahead, I have also spoken to my LFS and they will accept the mollies as that is where I purchased her from. Thanks for all your help much appreciated.

They will be big enough when they no longer fit in the mouths of the other fish in the tank.

HikarI makes fry food called first bites. Culturing bbs would be good.

Hi,
Thankyou for your reply. I will take your advice in putting them in when they are big enough not to be eaten, do you know how long this will take? I don't want to leave them in the box for too long. Thanks

 

On s high protein diet with multiple small feedings daily, maybe a month and a half to two months.

 

I want to put them in another tank to increase the chance of survival but I don't have another filter or heater unfortunately

On s high protein diet with multiple small feedings daily, maybe a month and a half to two months.

Ok thankyou again

 

I want to put them in another tank to increase the chance of survival but I don't have another filter or heater unfortunately 

Fry can be sensitive to a newly established tank so it may be best to leave them as is even if you were to get a heater and a filter.

Good luck with the fry! happy adventures

 

HI Tropical fishfins and welcome to Fishlore!

Congrats on your babies! It's always exciting to see little ones in the tank and to watch them grow.

If you only have females or bought only that one molly, she was either already pregnant, or carrying the sperm and may still be carrying sperm. Livebearing females can carry sperm for 6 to 9 months after they have mated.

I see you have an angel in the tank. What other fish do you have and what size tank do you have? A picture of the entire tank will be helpful. We also love to see pictures of tanks anyway!
My rule of thumb is to keep young fish separated until their heads cannot fit in the mouths of the other fish in the tank. With livebearers, you can get away with putting them in sooner because, unless you separate the males and females, you will end up with a population explosion. Also, it looks like you have a planted tank. The live plants will give the fry plenty of hiding places.

I hope this helps.

Again, congrats!

Hi,
Thankyou for your reply. I currently have only one tank with about 18 fish in it and it is 65 liters.
The fish in the tank at the moment:
- 2 Mollies (1 male and 1 female)
- 1 Fighter
- 2 white clouds (1 male 1 female)
- 1 swordtail
- 2 rosy barbs
- 1 angelfish
- 8 neon tetras
- 7 fry
The tank is full at the moment so once the fry grow I will be giving them to my LFS.
I have two other tanks as well but they are nor being used at the moment. I wanted to put the fry in another tank to increased their chance of survival but I do not have another filter or heater

I am aware that she will continue to have babies and I realised I did buy her pregnant without knowing. I also was unaware at the time of purchase that I had a female and a male.

Here is a pic of the tank:





Thankyou ❤️

Fry can be sensitive to a newly established tank so it may be best to leave them as is even if you were to get a heater and a filter.

Good luck with the fry! happy adventures

Alright I'll forgot the new tank thing I'm certain I brought the Molly whilst she was pregnant, I also got another Molly at the same time without knowing it was a male (this is my first time owning mollies) so I was considering returning it and swapping it for a female now that I can't tell the difference.

 

**Threads have been merged**

 

**Threads have been merged**

Thanks I realised I put the topic in the wrong area so I made another one and I didn't know how to delete it. Thanks

 

That's a great looking tank!
Cool decorations and lots of places to hide!

Just keep an eye on your angel and betta. Usually one or both end up severely injured. Historically, they do not do well together.