Breeding and Other Questions for Beginner - Aquarium Advice

Nave · 09-14-2006, 08:09 PM

I just recently got into Aquariums, been mainly into reptiles until now. When I was breeding Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos I really enjoyed seeing what color morphs I could come up with by cross breeding different color types. Which is what drew me to Mollies, being able to experiment with color morphs to make interesting morphs of your own.

First last Sunday I went out and bought 2 swordtail fish, a male and female.
On monday I went and bought 2 dalmatian mollies, unsure of the sexes, didnt ask for male and female. today I went and got 2 black mollies, male and female, and also 2 gold dust mollies, male and female.

First off, my male swordtail is chasing the 2 gold dust mollies around the tank, will this stop eventually or is he going to make my 2 mollies miserable? Also I am wanting all the advice I can get, maybe a good guide link on breeding my mollies. As of right now I know nothing about sexing or breeding them. I tried looking for a special fin to tell the males but it all looks the same for me. I can maybe post pics if I can get some good ones, been kinda hard with them moving alot.

this is what I think I may have

2 female dalmatian mollies
male and female gold dust mollie
male and female black mollie

and the non mollies are

male and female swordtail
2 dwarf frogs, unsure of sex.

This is all in a 10 gallon, will transfer to a 55 one I get enough money to add some caves and hiding spot to it and using fake plants. Considering I will be dealing with mostly Mollies, Swordstail and maybe Platy what else would be good tank mates and about how many fish total can I put in my 55 gallon?

Nave · 09-15-2006, 02:37 PM

here are sime pics of my fishies and 2 pics of the tank I will be transfering them to when I have the $$

DepotFish · 09-25-2006, 06:19 PM

From what I can see in the pictures, one dalmation molly is female, the other picture its fins are closed: a black molly is female and I can't see the other: and gold dust mollies are female and male. Females have the round anal fins while males have a long pointy "fin". I do believe swords and mollies can interbreed. I know that all the mollies you have are the same species, so they will interbreed for sure. If you plan to keep the golddust, dalmation, and black strains pure-you'd best get them all seperate tanks. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1067
In this picture: the yellow fish is male and the red fish on bottom is female. See the difference in anal fins.

Mosaic · 09-25-2006, 09:17 PM

You don't need to put too much effort into breeding. They'll do all that on their own. I agree that if you want to work on strains, you should probably separate them, because they won't descriminate!
You do need to take some effort to save the fry though. I'd use large size gravel or marble on the bottom, as sometimes the babies will jam themselves in the substrate to hide. Some live plants like java moss and water sprite are pretty easy to grow and give the babies plenty of places to hide. Or perhaps you could put the plants and marble in the 10g, and use that tank as a nursery. If you let the fish give birth in the 55, chances are you'll have a low survival rate. But with a nursery tank, you could put a pregnant female in until she gives birth, and then raise the babies in the small tank until they're big enough to fend for themselves in the 55.

Don't add any more fish to the 10g, as it's pretty well-stocked right now. And you probably don't need to think about tankmates for the 55 if you're really focused on breeding. You'll be up to your gills (ha!) in fish before you know it. And then you'll have to get another tank. And then there will be no turning back.
There are different rules for how much you can stock in a tank. Since these fish are pretty small and produce relatively little waste you can probably put a good number in there, but how clean you keep the water id probably the most important factor.

razael · 09-26-2006, 08:45 PM

I was wondering if anyone knew how to sex "senegal bichurs"?

jbarr · 10-15-2006, 05:19 PM

Razael I'd reccomend creating a seperate topic on sexing Bichirs.

fish_4_all · 10-15-2006, 07:04 PM

I don't believe mollies will breed with swords. Platties and swords will as will guppies and mollies.

As for getting "desired breeding coloration, that could be a lot of fun and a lot of work. The genetics are so mixed now that getting a true coloration is really hard especially with the red being so dominant in Swordtails.

