Tank Divider: Which One Should I Get?

[sarah5775]

Well, my molly gave birth last night, and this morning I could not find a single baby molly in the tank :| It is as I feared- they have been eaten, probably by my barbs, black skirts and/or gourami. I am hoping that there may be one or two survivors hiding but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I want to see if I can save some from her next drop. Well, another tank is out of the question, and so is a breeding net (Mollies are much too big, it would stress her too much) So the only option I can see is a tank divider. I could move her when she's about to give birth and then raise the babies.

So I found two online. Has anyone had any experience with one of them?

Penn Plax Tank Divider - Exrta Large - 11 3/8" x 15 1/2" - Accessories - Tank Dividers at BigalsOnline

Lee's Aquarium Divider-29/55 Gallon - Accessories - Tank Dividers at BigalsOnline

Or of course I could try to make one- I read something about crafting one out of the things you get in a craft store for needlepoint and fishing line.

Has anyone had any experiences with tank dividers and can help me?

 

[Crepe]

Well molly fry are about 1mm (high) x 2-3mm (long)right out of the oven so you will need a divider with holes smaller than 1.5mm.

 

[sarah5775]

Unfortunately, Crepe, I won't know how big the holes are until I order the thing. My lfs doesn't carry dividers- well they do but they are flimsy little things and impossible to use as you have to cut them and they are brittle and break- completely useless.

I am wondering if anyone has used either of the dividers I've mentioned and if they would know if the mollies would be big enough.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Do you have plants in your tank? Pea Gravel? Plants give fry a place to hide, as does pea gravel. I had pea gravel in my 55g for a while and ended up having about 15 zebra danio fry and 20-30 platy fry (they hid down in the crevises of the gravel). I have plants in my 10g, and stuck 4 platys in there for a few days, ended up with 15 fry after i took out the adults. I prefer to let nature take its course. Breeder traps put too much stress on the fish IMO, never used a divider.

 

[sarahh]

also, you could try the grass matt. it's plasticy and poky, but that keeps the adult fish out. i have fry surviving in a 75 gal community tank with corys, a crab (i have no idea what to do with it.. ), rainbow shark and mollies and platies.. No one should be able to survive that, but they do.. plenty of cover and medium sized pea gravel..
oh, and BTW even if you do everything right, not all will live..

 

[Crepe]

Try using a pile of marbles in one corner of the tank. Breeders use round balls about 1.5cm in diameter or marbles to keep hungry parents away from recently laid eggs (egg scatterers) and fry.

 

[Tivaala]

i made a breeding trap for my mollies out of some nets and plastic rods. lashed the rods together to make the frame, stitched the net to it. of course i probably could of used a pair of tights or summat saved on sewing but the point is, it was super cheap and easy to make and i could make it as big as i wanted. the same idea could be used for a diy divider if you want. make a frame, stretch net/whatever tightly over it, fix in place and then place whereever. actually you could even make a corner division that way....

 

[sarah5775]

I'm going to get some marbles.

In addition, this is what I'm trying.

I have a little one gallon betta tank, which I put in the big tank and propped up on a rock (its a 55 gallon tank, but on the rock the one gallon container fits with the top just above the surface, had to drop the level a bit, but its ok.

Only problem- no filter in the little tank and thus no air circulation. If I change 50% of the water every day that the fry are in there, do you think it will work without a filter? A gallon isn't huge, but its much better than the breeding trap. I could put a sponge filter in there but I think the current might be too much for the fry.