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fishtankfish

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Messages
80
Location
Pennsylvania
i have a female and male balloon bellied mollie and i would love for them to hook up and make babies. What is the best way to do this from beginning to end? Thanks
 
Soft music...candelight :wink: :lol:

If these are new then it may take awhile for them to start mating. Sometimes a male or female is not as receptive, so you may see the male just trying to mate with her a few times. Otherwise, if they are, the male will be at her every chance he can get.

What other fish are in the tank? There's a chance that if they do mate and she does drop fry, the other fishes could/would eat them. I suggest getting a breeder net and a breeder trap. The breeder net is a plastic cage with a net around it. You can place the female in there once she starts dropping. Then catch the fry and place them in the breeder trap. The breeder trap can be used to house female that will drop soon, but I never liked using them. They are alot smaller than the breeder nets and she may stress out wondering why she can't go any further, even though she can see the other side of the net. I would remove all the dividers inside the breeder trap and place the dry in there. This way, you can feed them seperately from the rest of the fish.

Keep the female in the breeder net for a couple of days, so she can rest without being harassed by the male trying to mate with her again. The fry are big enough to eat crushed flakes and also live brine shrimp fry. The live brine shrimp fry are good source of protein and will help in the growth of the fry. You can also give the fry commercial prepared fry foods, such as liquifry, first bites, etc.

Another thing I suggest you get is a turkey baster. This is a great tool for sucking up fry in the tightest corners. I also use it to disperse food to fish or direct foods towards the ones that do not appear to be getting a fair share of the food.

I also suggest feeding the parents, especially the mom some protein enriched foods, such as frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, etc. This will help in rearing healthy fry as well.

Good luck :)
 
The more females you have the less babies you will have. They can have babies every three weeks. and don't be suprised If you remove the male and the babies keep coming. Give them time. If you are sure they are both male and female and not just female. Some females will hold there fins up to look like a male. ( I have had this happen before)I couldn't figure out why I wasn't having babies. Turns out I had two females. Other than that if you just give them time they should come around. GOOD LUCK!
 
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