Mollie gave birth .....

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Apr 11, 2006
101
0
0
Eatonton,GA
My mollie gave birth today while I was gone ( of course ) -- I have her in the breeding tank, 2 baby fry are still alive and I noticed 2 other fry in there as well but they didnt make it :(

My question is how many fry do they normally have and how long does it usually take for them to give birth to all the fry?

I am a newbie as this is the first fish I have had to give birth. I am guessing if she had more she ate them before they were able to fall through the lil v in the box. **so sad **
 

pugman

AC Members
Sep 3, 2006
20
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0
Number of babies depends on the size of the fish and other factors. Mollies aren't usually avid baby eaters. As an aside, I'm not a fan of breeding traps, especially for active fish like mollies--it can cause undue stress. Is it a community tank? Otherwise, if it's just mollies they will reproduce on their own and if they're well fed and the babies have places to hide, you're bound to get some survivors. In my early fish-keeping days, I inadvertently killed several female liveberarers by putting them in breeding traps.
 
Apr 11, 2006
101
0
0
Eatonton,GA
I have other fish in my tank as well ...

1 Mickey Mouse Platy
2 Black/White Mollies ( 1 Male 1 Female )
1 Pleco
1 Black Skirt Tetra

The female Mollie did really well - I put her in there last night and she had them today... I have since took her out so she is back in the main tank and she is fine .. the 2 fry are doing great and are just to cute ....I do have them in a tank by themself because I don't want them to be breakfast,lunch or dinner for any of my other fish.

The Mickey Mouse Platy that I have ( and only had it for 2 weeks ) is pregnant as well.

BTW thanks for replying to my post :) any advice comments or anything is very much appreciated.
 
Apr 11, 2006
101
0
0
Eatonton,GA
I have a 30 gal tank, Not very well planted I must say - I do have a few plants in there one being Baby Tears ? It was in the platys at the lfs so I decided to get it too. I will purchase some more plants and will make sure to get some hornwort as well for future use.

1 of the fry has dissapeared - They both were in the breeding tank last night .... I guess it slipped out some how - :huh:

I feel like an idiot :(
 

DirkW

7 Kids, 4 Tanks, 2 Birds
Oct 28, 2005
144
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Southeastern Virginia
Some mollies will eat their fry, so that would be my suspicion if they're disappearing. Other deaths may be caused by water quality or lack of fry-sized food. In my tanks, I change 20-50% of the water every week.

When feeding fry, I use special livebearer fry food, crushed tropical flake, and occasionally crushed dried bloodworms as a treat. Live plants usually have plenty of microbes for the fry to feed on in the first few days. I use a pistol and mortar to grind the flake or bloodworms into a powder. Adults have no problem eating the powdered food.

Mollies need lots of room to roam and have a tentancy to freak out in nursing "traps". I prefer to provide fry with plenty of cover and keep them in the same tank as the mother, or even in the same tank as a breeding trio (two females and a male). You loose some fry to the adults, but livebearers produce plenty over time.

In your case, some top cover in your display tank should be ample to give you a few surviving fry every month. The placo is likely to be efficient in finding any fry that heads for cover in the bottom of the tank.

Young mollies may only drop a dozen or so fry every month. By the time they're a year old, they should be dropping about 25-50 fry a month. They can drop more than 100/month when they get to about 3" or so.

An important aspect of breeding livebearers is having a plan for all the fry. Be careful to keep the maturing males away from their sisters, or you'll quickly be flooded with more fry than you can raise. A molly will have fry for up to six months after being separated from males. I sell my fry to the LFS. I only get 1/3 of the retail price as store credit, but it pays for fish and bird food plus other supplies. Most chain stores won't buy them, but will take them if you want to give them away.
 
Last edited:
Apr 11, 2006
101
0
0
Eatonton,GA
:sad: The other baby fry didn't make it - I found it when I got home this afternoon. Will do better next time. Thanks to ev1 for the advice and the help.

babyfry1.jpg
 

jennfier

..o0o..o0o..
Aug 22, 2006
318
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SW Ohio
www.aquariacentral.com
It's possible that they may have been a tad premature. In that case, a lot if not all, won't make it. Mollies could freak out in traps and give birth prematurely. The missing fry could also have been sucked into your filter if the holes are big enough. Have you checked in your filter ? Sorry about your loss but trust me, they keep reproducing like crazy.. eventually, I will stop saving the fry.. one day.. yes, one day..
 
Apr 11, 2006
101
0
0
Eatonton,GA
Thanks,

I checked the filter and nothing - I guess it will get easier as I get the hang of things.... Just upset as these were my first fry ever. I went today and got some Hornwort and some other live plants for my tank and next time one of my fish is about to give birth I will just let nature take its course and hopefully some of them will survive.
:)
 
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