how to prepare for molly fry

[shadylady23]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time at having molly fry and wanted to know what to do. When my molly has her babies, should I put them in a breeding net, or a completely seperate set up? Also, if I do set up another tank, (i have an extra 10 gal in the basement) can I use a regular filter setup? Or will they get sucked up? Maybe cover it with a nylon or something? Or do I even need a filter? Do I use a bubbler? lol. Sorry.

 

[mike47517]

Well mollie fry are possibly the easiest fish to breed in history. they were the only fish i had ever breed up until a few hours ago when i discovered my convict fry. Heres how i handled it all. i used a net breeder for the first 2 weeks then after that i released them with the parents who were in a 10 gallon tank with a albino cory. if it is possible then i would use the seprate tank over the net breeder. the seprate tank will just give them much more room to swim and be happy. On my 1st batch i had 65 babies and 60 were still alive the last i knew (got rid of them on the 2nd and they were alittle over a month old at the time). if you dont have any fish that are bigger than the mollies then you will likely be able to release them into the main tank within a few weeks or so. when they are 1/4" - 1/2". make sure you cycle the 10g if you decide to go that route. if its not ready intime then just keep the fry in the net till it is ready and cycled. Mollies are very tough fish. believe me. So you dont have to worry about having many deaths. IMO a whole different setup is the heads up move although the net breeder will work. for the filter situtation - i have never really had a problem with fish getting sucked into my HOB filter. but if you want to play it safe then check out this thread i think it will be helpful to you filter fry guard . I would get a filter not just a bubbler. the filter will keep your tank clean and suppy oxgen at the same time. to tell the truth the bubbler wont help cleaning at all and wont help supply near as much oxgen as the filter. IMO i would defiantly have a filter. IMO i would have both. a small bubbler to stick where ever you like and a HOB filter good enough for a 10 gallon tank. Hope this helps. Oh and welcome to the site.

 

[shadylady23]

Thanks so much, I figured that's what I should do, but again, wasn't sure. I can't wait! I'm gonna start cycling my other tank in a few days so hopefully it will be ready. Her belly isn't even really fat, so I think I have some time. The other Molly I have is just this little thing that I don't even think is old enough yet because the male doesn't even pay her any attention. Wish me luck!

 

[mike47517]

Your welcome and good luck! Never say to small to breed. i have a baby mollie who is do mid Febuary she is only about 1/2" right now. they will reach sexual maturity at about 3 months and will only have a few on their first few births but beware after that you'll get 'em by th 50's. They breed once a month and will over run your tank in just a few. Oh and dont ever try and slow down the breeding by taking out the male. The females can hold sperm for up to 6 months. So even without a male you can still have 300+ fry. when your female looks like she is starting to square out then you know she's getting close to giving birth. Some will be born live others still and sometimes even a few eggs will be released. the stillborn ones will start swimming with a few minutes. I'll show you a pic in a few minutes of my female mollie who is due for fry in a few days.

 

[mike47517]

Heres a pic of two of my 1 month old fry

 

[shadylady23]

That's pretty neat. I can't believe how easy it is. I think depending on how many I get, will let them have a couple sets, keep some of the males and then get rid of all the females, including the original two. I know it will take a while before I can tell what they are, but that's why I'm gonna set up my other tank. They are pretty cool to watch, right now I just have some HUGE and boring tin foil barbs and irredesent sharks, along with some Cory's. They are so old and won't die! I'm kinda sick of em' but don't have the heart to give them up, cause they've been the only ones who survived this long. The pet store guy told me they may eat my Mollies, but I think they are too old to even see them! haha, but so far so good.
But the Mollies are cute, they actually don't seem to swim around so mindlessly. lol.

 

[mike47517]

keep me posted when she gives birth

 

[shadylady23]

Okay I will, I just set up another tank today. I didn't set up my 10 gallon, I ended up setting up this little 1 gallon I had with a small 1-3 gallon filter (it's actually really cute with it's own little filter cartridge) and a little heater and bubbler. I figured it would still be better than sitting in a fry net. I'm still a little worried that the babies would get sucked up by the filter, would it still work properly if I covered it with nylon or something? Depending on how many I get I may need to switch them to my 10 gallon, to which I could take my second filter off my 55 gallon for the time being and use that filter for it. That way it would already have that "bacteria" or whatever on the filter pad.

 

[mike47517]

Thats alright. i used a little one gallon when i 1st started too. Heres a pic. sorry for the bad quality. that was a 2mp camera now mine is a 10mp. alot better

 

[beanie]

I have a question I have 2 mollies and 1 of the mollies had babies I am pretty sure when bought the 2 mollies the 1 was already prego we got them about 6 to 7 weeks ago in december that is... what I am unsure of is how can you tell a male from a female.... I also have male guppies as well and I have been reading that male guppies can interbreed with female mollies is this for real????? Sorry I love fish but I am also completely new to this.... and this is why I didn't really want breeding fish and our pet shop in this town is not that good for the knowledge... please help I am confused

Oh another thing is how long between breedings that they get prego again??? I am not sure but my black dalmation molly is acting weird again...

When we got the tank it was set up and it was good to put fish in so we did but then the tank received ick and this is when my mollie started at weirdly so I thought that it was because she was ill or something then one day last week or so she was fine again and that is when I noticed 3 fry in the bottom of the tank... how ever I did lose one of the fry to one of the bigger fish before I could get them separated into a breeding tank...

 

[missileman]

Look at the fin on the bottom of the fish just in front of the anus.
If it is rounded it is a female, if it is clumped together and comes to a point (this is called a "gonopodium") this is a male. Once you see the difference it will be easy to tell.
PS: this only counts for livebearers like mollies, platty's, swordtails ect...

 

[beanie]

Thank you for your help