Molly Fry Grow Up Time?

Hello all,
Yesterday I was bought a 29 gallon tank and now I have a spare 20 gallon as I have moved all of my old fish into the new bigger tank. My fry, about a week old, have stayed in the 20 gallon after a few were eaten when my other fish were in there. I currently have 6 fry in the 20 gallon and 1 Flame DG, one female DG, 2 mollies and a neon ram (juvenile) in my 29 gallon. I don't plan on keeping ALL of the Mollies, 1 I will keep, 1 is going to a friend and the others are going to my LFS. So, these fry are a week old and reasonably well developed after I over fed them trying to get them to eat something. They don't look like they would get eaten in the bigger tank now they are bigger but they might be out competed for food as my mollies are complete pigs. Any idea how long it will take for my molly fry to grow big enough to survive (and eat) in the 29 gallon tank as I really want to keep 2 fancy goldfish in my 20 gallon.
Thanks,
~Mudkipz

 

If you want them to be sure to eat well there are several options, you could put floating plants in(fake or live) so the food goes through them and only the fry can easily reach it, or you could get some floating breeders as well, that way they can't be eaten and the fry have their own food (unless an adult jumps in there, which as happened to me, but the adults are always to confused and stressed to eat), that's what I've done anyway, although now I let them free in the tank as I just gave away around 20 adults that grew up in my tank. Hope this helps!

 

If you want them to be sure to eat well there are several options, you could put floating plants in(fake or live) so the food goes through them and only the fry can easily reach it, or you could get some floating breeders as well, that way they can't be eaten and the fry have their own food (unless an adult jumps in there, which as happened to me, but the adults are always to confused and stressed to eat), that's what I've done anyway, although now I let them free in the tank as I just gave away around 20 adults that grew up in my tank. Hope this helps!

What plants do you have in your tank?

 

Currently I only have the fake breeder ones and some that I just cut from tall fake plants. But I do have some Java moss in a qt tank that I'll put in soon. I always seem to have fry in them.

 

A 20 gal isn't big enough for 2 fancy goldfish - I personally wouldn't even put one in there.

When the fry won't fit in the mouths of any of the fish in the 29 gal, they can be moved over.

 

Thanks for all of your replies, I think I may go with the breeder net as I am really looking forward to have some goldfish. TexasDomer I have read from a lot of sources that a 20 gallon LONG is fine for 2 fancy goldfish as I am only getting one orange and white or and a and ome chocolate one. My filtration will be excellent, 600Lp/h. I will do 25% WC every 3 days in line with my other tank and from the conditions I have seen a lot of goldfish in at the stores, a 20 gallon tank for 2 fish is MUCH better than what they came from.
Thanks,
~Mudkipz

 

I disagree, and I think many people here will too. I think a 20-29 gal minimum is recommended for one, and 10 gals for every additional fancy (so really a 40 gal minimum for two). Others suggest 40 gal minimum for one.

A fancy can get up to 8" - it seems completely inappropriate to me to stock two 8" fish in a 20 gal tank. Yes, it may be better than what they're being kept in at the store, but that doesn't make it right for long-term care.

We can't force you to get an appropriately sized tank, but I hope you'll reconsider.
Flowingfins
Anders247 - I can't seem to recall the other goldie people, maybe you can recommend some? I'm not a goldie person.

 

Well, I will defiantly talk to my parents about tanks and even if they say no to a 40 gal, my birthday is in a few months so whilst they are small and under 5" and the n for my birthday I will ask for a 40 or 55 gal tank for them. Now I think about it, it does make sense about the whole large size tank thing because they have such a large bioload aswell. Thabks for the tips and I'm glad you told me.
~Mudkipz TexasDomer

 

I'm one of those who say 40 gallon minimum, but you should be fine if you are getting a 40/55 later on.