Loads of babies

[CHRISTINE BAIRD]

Hello everyone:help:
Have had my biotube (35ltr) since Christmas, have had some major teething troubles but for past six weeks things settled down with just a male & female Platinum sailfin mollies and a male & female Red Platy. Things going so good that two weeks ago Mollies produced babies. 24 survived and I now have them in a seperate square 30 ltr tank with tetra water filter system, obviously different to biotube system. Just got the four adults back to normality and now the Platys have produced. Not sure how many as only three days since first sighting and still hidding in the substrace. Thoughts now are to leave young Platys in biotube for two weeks maybe till young Mollies are of a size to go to new homes, then transfer others into that tank. Questions, will ecosystem of biotube cope with the increase of young for two weeks as I transferred the mollies quite quickly after they were born. Also how long is it going to be before we can expect the Mollies to produce again. How can I tell at this early stage the sex of the mollies as people have requested pairs and I cant really tell yet! Any advice on my situation would be appreciated. This relaxing pursuit of Tropical fish keeping is becoming quite involved but I guess what should I expect having a male & female together!!!!:grinyes:

 

[oscaremmy]

Pretty soon you will need to find a local fish store who will take these off your hands, or you'll multiply tanks or suffer bio-overload and lose fish anyway, in a less-than-pleasant fashion. You need to look up 'gestation period Molly fish' on Google. I did it for you just now and got lots of info. Here is a quick one: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/Mollies-Bred.htm

Livebearers are often like machines, churning out brood after brood. I have just got some dwarf platys in my tank and expect ridiculous numbers of fry in the next few weeks. It is tempting to just allow them to make it or be eaten by the adult fish, but not all breeds do that. Not sure about Mollies, never kept them. If you try to save them all, you will run out of a) houseroom, b) money and c) a life (because you'll forever be tending your tanks). Okay if you want to run it as a business (no money in it, though). Or buy a large tank with an Oscar or Jack Dempsey cichlid and just transfer your babies into that every month. Great population control and good occasional live food for big fish. I don't mean to sound heartless, but you don't have too many choices, it seems to me. Good luck!

 

[CHRISTINE BAIRD]

thanks

Thanks oscaremy
Yes i can see that things could get out of hand with water levels etc. Shall try to keep on top of that for another week or so then try to catch the little platys. My lfs will take any young off my hands (No money from it though) as it is the only way to go to give me peace of mind, couldn't deliberately feed them to another fish though i can accept that they may be eaten by those in the tank. Obviously to stop the production line i should separate the pairs but what do you think would be the best pairing, ie two females together, two males or cross pairing, one platy with a molly?

 

[oscaremmy]

Thanks oscaremy
Yes i can see that things could get out of hand with water levels etc. Shall try to keep on top of that for another week or so then try to catch the little platys. My lfs will take any young off my hands (No money from it though) as it is the only way to go to give me peace of mind, couldn't deliberately feed them to another fish though i can accept that they may be eaten by those in the tank. Obviously to stop the production line i should separate the pairs but what do you think would be the best pairing, ie two females together, two males or cross pairing, one platy with a molly?

Well, there are pros and cons with either choice:

If you go 'same species, same sex,' you can create an ideal environment for your fish to really thrive - more of a 'species tank' than a 'community tank' approach, if you like, but with total population control; remember that any female livebearer you add may already be pregnant when you add her to your tank, though, so that would be another reason for an extended quarantine if you want to keep numbers down in your main tank.

Quite often, as aquarists really get into the hobby, they find a species which really intrigues them more than any other, then begin to specialize in that fish. This tends to be when they also consciously start to create optimum breeding environments.

You can go the community tank route keeping same sex within each species (apart from species that rarely successfully breed in a community tank, or where fry never survive such tanks). That gives you the visual interest of multiple species, with no breeding hassles.

Finally, you can go the mixed sex, mixed species community route, which is a matter of just 'let them get on with it,' giving surviving fry to your lfs, at most maybe keeping the best ONE from each brood for yourself, you know - good breeding stock. You might be able to exchange fry for food, water treatment chemicals or plants etc., if this becomes a regular transaction. It would hurt to suggest it - if your fry are attractive and healthy, you may get a bartering deal.

You can also do swaps with members on this site - properly packaged healthy fish, with express shipping, can be exchanged or given to members who cover the cost of expedited shipping. I have never shipped live fish, but plenty here have and will be glad to help you do the right things.

Provided males are not typically aggressive toward each other, it doesn't matter whether you keep males or females together. Some species (swordtails for example) show sex reversion traits, where females become males - go figure. I have never heard of that with either platys or mollies, but I am no expert. You need to research your species regarding temperament and then see which way you want to go.

Sorry I can't point you in one direction, but you really do have choices, each with pros and cons! Cheers!

 

[KarlTh]

You'd need six months quarantine before you knew a female livebearer couldn't have any more fry; the devils store the sperm.

My solution is never to keep livebearers without something which will eat the fry. Larger tetras are good, as are angel fish and anabantoids.

 

[oscaremmy]

You'd need six months quarantine before you knew a female livebearer couldn't have any more fry; the devils store the sperm.

My solution is never to keep livebearers without something which will eat the fry. Larger tetras are good, as are angel fish and anabantoids.

:eek3:Wow...didn't know it was 6 months! That's amazing.