Breeding tank help!

[Pagey]

Hi guys, ive recently bought a breeding pair of sailfin mollies as a first attempt at breeding. I was told these are good to start with? Ive also aquired a 60 litre tank which i could use as a breeding tank. Is there any advise you can give me on how to go about setting up if it needs to be different from a normal aquarium and anything i need to be carefull of etc?
Thanks

 

[PolyptRus]

Just gravel not much else maybe a few plants try keeping the temp a few degrees above normal aquarium salt is good to use with mollies especially black mollies wich are notorious for getting ich.some people say mollies are brackish plus aquarium salt is just good to have anyway because it prevents illness especially ich. Tank should be filtered doesn't need a air pump. They don't need too much else just feed them good quality foods high in protein to get them into good breeding condition plus pregnant mollies need high protein diets especially around the end of the pregnancy. Make sure you keep a group of them females out numbering males 2 to 1 you will have a better chance of breeding them that way I noticed with mollies the larger the group the more successful breeding is.

 

[Pagey]

Cheers, ill get another female then. Im pretty sure shes already pregnant from being in the store. Ill try and get a decent picture after work and see what you guys think

 

[PolyptRus]

Ya I found it easier to breed them if I got one that was already pregnant I had a few mollies recently that just would not breed at all they were females that had never been pregnant and they still have not bred so I think it's better to get pregnant females

 

[Pagey]

Hopefully ill have some success. The bloke in the shop advised feeding them frozen cyclops as well as bloodworm. However it seems to make a mess in the tank and the fish dont seem too fussed by it

 

[PolyptRus]

Blood worms would be good but if they aren't eating it then I guess they would make no difference haha is it dried blood worms that you are trying? My smaller fish seem to like dry foods a lot more.

 

[Pagey]

They like the bloodworm just not the cyclops :/ none of my fish bother with it. Ive got both frozen and dried bloodworm so i try and alternate between the 2 aswell as normal flake and pellets for the bottom feeders

 

[PolyptRus]

Well it sounds like everything your doing I'd correct now all you can do is wait. You can use a breeding trap if you want when the female begins to go into labour but I personally don't use them I think they stress the mama out so I leave them in the tank I don't even seperate them anymore I just leave them to do there thing and I still seen to end up with quite a few babies so I don't find any need of seperating the mamas or the babies as long as you have gravel and a few plants the babies should find a good hiding spot

 

[Pagey]

 

[Pagey]

What do we think?

 

[PolyptRus]

Looks pretty pregnant do you notice a gravid spot on her belly yet?

 

[Pagey]

Not really no which is odd because shes started acting as though shes not far off from what ive read

 

[Mojo3251]

I say she has another 1 to 2 weeks! Sometimes the gravid spots are a orangish yellow..

 

[PolyptRus]

Ya sometimes it depends on the color of the fish or the color of the fry