Molly fry mysteriously doubled in number...

[myriam]

I have a section of my 20G set up with a tank divider, and that's where my molly gave birth. I moved her to the main part of the tank after she was done. At that time I had 10 fry in that little section, and for the past couple of weeks they have doubled in size.

This morning I checked my little babies as usual, and I had to blink a few times...there are now 20(!) fry in that little section. The bizarre thing is that the new 10 are really tiny, like they were just born, and are literally half the size of the other 10 fry.

Where the he** could these 10 little fry have come from?! Could they have been hiding in the gravel/plants for two weeks? I thought maybe my divider had a gap or something, and they had swum in from the main section, because there are pregnant platies in there. But I checked the divider and it's pretty tight on both sides, with a rubbery seal between it and the glass. I just can't believe they could have been hiding for two weeks; both my husband and I were counting the fry twice every day to make sure they were all there.

My 4 yr old's theory is that the mother had more babies to give, so during the night she jumped over the divider, gave birth, then jumped back to the other section to be with her friends. LOL!!

Now I really don't know what to do with all these fry 8O Guess I'd better call the LFS in a couple of months to see if they'll take some.

[Sati]

Originally Posted by myriam

My 4 yr old's theory is that the mother had more babies to give, so during the night she jumped over the divider, gave birth, then jumped back to the other section to be with her friends. LOL!!

I don't know what happened, but that right there is cute as hell =]

[Allivymar]

Understand I don't have a good grasp on livebearers, but is it possible the older fry are actually mature enough to breed? When do mollies start? I thought it was at a few months but maybe I'm wrong?

[myriam]

Heya Alli,

I think I read somewhere that mollies can breed as young as 4 months...but mine are 2 weeks old! They are about 1/2" long

[Allivymar]

LOL Then you have gremlins

Have a coupla kudos for giving me something to wonder about for the next coupla days LOL

[myriam]

Eeks, what's going on?! I just counted tonight and I'm up to 22 fry!!! I just can't figure out where these little guys are coming from. I'm getting worried they'll be up to 30 by week's end!

Thanks for the kudos, Alli

[myriam]

Just an update...

The fry total is now 25. Ack!! So I have made the decision to remove the tank divider this weekend, and just let nature take its course In the event they all grow to an inch or so, my 20G and the adult fish already there just can't handle this crowd, and right now I don't have the time/energy to call various LFS to see if they'll take my fry.

I figure since my tank is pretty well-planted now and there are lots of hiding places, and since I also have just livebearers and 2 cories, I will have a never-ending cycle of fry coming, so some of them should survive to adulthood. The rest will have to just be protein for the others

Is this like a totally horrible thing to do?!?! I am having total stress over it. What do the rest of you do with all your livebearer fry, other than take them to the LFS? I just need some reassurance that I'm not a meanie.

[Allivymar]

Holy jebus LOL MORE babies? I think you better call the Nat'l Enquirer; your tank has been taken over by aliens LOL

And there is nothing horrible about the life cycle. What would be horrible is stuffing all those fish into a tank too small and letting em live with a poor quality of life. Least this way, some of the fish will benefit! Understand I don't breed livebearers, and adore my fish, but I see nothing wrong with live food of any sort, as long as the food doesn't suffer. And the chances of that happening with such small guys is minimal (as opposed to large goldies being fed to pirahnas and oscars, who take bites and can leave the feeders to die slowly).

[Sati]

Originally Posted by Allivymar

And the chances of that happening with such small guys is minimal (as opposed to large goldies being fed to pirahnas and oscars, who take bites and can leave the feeders to die slowly).

Ugh. You just reminded me why I've never had anything but peaceful community fish

[Seven]

I'm pretty sure I have read that mollies will release fry then wait a while and release more. Perhaps even on these forums?

[myriam]

Just an update...

Since I removed the divider the remaining fry has dwindled from 25 to about 8, I think. I can't keep track of them because they are always hiding or whizzing by from one plant to another. When I first removed the divider I couldn't bear to look in the tank, for fear I'd see all the fry getting gobbled up. But it seems the stronger, faster, smarter ones are surviving.

So it's been fun to see a fry here or there...but not everywhere

[HOLLIEO]

In your tank do you happen to have any guppies? The reason I ask is you mentioned that there wer new fry that appeared and they were only about half the size of the fist ones. Guppy fry looks just like molly fry , just smaller.
My molly fry kinda did the same houdini trick when they were born. I had one of those tank dividers made by PennPlax. Anyway... The mom had her babies in the night time on the community side (i didn't reaalize she was ready.. ) and when I went to feed the fish in the morning... I notied she had babies!! The funny thing is that all but 2 made their way on the 'safe' side of the divider. I guess they are able to pass through the minisucle gap that the divider has, against the tank sides. Strange Yes.
Oh, and onther thing.... the mollies can have a few fry and then even have a few fry days later.
Good Luck with your fisheies!!! They are a blast!!!
Get the fry some Java moss. They love that stuff!!

[myriam]

Hollieo, I have platies and mollies. So the little fry are probably platy fry, since those ones are all pregnant, too (sheesh!).

Tonight I counted 8 fry, so it looks like the stronger, smarter ones have made it so far. Some are over a 1/2" already, while a few are so tiny still.

I have a ton of plants in there now and they seem to be pretty good at hiding in them. I like seeing them hiding in the plant roots.

[TheNewGuy]

I have guppies that think they belong in the rabbit family it seems like everytime I look in my QT tank there are a few more of them so I pick out the mid sized ones and send them up to my big tank I'm sure my tire track eel loves it... he doesn't eat prepared food anymore but those guppies keep disappearing over night. all in all I think it's a good idea to keep a few livebearers around. I have swords and guppies they both make plenty of food for my eel.

[myriam]

Ok, NewGuy, I'm keeping my livebearers away from your hungry eel 8O
LOL