Will my guppies/ mollies/ platies breed?

[boothman]

i have a pair of saffron mollies, pair of platies and 4 guppies. How likely is it that they will breed. Its my first time attempting to breed, and is tere anything ill need to do to encourage them to breed? I also have some tetras. Any advice welcome

 

[rreekers]

if you have a mix of male and female they will breed! but you really should increase your stock to male female ratio to 1m for 2f, 3f for every male is better.

how big is the tank?
what's the temp?
planted? how much? picture?
hiding places?
Ph? parameters?
floating plants?
depth of tank?
filtration?
how often do you do water changes?

all of this and more effect breeding. more info and you can get more help

about how big are all the fish? full grown?

 

[boothman]

My tank is 13g, at about 75 degrees. I have 5 plants, not sure on ther species though. I do 50% water changes every week.
I have a fake plant/ rock decoration and a shell decoration with plenty little caves i to hide in.
I've had them about a month and a half, and they are about 2inches long, so im not sure if they are fully grown yet, hope this helps

 

[boothman]

Oh and tank is 1ft x 1ft x 2ft

 

[rreekers]

that's a pretty small tank. if any do give birth odds are they will get gobbled up. if your going to breed, you will need a bigger tank. 13g would make a good fry tank

the key to breeding is to mimic the fishes natural environment.

what type of filter do you have?

also I would bump the temp up to 77. the warmth enduces pregnancy quicker, and fry are best kept at 80

 

[HeatherW]

i have a pair of saffron mollies, pair of platies and 4 guppies. How likely is it that they will breed. Its my first time attempting to breed, and is tere anything ill need to do to encourage them to breed? I also have some tetras. Any advice welcome

I have been in the fish world for almost 2 months now. wow I have learned so much! one thing I did learn is your fish will breed!! I bought me a pregnant molly - she had babies the next day! tons of them!! I think they said they have 30- 40 at a time. I am not sure how many I had - there are just too many to count! many were eaten but I still have 17 (I think) they all swim around!! then I had 2 platies - I didn't think they mated because the male was not doing well and didn't move around much. he ended up not making it. but... I guess they did because I now have platy babies!! they are so tiny!! they get gobbled up if you don't have really good hiding places for them. I bought some small plants that are tightly clustered for the babies to hide in. I have some on the bottom of the tank and some that I turned upside down and they are floating on the top of the tank. seems to be working pretty well.

good luck! I am sure you will have babies soon!!

 

[rreekers]

I think you should visit your local library and check out some books on fish breeding.

 

[rreekers]

Oh and tank is 1ft x 1ft x 2ft

then you have a 15g tank

you have a wonderful water change schedule! but your tank is massively over stocked! because its so over stocked your fish might not mate.

guppies got to 3 inches each
mollies get 4-6 inches each
platties get 2-3 inches each

the 2 mollies alone stock that small of a tank

what is your male:female ratio of guppies?

do you have a test kit, what ate your parameters?

 

[boothman]

Overstocked? I was told by the shop owner it was fine. I may see if i can get a bigger tank or something.
What is the problem with over stocked tanks? Wil it stress or is it more to do with waste production? Im new to fish keeping so i dont really know much. Any help appreciated

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Overstocked? I was told by the shop owner it was fine. I may see if i can get a bigger tank or something.
What is the problem with over stocked tanks? Wil it stress or is it more to do with waste production? Im new to fish keeping so i dont really know much. Any help appreciated

The shop owner was wrong. You're not the only one that has been duped. So have I, in fact most of the people on this site have been told wrong by the pet shop once or more.

The problem is that it will cause stress for your fish. Fish naturally live in big rivers and streams and lakes in the wild. No tank will ever replace that. That's why there are minimum tank suggestions that will give the fish enough space to move around. So all those fish in there are very cramped and could stress out/become aggressive. There's also the waste production to take into account. Mollies are huge poopers and IMO should only be in 20 Gallon tanks to support their waste production. You have one too many.

My suggestion would be to get a 30 Gallon tank to support all those fish so that way mainteance is easier for you and then use the 15 Gallon as a temporary breeding place for the guppies/platies/mollies to use, although it won't be hard since they breed very prolifically.

 

[LyndaB]

Which tetras do you have?

Yeah, your tank is overstocked.

 

[boothman]

I have cardinal tetras. And do you think that they are unlikely to breed then. What should i do if they do, as if im already overstocked i cant have any more fish can i?

 

[Aron]

No they will still breed just most if not all will end up being food!

 

[rreekers]

I have cardinal tetras. And do you think that they are unlikely to breed then. What should i do if they do, as if im already overstocked i cant have any more fish can i?

tetras are unlikey to breed in your aquarium

and no you shouldnt add more fish

 

[Aron]

I think he was replying to someone that he had cardinal tetras and then asked would his platies/mollies/guppies still breed although they are cramped. which they will but survival of the fry will be minimal if at all!

 

[DwarfGouramiCrazy]

Cardinal tetras, mollies, and platies can get pretty big, so even if your tank is only slightly overcrowded now, it will be way overstocked in a month or two, even with only a few babies. Guppies stay pretty small in my experience, only about two and a half centimetres in my tank.

 

[rreekers]

Cardinal tetras, mollies, and platies can get pretty big, so even if your tank is only slightly overcrowded now, it will be way overstocked in a month or two, even with only a few babies. Guppies stay pretty small in my experience, only about two and a half centimetres in my tank.

my guppies are 3 inches