Molly fry in my new tank!!!

Believe me you'll get some interesting results View attachment 196400
These are two of mine
Keep us updated on them please: )

Very cool. I'm interested to see if the darker fry are going to make it better than the lighter colored fry, due to my black sand substrate. Natural selection in action.

 

Yeah, I used to do survival of the fittest, but now I've got a LFS that will take them. So I know collect them and give them to them. I also get discounts so that's a bonus. I've also got some interesting platies combinations...

I can't wait to see yours, please keep us updated!

 

Awesome combos there. I will keep updating. I actually was planning on trying to work something out with my LFS.

Its pretty funny, my fiancé and I work so hard to breed large pythons and boas, then we get a fish tank and in less than a month we have tons of babies.

 

Thanks, I love them all, it's hard when you have to give them away. But it's the best thing for them. Yep, livebearers are some of the most beautiful and easily breed fish. That's interesting you breed pythons and boas, I bet it's pretty difficult?

 

Getting most reptiles to breed isn't especially difficult. The hard part is maintaining the correct heat/humidity for them to thrive, and taking care of dozens of animals with very rapid growth rates.

Its a ton of work but very rewarding.

 

That's interesting, it definitely sounds rewarding.

 

Yep. It's interesting to say the least.

How long does it usually take the mother molly to recover from birthing? It's been a few days now and she still hides most of the time. She eats well, but then retreats to her hide.

 

I didn't notice a real difference with mine but she would just tend to hang around the heater and that lasted for like a week but I'm not entirely sure

 

She could be about to give birth, if you have any other female mollies then one of them could be the mother of the fry. Some mollies don't show if they are in labor, it honestly depends on the fish. But I think it's more common for them to be doing what yours is, especially if they are young and this is one of their first births.

 

I do think this might have been her first birth, she is still pretty small, and had what looks like a relatively small number of fry. She otherwise looks very healthy. Her strange behavior began a day or so before the appearance of the first fry, so I really do think it was her who is the mother.

 

Yeah I'd just keep an eye on her, make sure she's doing ok. If she's taking food then that's a good sign and hopefully she'll be back to her normal self in a few days.

 

Well the birthing female seems to be out and about more now, almost back to normal. The entire tank went crazy for the HikarI First Bites fry food, I hope the fry got some. It does look like they are still picking at other chunks of stuff on the sand.

One of the fry even nipped the fin of his mother during feeding.

 

That's good, my tank loves the hikarI first bites to, guesse it smells good to them... That little fry is brave nipping at his mother!

 

HI there, congrats on your Molly fry.
They are my favorite fish, and I especially love the black Molly. Right now I've got Muppies, those are cross between Mollies and Guppies. The Molly really does appreciate brackish, you might want to read up on that. With a little marine salt (Instant Ocean) and a slight increase in salinity your fry will thrive. I have my salinity at about 1.004 to 1.006 on the hydrometer and stays in that range with about a teaspoon of marine salt per gallon of water replaced. Of course make sure its okay with plants and other fish, I keep my Mollies separate.

Have fun and good luck!

 

Thanks for the info. I was planning on adding a school of harlequin rasboras pretty soon. Do you think I should wait to let the fry become a bit older before adding more fish, or do you think they have had enough time to establish hiding spots?

Honestly right now they look pretty bold. Ive seen them cruising in the center of the tank next to the larger fish with no issues.

 

Do you have a qt tank for the rasboras? Since your wanting to keep them alive, I suggest buying a breeder and sticking them in there.

 

No QT tank yet. Was thinking of just setting up a fry grow up tank. What breeder do you use? Ive been reading all kinds of negative stuff about breeder boxes and net breeders on this forum.

 

The negative stuff is on putting a female in one. The fry don't really care about it as much, and as they grow you can add a few more until they are old enough to be safe in the tank. You said you had six fry? If that's the case you could get two breeders and put three in each, or just one breeder would be fine. I have around 10-20 fry in a breeder right now. I believe I use Lees three way breeder box, but the two way works well to, just shallower. I don't use the breeder nets, because they can be flimsy. I suggest getting a qt tank when you can, it helps with keeping disease out of your main tank. But since you don't have one, don't get fish out of a tank that has a dead one or one that looks sickly or is acting odd, another thing to consider is most of the tanks have one central filter, so any disease can be passed along in that filter system. So avoid buying if any fish in those tanks that have the central system are sickly.

 

Cool, I will check out those breeder boxes. So far my LFS seems pretty awesome. It's on the expensive side, but the tanks are immaculate, and all the fish looked vibrant and healthy. Before I bough any fish I closely inspected most of their tanks and could not find a single dead fish. So hopefully that's promising. I will still setup a QT tank though.

 

I thought I was going crazy earlier because I thought I saw something moving in my tank, went for a further look and saw nothing so I shrugged it off. I About an hour later I looked in the tank and sure enough there was this little one molly fry swimming around. Momma molly is the panda molly, but this little guys coloration is white instead. I'm assuming the gold comes in later? Sneaky little mommy molly never acted weird or anything but this sure is a surprise.

 

The fish in your tank will eat your baby Mollies, this might be a good thing if you can't keep all of the baby's or your pet store won't take them as adults. If you do want to raise them you need to have a separate tank for them or you could keep them in a breeder box for a little bit. They will eat crushed up fish flakes if you don't have any fry food. All they really need is good water conditions regular feeding and space. How big is your tank? Can you get a fry grow out tank?

