I'm new and need help pleeeease

[pam v]

Hi

I'm new to aquarium keeping, I started in October with 2 black mollies, and have gradually been building my stock up. It's been a bit hit and miss to be fair, i check the water etc and all's been going fine, but unfortunatley i have lost a few fish along the way.
At the moment i need help as i bought 5 more mollies on Friday and on saturday morning one appears to have had fry, i ran out and bought a net and managed to catch one of the fry who is in the breeding net, mother appears to be doing well in the tank with the rest of the fish. My problem is what to i do with this little fish? I have mashed up fish flakes and put on the end of a coctail stick and put it in the net but it doesn't swim to the top to take it, i'm afraid it may be starving on its own. I think there may be more babies hiding about the tank i caught a quick glance of one them but couldn't get it as it was in the ship wreck.
Another question how often should i be feeding all these fish, the pet store said every 3 days, the internet says 3 times a day, another store said once a day, i'm confused i don't want to over feed and kill them off with high ammonia levels any advice gratefully appreciated.

 

[mgamer20o0]

Welcome to AA.

 

[Toxicfish]

I kept some fry in a net, but when I decided they were mature enough to come out I was wrong, hopefully someone on the forum can guide you through it, but all the research I did seemed to suggest putting them in another tank..

Don't over-feed the fish, that IS important. It will raise the ammonia level to unmanageable levels, will grow fungus and raise your algae levels to pain in the butt heights, you don't want that.

Normally, feeding once a day, so that the fish eat all that is offered in two-three minutes is sufficient, you could break this cycle up and perform twice a day if required, but if your ammonia spikes, back off and feed every second day until you get it back under control.. Fish can go an amazing length of time without a feed, but they wont last if you over-feed and raise the ammonia levels to new heights..

There will no doubt be members that have the exact experience you're looking for, hang in there, they will guide you thru it.

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to the FW Getting started forum. You`ll get more answers there.

 

[tyspot1000]

Welcome to AA!

If you can, Keep the baby fish until its big enough to be with the adults or keep it until ready to sell.

When baby fish is first born, It has an egg sack to feed off of for the first 1-2 days, then once they pass, you can start feeding, finely crushed flakes. They will eat because they are hungry.

Feed the adults 1-2 times a day everyday. The babys 2-5 times a day.

How big is your tank?

 

[pam v]

Hooray the baby is a week old today and still going strong, thanks for the advice.
I am going to do a partial water change today as i didn't do one last week, i'm a bit worried this may freak them out what do you think?
I have a 65 litre tank

 

[Cloverdale]

Hooray the baby is a week old today and still going strong, thanks for the advice.
I am going to do a partial water change today as i didn't do one last week, i'm a bit worried this may freak them out what do you think?
I have a 65 litre tank

Hi there! I am fairly new too, but your situation is pretty similar to mine, so I can at least offer what has been working for me.

I planted my 29 gallon tank with 3 water sprite and bought some of the artificial baby grass. This has been plenty of cover for my fry from day one - no catching, finding, moving, etc.

For the first few days I fed the fry a hard boiled egg yolk mushed up with just enough water to make it a paste. Then you dip a toothpick in the mixture and mix it into the water. I tried crushed up flakes too, but they didn't seem to touch those. The, a few days ago, I got the Hikari First Bites from my LFS. These have been great b/c they float a little longer in the middle of the water column allowing the fry more access.

I work full-time, so my fish are getting fed twice a day, and the fry seem to be fine with this - especially with the live plants which I am pretty sure they nibble on during the day.

Water Changes - you should be fine just being careful. I didn't let me tank fully cycle before getting the mollies (my bad), so I have been testing the water daily and have probably done 3 water changes since the fry were born a week ago. They have been fine each time! Just follow the common sense guidelines, making sure the water is the same temp, just a water conditioner, etc.

Good luck!!!!