09-14-2006, 08:09 PM	#1
Nave Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 33	Breeding and Other Questions for Beginner I just recently got into Aquariums, been mainly into reptiles until now. When I was breeding Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos I really enjoyed seeing what color morphs I could come up with by cross breeding different color types. Which is what drew me to Mollies, being able to experiment with color morphs to make interesting morphs of your own. First last Sunday I went out and bought 2 swordtail fish, a male and female. On monday I went and bought 2 dalmatian mollies, unsure of the sexes, didnt ask for male and female. today I went and got 2 black mollies, male and female, and also 2 gold dust mollies, male and female. First off, my male swordtail is chasing the 2 gold dust mollies around the tank, will this stop eventually or is he going to make my 2 mollies miserable? Also I am wanting all the advice I can get, maybe a good guide link on breeding my mollies. As of right now I know nothing about sexing or breeding them. I tried looking for a special fin to tell the males but it all looks the same for me. I can maybe post pics if I can get some good ones, been kinda hard with them moving alot. this is what I think I may have 2 female dalmatian mollies male and female gold dust mollie male and female black mollie and the non mollies are male and female swordtail 2 dwarf frogs, unsure of sex. This is all in a 10 gallon, will transfer to a 55 one I get enough money to add some caves and hiding spot to it and using fake plants. Considering I will be dealing with mostly Mollies, Swordstail and maybe Platy what else would be good tank mates and about how many fish total can I put in my 55 gallon?

09-25-2006, 06:19 PM	#3
DepotFish Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 871 Images: 4	From what I can see in the pictures, one dalmation molly is female, the other picture its fins are closed: a black molly is female and I can't see the other: and gold dust mollies are female and male. Females have the round anal fins while males have a long pointy "fin". I do believe swords and mollies can interbreed. I know that all the mollies you have are the same species, so they will interbreed for sure. If you plan to keep the golddust, dalmation, and black strains pure-you'd best get them all seperate tanks. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=1067 In this picture: the yellow fish is male and the red fish on bottom is female. See the difference in anal fins. __________________ Anybody who's seen the personality of fish has had their minds and hearts opened to a whole new world.

09-25-2006, 09:17 PM	#4
Mosaic Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: May 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 646 Images: 3	You don't need to put too much effort into breeding. They'll do all that on their own. I agree that if you want to work on strains, you should probably separate them, because they won't descriminate! You do need to take some effort to save the fry though. I'd use large size gravel or marble on the bottom, as sometimes the babies will jam themselves in the substrate to hide. Some live plants like java moss and water sprite are pretty easy to grow and give the babies plenty of places to hide. Or perhaps you could put the plants and marble in the 10g, and use that tank as a nursery. If you let the fish give birth in the 55, chances are you'll have a low survival rate. But with a nursery tank, you could put a pregnant female in until she gives birth, and then raise the babies in the small tank until they're big enough to fend for themselves in the 55. Don't add any more fish to the 10g, as it's pretty well-stocked right now. And you probably don't need to think about tankmates for the 55 if you're really focused on breeding. You'll be up to your gills (ha!) in fish before you know it. And then you'll have to get another tank. And then there will be no turning back. There are different rules for how much you can stock in a tank. Since these fish are pretty small and produce relatively little waste you can probably put a good number in there, but how clean you keep the water id probably the most important factor. __________________ I just want my planted tanks to be perfect. Is that so much to ask? 55g: (Mostly) African riverine species: Alestes Chaperi, breeding pair of Kribs, and rhino pleco 30g: Newly established reef tank 10g: Planted but fishless 5g: Unplanted with various snail species 2.5g: Heavily planted with betta.

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09-26-2006, 08:45 PM	#5
razael Aquarium Advice Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Lethbridge, AB Posts: 6	I was wondering if anyone knew how to sex "senegal bichurs"?

10-15-2006, 05:19 PM	#6
jbarr Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hennepin, MN Posts: 335 Images: 9	Razael I'd reccomend creating a seperate topic on sexing Bichirs.

10-15-2006, 07:04 PM	#7
fish_4_all Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Aberdeen, WA Posts: 1,809 Images: 4	I don't believe mollies will breed with swords. Platties and swords will as will guppies and mollies. As for getting "desired breeding coloration, that could be a lot of fun and a lot of work. The genetics are so mixed now that getting a true coloration is really hard especially with the red being so dominant in Swordtails.