Breeding traps?

msouth468

msouth468

Fighting for the little guy
Nov 29, 2005
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couchpotatodx.proboards66.com
 
If you are simply planning on keeping the females in there to keep the males from harassing them, then I wouldn't recommend any. They need to have room to swim.

If you are going to raise fry, I have a net trap. Its ok, but the seams are ripping, so I probably can't use it again since new borne fry would easily be able to swim out.
 
No, not to keep them from the males. Just so I can get some more fry off them. I usually find one fry a month, and I know they can produce more. I have an idea for a massive molly tank. But I just need the fry.
 
Your money would be better spent by purchasing a 5 or 10 gallon tank and load it up with yarn mops if you don't have any java moss available. Talk about cruelty to animals..... who was that guy who invented that torture box?
 
Funny isn't it I have tried everything but as of yet I have not seen a single fry. I know my guppy is pregnant but when she releases I don't see any fry. I have succesfully bred neon tetras but didn't attempt to raise the fry I am thinking about doing that though. Oh sorry kinda rambling :OT:
 
As you already know, Mollies like to move around the entire tank. Putting a female into a breeding net stresses them out and they are more likely to hold their fry longer than is healthy. What I do is have a 10G nursery tank with a mesh separator for 1/3 of the tank. I put the mother on the larger side with a couple plastic plants. On the fry side, I float Java Moss and have a plastic fry mat for the bottom. Otherwise, the tank is bare. The newborn fry will seek cover in the Java Moss and fry mat. Generally, if momma molly is fed 2-3 times a day, she's not interested in the fry. I keep her in the nusrery tank for a day after releasing her fry, then put her back in the display tank.

The newborn fry I place in a nursery net in a 10G initial grow-out tank. The net is similar to the one you linked to, but has some plastic plants that clip to the side for cover. Young fry will spend most of their time in cover. The nursery net keeps the fry close to their food. I usually clean out the net from exess food every other day. As the fry become more agressive eaters (10-15 days), I release them into the regular population by dropping the nursery net to the bottom of the tank. The older fry will swarm in to check things out and clean up any food they can find. The newer fry will eventually start exploring their new surroundings. The initial grow-out contains just a few plastic plants (including fry grass) and a small pump circulating water for excersise. This tank gets rather crowded.

As the fry become sexually mature (3-4 months), I separate them by sex to prevent unwanted parings and start culling. Any I don't want I bring to the LFS, which includes all early developing males. The early developing males will be smaller than the later developing ones. I also cull for inperfections in color or finnage. Keep in mind that lyretails don't fully develop their finnage until after they are sexually mature.
 
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That sounds interesting. I have a 10g with a betta in it. But I would hate to move him out. I would just buy a new one but the wife says I have enough aquariums as is.
 
My setup currently has a 29G display tank and three 10G. I really need a fourth 10G to do it right; a nursery/QT, an initial growout, a male growout, and a female growout. Right now I do a lot of shuffling around and using tank dividers to maintain all those functions. I also plan on using some rubbermaid tubs in the back yard this summer for growout tanks.
 
Yarn Mop?

Z Man said:
... load it up with yarn mops if you don't have any java moss available ...
Click to expand...
What's a yarn mop? I've been unable to get java moss, and would really like something good for my fry to hide in!
 
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