BABIES ... please help

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!
Hi all,

I don't usually post on the freshwater site because I have a saltwater tank. However, recently I have acquired my brothers 30 gal freshwater tank which he had been neglecting. I cleaned it out and replaced the gravel, put some plastic plants in and a small cave along with the wood piece my brother had in there. The tank has a medium sized canister filter on it and a heater but no hood/light which is fine because the tank is set up in my kitchen and it's pretty bright in there all day anyway ... very natural looking.

Anyhow, I have had the tank for a couple weeks and restocked it with the following ...

1 sm pleco
1 sm banjo catfish
4 lg fancy mollies (3 females & 1 male)
4 glass fish
1 male dwarf graumi (sp)
2 tiny panda cory cats
1 pictus (sp) cat

It has been quite some time since I had a freshwater tank and I'm not sure if this is overstocked or not. It seems the ratios for stocking are different for fresh and salt water tanks.

Anyway, my main question is about babies ... 2 of my female mollies were prego when I got them. Since they've been in the tank 1 has had her babies and the other is still prego. When I noticed the 1 molly had given birth I spent an hour trying to round up the babies and put them in a breeder for safe keeping while they grew ... when I was finally done I think I had like 25 or so. Well, overnight most of the babies DISAPPEARED! I went to feed them their fry food and only counted 6 ... I think one of the adult fish may have figured out how to get in the breeder (remember the top is totally open) and had a snack. Anyway, I decided that if they could get in the breeder then the babies might have a better chance in the full tak where they could get away or hide better so I dumped them back in. My question is how can I rear the babies so that at least some of them survive? I've never had good luck with raising babies, they either get eatten or die off. Any help would be great as the other molly looks like she's ready to pop!
 

OrionGirl

No freelancing!
Aug 14, 2001
14,053
342
143
Poconos
Real Name
Sheila
Do you have a plan on what to do with the babies? If not, I'd let them be eaten.

That tank may not be overstocked now, but as soon as some of those fish hit adult size, it will be. The pictus will help reduce the levels though--they are a very efficient nocturnal predator that can get up to 6 inches in size and will eat anything they can fit into their mouth.
 

LongTime

AC Members
May 10, 2004
544
0
0
69
Florissant, MO
Visit site
If you are not going to move the babies the best thing you can do is increase the number of places they have to hide. Dense floating plants are good but you have to make sure the gourami can get to the surface to breath.
 

dwayne

AC Members
Jul 12, 2001
548
0
0
50
Boston, MA
When I had guppy fry, I took them out of my main tank and put them in a large (1/2 gallon or so!) brandy glass where they lived for about a week until I got paid. I went and got a small rubbermaid bucket, an air pump and an airstone, and a small heater. I did daily small water changes (25% or so). I never fed the liquid fry food because it smells gross... what I did was put a handful of flakes into a plastic sandwich bag, and roll a rolling pin over it until the flakes were fine powder, and fed a pinch or two 3 times a day. I kept the fry in that bucket until they were 1/2-3/4" long, and then put them back into the main tank.

As long as you have some hiding spots, some of the fry will make it. Unfortunately they're SO tiny when they're first born that they make a delicious and easy meal for the other fish in the tank. If you don't want to try a bucket, then maybe see if you can get some floating plants, and maybe java moss and tie it to the piece of wood (it's very fluffy and provides hiding nooks for the fry).

Ditto what Orion Girl said about your stocking level...

Good luck!
~Tara
 

Otocinclus

AC Members
Aug 27, 2004
58
0
0
Northern California
Id like to reemphasize what OrionGirl mentioned about the pictus. They are voracious predators, and grow fast. Not well suited for a small community tank. I think you should return/give away the pictus, the whole tank will thank you later. With the pictus removed, the molly fry might even make it on their own in the same tank.
 

DanioSan

Sr. Platy
Aug 3, 2004
24
0
0
44
Cali
Visit site
Let them get eaten..What?! If you don't really care for the fry then by all means let them out of their misery...but if you want to raise a couple of them what I do is use those plastic floating fry breeders with the slits on the side..and have them live in there you can also use the divider to place the other females in so you save a bulk of them, and make sure it's wide so the mommie mollies have some room to swim in...or for a DIY get a medium sized 20 oz. (or so) spaghetti bowl strainer with fine holes (so the fry don't get out), surround it with something that'll make it float like rubber foam or something of the sort..and raise them in there..all while keeping the other fish at bay, that way you can still feed the adult fish and the fry...however you lose esthetics in this one as the strainer bowl is unsightly in the tank..but that would be best if you wish to keep the fry alive...well that's my opinion! Who cares if they're not oscars or angelfish...Mollies are fish too ya know!
 
thanks

Thanks for all the replies. I really wanted to try to raise a couple of the babies but they all have been devoured, probably the pictus as stated earlier. Anyway, I have 1 PG molly right now and I'm waiting for her to drop her babies and I'll try again. The problem is/was that I WAS using one of those breeder cage things and I don't know how the babies started disappearing. I didn't think the slits in the sides were that large and the water level inside the breeder was about 1 inch from the top so they couldn't have jumped out. I also had a piece of a floating plant in there for them to hide in but they disappeared little by little over the course of like 3 days. I can only guess that maybe the pictus or one of the other fish JUMPED inside the breeder, ate some of the babies, then jumped back into the main tank. That's the only thing I can think of. Anyhow, I'm still waiting on this last PG gal and I'll give it another go. I don't have space to set up a ten gallon tank for the fry so they could be kept completely seperate.
 

dwayne

AC Members
Jul 12, 2001
548
0
0
50
Boston, MA
petcrazy213 said:
I don't have space to set up a ten gallon tank for the fry so they could be kept completely seperate.
Hey Petcrazy... you don't really even need a 10 gallon for fry... get a good sized rubbermaid bucket (5 gallon will cost you about $5) you can put this anywhere, even in a corner... and a heater (unless your house is hot). The fry will be fine in there (yes, even w/out a filter) until they get to be about 1/2 to 3/4" big and then you can put them back into the big tank. Just make sure to change 1/2 of the water every day or every other day. Crush flakes up into powder, don't use liquid fry food, because imho that stuff just pollutes the water and stinks really bad!

Good luck!

~Tara
 

daveedka

Purple is the color of Royalty
Jan 30, 2004
3,822
0
0
53
Columbus, ohio
Although I agree with the bucket idea, 1/2-3/4 inch will not be safe with your pictus, especially if he has already practiced hunting. when he grows, nothing in the tank under 1" will be safe, and anything under 2 will be in danger if the cat isn't fed very well. Awesome fish, hard on guppies.
dave
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store