Basic Question About Mollys

[themanofsilver]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and to freshwater fish tanks. I'm an overworked and underpaid (if paid at all) college student and my fish have provided me with endless hours of "staretime" where I can veg and just enjoy watching them swim. It's quite relaxing. Anyway, down to business.

I have 3 Gold Dust Mollys, they are very yellow and are great. I have 2 females and 1 male. Recently I noticed that one of the females was clearly fatter and there are black marks visible toward the back of her stomach area. I suppose this is a signal that she is pregnant.

I put her in a birthing net and wanted to know if anyone could help me gauge a) how long it is safe to have her in the net, b) how long the gestation period is for a molly, c) is there a danger for her to eat her fry, d) how many fry do mollys typically have, and finally e) how long does it take for molly fry to mature so it is safe to introduce them to the community.

I know I have a lot of questions so thank you for your patience with this newbie. Thanks Again!

 

[TankGirl]

Welcome to AA, themanofsilver!

I'll give you my opinion based on my own experience with mollies, and I am sure others will pipe in with differing opinions.

I have found that mollies do better long-term in a very slightly brackish tank, so I keep them with some salt in the water. I also learned that taking great pains to separate the mother and protect the fry is not really necessary, because over time you are going to find yourself overrun with mollies anyway. If you are doing selective breeding and wish to isolate a strain, etc., then that is a very different story, however. Keeping her in a breeding net can be stressful, especially if you are not really sure how long it will be until she drops the fry. She may drop them prematurely if she is stressed.

I like to provide a lot of cover in the form of plants, some low, some that go all the way to the surface, and some floating. This can be live or fake - silk plants are very attractive. This way the mother can hide out to drop her fry and the babies have a place to hang out and be somewhat protected. You will be surprised at how big they are and it does not take long for them to join the adult fish. You can crumble flake into a powder or get "Fry Bites" or a similar liquid fry food and use a turkey baster or syringe to get it to where the babies are residing. I think the parents consuming some of the fry is normal and natural and in my experience they don't eat enough of them to impact the numbers significantly.

Good luck!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:4bf681d382] Welcome to AA, themanofsilver! [/center:4bf681d382]

There is tons of info out there on Mollies, just Google "Molly breeding." When I had Mollies, with the intent that they would breed, they didn't :?
Mollies can live in a brackish tank and none of the other fish mentioned can. Personally, I would go brackish and add Celebese Rainbows, which have excellent finage and great color.
Although, now that I looked at your profile:

4 Pristella Tetra 2 Leopard Cory 1 Panda Cory 3 Gold Dust Mollys 3 Med. Tiger Barbs

It looks like you are getting full for a 20 gal long, plus the others cannot tolerate salt. Since the tiger barbs are growing and you will soon be overwhelmed with Molly fry, I would not add anything else to the tank.

 

[Umberle]

The tetras would sure look pretty but the Mollys do better with salt in the tank and tetras don't so much and the same goes for angels I think (although I know less about them)

Try looking at sword tails and platies. They are also livebearers and brackish...but as Menagerie says....sounds like it's getting a bit full in there. May be it's time for a second tanks a brackish and a FW maybe?

 

[themanofsilver]

ha. a second tank would be wonderful, Umberle. However, I'm just a poor college student. Could I count on you to supply some of the cash to make it happen?

I these Mollys were purchased at Jack's Aquarium and Pets and were raised in FW. So, I'm not uncomfortable leaving them in the FW and it doesn't seem like they are doing poorly. There are 2 silk plants and a good sized rock with "cave-like" holes in it for hiding and shade.

The pregnant female is still in the birthing net and she seems to be doing well. This is day 2 and I'm still not sure how long it will be until she pops. But I'll keep everyone up to date. 8)

Any and All advice is welcome and appreciated!

 

[Umberle]

hehehe I sympathize...I'm in grad school.... saving long and hard for my 20 gal :? Never the less if you are persistant there are steals out there

Mollies, swordtails, and platies will all do just fine in FW but they'll do even better in brackish.

Unfortunately I don't have much advice to give....good luck though.

 

[Menagerie]

ha. a second tank would be wonderful, Umberle. However, I'm just a poor college student. Could I count on you to supply some of the cash to make it happen?

As a grad student I can also sympathize, but that hasn't stopped me from owning 7+ tanks. There are deals to be had. Check the local "Bargian Finder" type papers and the classifieds. You never know what's out there!