Mollie Fry

[Fishkid]

So, we added some Mollies the other day. Well, one was pregnant and within hours of putting in the tank the mother had 14 fry. I noticed two were eaten right away, but I removed the other 12 to a bowl with an airstone.

In many years of keeping fish I have never had fry before. Will the pet store take them or a lfs? I guess she really liked the water in the tank.

Help, I don't want these little guys to die, but cannot keep 12 fry in a tank with mollies and gouramis.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Petsmart, petco, ect. cannot buy fish off other people because they have set contracts with sellers so it's tech. illegal for them to buy off people. They can break the contract but that will hurt their business. Some of those stores will take donations though. Like adopt fish.

LFS might buy them off you, but they are pretty common so they might not buy them, you can ask though. You can always donate them to people.

 

[Fishkid]

I just want to donate. Not in this hobby to make money. Thanks a lot for the feedback. The lfs I usually go to opens at 11 am. Fingers crossed they will take them.

Of course I would not be in this situation if I had of looked at the fish closer before purchasing.

 

[missileman]

Some stores may take them but not likely until they are a bit bigger, 4-6 weeks old maybe.

 

[Fishkid]

So, how the heck would I keep them alive until then? All I have is a fish bowl with water and gravel from an established tank and an airstone. Had not had time to set up QT yet.

Will 12 fry do okay in one of those mesh breeders like I have seen for guppies?

 

[missileman]

How big is your tank?
Can you fit a net breeder in the front corner?

 

[Fishkid]

This is my other, older 10 gallon (you know my history with the newer one and cycling ). It has three Gouramis in it.

I did find a place to take them that has another tank with lots of other Mollie fry, so issue avoided. Hopefully my 30 gallon QT tank will be ready by the time this kind of issue comes up again.

Thanks for the help.

 

[missileman]

LOL, hurry, these things breed like rabbits

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

What I suggest doing is start feeding the fry to other fish you have. They are a good source of food for fish, plus the fry don't go to waste. You have to not have much of a heart, or you have to be sick of your mollies breeding to do this lol. When I had my mollies they bred like crazy and just eventually started feed the fry to my cichlids, my cichlids love 'em and they are very healthy because of it.

I suggest making a whole seperate tank just for molly breeding to feed the fry to other fish, well worth it. Plus if you get enough pairs and they breed frequently you won't have to buy food much at all. I buy one small container every 4-5 months because I feed fry to most of my fish.

 

[mike47517]

or if you just want to save all the trouble never do anything about them. let them be born in eaten in the same tank. if you wish not to feed them then i would suggest you get some kind of breeder so they can be seperated for a while till you give them away. get a cheap breeder. usually no more than $5. find a petstore that will take them. and be prepared to have babies alll the time. oh and beware 14 is a small # my black mollie averages about 70. she's also the biggest mollie ive ever seen lol. umm lots of time if you take them to a private business you can get a little store credit. i dont ask for store credit any more where i give my mollie fry. i just pic out a few fish that i want. get ready to buy them and the store owner is kind and usually just tells me to have them. like recently i gave the store a 6" convict and they gave me 1 swordtail and 2 tiger barbs
but like fishcrazy says they are great food if you dont have a heart for them.

 

[d1anonly22]

there are store that will buy, check where all the mom and pop stores near you and start calling around, i just started breeding my jack dempseys and i called a few stores the moment they were born now i have stores that buy from me when ever there ready. you just got to look.