 

this was in a 10 gallon tank, but i'm currently doing a fishless cycle on a 40 gallon.
I'm actually headed to the store right now to buy a breeder box. But it's just one little guy in there. i'm not quite sure how fast they give birth, but I don't see any others in the tank, and don't see anything dead in there either.

The fish in your tank will eat your baby Mollies, this might be a good thing if you can't keep all of the baby's or your pet store won't take them as adults. If you do want to raise them you need to have a separate tank for them or you could keep them in a breeder box for a little bit. They will eat crushed up fish flakes if you don't have any fry food. All they really need is good water conditions regular feeding and space. How big is your tank? Can you get a fry grow out tank?

 

Okay that's great! If this is your mollies first time having fry she might not have had as many baby's as mollies usually do. Hopefully the little guy can hid long from his momma until you get back home.

 

I was able to get it out and put it in a cup of tank water

 

That's good, have fun raising a fishy friend!

 

So sorry if this is in the wrong section, I'm just not sure what to do!

So we have 3 Molly's in a 10gal tank and I noticed yesterday that one of the black ones had cloudy eye. He seems to be doing fine otherwise and is actually moving a lot more today but anyway- I went to go get fungus cute and was about to add it to the water when I noticed tiny fish in a corner!! I can't be 100% but I'm pretty certain they weren't there last night.

Now I'm not sure what to do?? Should I put the adults in a nother tank or move the babies to a small tank? They're so tiny I don't want to hurt them. Do I still treat the water or separate the affected adult and treat him...??

Any help is much appreciated!!

 

When my guppy was still spawning I moved her and she stopped spawning, she eventually gave birth every few days so putting the fry in a new tank would be better but right now I have fry and they are okay as long as the tank.is well planted and the fish are well fed

 

They are. They don't really seem to be bothering with the babies... But what about the cloudy eye?? Should I separate him to treat him? Should I bother treating the whole tank? I don't want to kill them. No one else looks affected.

 

Maybe just separate him and treat him and if another gets it , treat the whole tank?

 

Your tank is too small for one molly, much less 3.. do you have a bigger tank?

 

Ok I think I'll try that. I just wasn't sure if the fungal cure would kill the babies?

Not at the moment, no. My parents got them, I just ended up taking care of them.

 

Can you post a picture?
I bet all your molly needs right now is large frequent water changes.
But good water quality is really hard to do in a 10 gallon with 3 mollies..
One molly needs at least 29g. Not only because they grow to a respectable size, but they are messy fish with high bioloads.

If there's anyway you can return them/try to rehome them, or buy a bigger tank, they can live longer healthier lives.

 

Oh wow. 30gallons! I'm thinking I may call the local aquarium shops and see if they take baby mollies or mollies at all.

One of the adults has gotten big and now since the babies have popped up he's bullying the other two big ones. Doesn't bother the babies though.

 

Since they are livebearers, you will quickly be overrun with babies (as if you're not already!)
Your best bet is to check all around. If you upgrade to at least a 29 gallon and want to keep one, hold on to a male. Then there's no possibility of babies.

Otherwise, when you get rid of the mollies, we can help you stock your tank accordingly

If your fish stores won't accept them (though, one is bound to!) Talk to your parents about either checking social media, or craigslist. Craigslist has tons of opportunities for fish AND tanks!

Until then, I would be doing large daily water changes with Seachem Prime. You want pristine water conditions to heal that cloudy eye!

 

Oi! I'll do my best! I have a 1 1/2 year old, 2 rats and a new bearded dragon on my own! Wasn't ready for a whole new bloomin' family lol
I thought Molly's liked being in groups tho?

How do I go about changing the water safely? We have a siphon but I worry about stressing everyone out.

 

Oi! I'll do my best! I have a 1 1/2 year old, 2 rats and a new bearded dragon on my own! Wasn't ready for a whole new bloomin' family lol
I thought Molly's liked being in groups tho?

How do I go about changing the water safely? We have a siphon but I worry about stressing everyone out.

They don't need to be in groups. They are not schooling or shoaling fish. But yes they are social, with their own kind or other fish..and even you!
They problem people tend to find themselves in is having too small of a tank..or running out of tanks due to the babies lol
Ive heard of people taking the babies to their lfs and selling them or getting store credit.

As for the siphon, don't worry about stressing them out. Just try not to push the water around too much.
In a properly stocked tank, you'll be wanting to do 50% water changes, so they need to get use to it.
The goal is to get down into the gravel and get all the poop out

 

I am pretty sure my mollies are pregnant, but I will post pics anyway and ask. Are they preganant. I picked them up a day ago from a LFS. I have never raised fry or even know where to begin. Anyone with a lot of experience with Molly fry....can you help with what it is I need for them? Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you so much for your advice!! Any advice is better than none. I will make sure I get them in soon. I have read that they bear overnight? If this is the case, won't they eat their fry if I do not get to it fast enough?

 

Thank you so much for your advice!! Any advice is better than none. I will make sure I get them in soon. I have read that they bear overnight? If this is the case, won't they eat their fry if I do not get to it fast enough?

is this a reply to me? ;D lol hard to tell sorry
Yes, they often do it while the light is out. (makes it harder to see but the fish feel safer lol)
Sometimes the mother will eat her fry, but this doesn't happen as often as people are led to believe. If fry are eaten, it will most likely be by other fish that are in the tank (which is why most people separate the female before she drops)

 

Thank you. About how many fry do you think they drop, or should I just do my research?