A safe tank for molly fry?

[Maradona10]

Hi,

My 50 gallon tank witnessed its first 'births' a week ago - 5 black mollies. 4 are in a floating separator tank, the other is surviving on his own in the main tank. I have harlequins, guppies, silver-tipped tetras, neon tetras, a whiptail, corydoras's and some other mollies. Do you think the molly fry need to be separated or should they be ok with their co-inhabitants? The one already out there doesnt seem to bother the other fish at all.

That brings me on to another issue - over-breeding possiblities. This is my first tank, and i bought male and female guppies and mollies. Since i have no place to give extra fish was this a bad idea? I understand guppy fry are alot smaller and may not survive in the number that mollies may? But even so - what is the general view on aquarists encouraging breeding (by sexing M and F together), and subsequently encouraging them to be eaten and controlled by introducing a fish that would most definitely feed on the fry (glass catfish perhaps?). Ethically is that just cruel or just nature or for yourself to decide?

I guess the simple question im asking is will i be over run with fish that i cant get rid of unless i formulate a plan, be it separating M and F in a different tank. Now i think about it, actually seems silly that ive separated my first fry to protect them (hard not too though)! Well, looking for advice/ideas anyway.

Many thanks for your time.

 

[mishi8]

If the fry don't have places to hide, they will likely get eaten by other fish...even their parents...it's just nature. I saved most of the fry from the last batch my calico platy had (caught them in a net one by one and transferred to a breeder net), but I wasn't fast enough to save some. The minute the adult platies saw movement, they were after the fry. The mom herself caught at least one right after birth (the fry didn't drop into the gravel fast enough)...they are bite sized, and good to eat.

I'd say, if it bothers you that the fry may just get eaten, then separate the males from females, or take some back to the LFS. Otherwise, I'm sure you can find an LFS that will take the fry once they're bigger, but don't expect any money or credit for them...it would depend on the type of fish. Platies are overbred, and I know I won't get anything for my fry from most LFS. As time goes on, I'm planning to save some, and let others fend for themselves.

BTW, sometimes all you need is one female (no male) in the tank to have fry...my calico platy was pregnant before I bought her (surprise!). Even though I have a male in the tank (Mickey Mouse platy) I believe she is still having broods from a previous mating. If you really don't want to have fry, then buying all males is probably the best choice.

 

[Holly9937]

I think it is totally up to you as to what happens to the fry. I've had 3 platy fry survive on their own, I never even knew they were in the tank until they were pretty big and they caught my eye!! The rest I'm assuming were eaten/sucked up by the filter. I feel bad that the filter may be their death, but I never see the births, and frankly don't have the time to worry about it. Then again I have some bigger fish in the tank, so I'm sure they don't get very far...As far as I'm concerned, the ones who survive on their own are fit to live in my tank !! However, I did rescue 3 that I found in about an inch of water when I was emptying out a tank to sell. I put them in a breeding net, I didn't have the heart to know they might become food after I already saw them...so darn cute :

 

[tricksterpup]

Well, it depends on if you want to keep your fry or not. I usually will catch them and place them in a spare 10 gallon I have. But normally most of my tanks are species only tanks with maybe with 1 or 2 fish out of that species. So I never really have this problem. I tend to give my fish away, but I tend to breed the more odd live bearer.

 

[paschoenborn1]

I have 2 very preggo mollies. this morning I found 2 baby fry, however the mommies still look VERY VERY pregnant. did the rest of the babies get eaten? is she just taking a break( it's been 5 hours since finding the 2 babies) I have the two mommy ( not sure which one the fry came from, and they both are still HUGE) separated into a breeding tank but they are just sitting at the bottom for the last few hours.
what should I do now? leave them separated and just wait or put them back in the main tank?