Breeding

[Guppyman]

Fry

Wahhh These little fishies are my only pets for now, so all my pet-love goes into them. Frank, you are very lucky to have Baby!

I do understand, and I don't mean to appear callous. It's just in how you perceive life - all life. When I feed a fish to another fish, intentionally, I rejoice in the natural progression of live, the exceptional nutrition I am providing for that fish and the completion of the "cycle of life" as prescribed by nature. I don't believe in flushing fish, or freezing fish (unless they are terribly ill). I have no problem feeding one fish to another. I had the pleasure of living in Key West for 2 years and I used to SCUBA dive every single day. Sometimes I would just sit on the bottom in 10 to 15 feet of water, for very long periods and just watch. It was a continuous stream of one creature chasing another - either to eat or mate. That's all there is.

Maybe it's because I have been keeping fish for over 45 years - but it just doesn't bother me to feed them to one another.

You are so right about having Baby to give love to and receive her love in return. I do not take that for granted at any moment in my life.

As much as you love your fish and I know you really do, you have to look at their demise in a positive way. After feeding them to another fish and you see that specimen "color up" and revel in that natural meal and grow strong and heathy because of it - you can and should feel good about it. You did a good thing. Peace. - Frank

 

[TankGirl]

It is so much better to use them than to get the feeder fish from the LFS, where who knows what parasites and diseases you will transfer to your tank. I feed my prolific fry population to my other fish, and though it was hard at first, once you see how they relish it, you won't feel so bad, and you will feel like you are doing a good thing. It is like raising brine shrimp or something, but the stock is carefully raised by you!

Also, the black molly can have different color fry, even when mated with another black molly.

 

[Guppyman]

Also, the black molly can have different color fry, even when mated with another black molly.

This is very true, but if the fry are red or really orange, they are probably cross bred. Not for sure - but most likely. - Frank

 

[myriam]

I will see what I can do about giving my fry away, whether for pets or as food. I guess I could put an ad in my husband's company newsletter. I know I have to do something, because these fry are getting bigger each day. As long as I don't have to see them get eaten, I'll be okay.

Hmm, Frank, the fry are actually a really dark, reddish orange with black fins and tails, except for one that is all bright orange, and another that is kind of transparent, light orange with black tails and fins. Why would that mean they are probably crossbred?

 

[TankGirl]

I think it is more common for black mollies to have fry with white on them, but Frank will probably step in here....

 

[myriam]

I should also add that the reason I was looking for black fry was when I first got the black mollies, two weeks later I found a little black fry hiding in one of my plants. He was very cute and hid quite well. I don't know which of the two females had him, and there were no other fry except him. Unfortunately he got eaten. So when one of the females got huge, I put her in the QT area so I could see all these little black fry.

 

[Guppyman]

Molly Fry

I'm a bit confused. I thought I read early on that there was more than one red platy and no male black mollies. Of course mollies, like guppies can be inpregnated once ond have multible births from that one insemination. Research has shown, however, that a new male can supersede the held sperm. This would allow the very rare cross breeding between a platy and a molly to occur. - Frank

 

[myriam]

Oops, sorry to confuse you, Frank. I started out with 5 red platies (2 M, 3 F) and 3 black mollies (1 M, 2 F).

It's just so weird that the black molly and a red platy male crossbred, since the two kinds of fish don't interact at all with each other. Maybe at night when the tank light goes off, they "swap" mates (sorry if I offend anybody here).

But I'm sure the black molly hasn't mated with any of the platy females because I don't think he even knows they exist.

 

[Guppyman]

It's just so weird that the black molly and a red platy male crossbred, since the two kinds of fish don't interact at all with each other.

But I'm sure the black molly hasn't mated with any of the platy females because I don't think he even knows they exist.

Hi, You're talking about something that takes about 1/10 of a second or less to take place. The chances of you seeing it happen, regardless of how much time you spend peering into the tank are pretty remote. - Frank

 

[BrianNY]

Hmmm. Looks like I'll accept Frank as the resident Live bearer expert. My faith in mollies are gone. I'll never vote for one again!!!

 

[myriam]

Well, I guess those mollies are about as faithful as any politician

 

[TankGirl]

Don't give up on the mighty molly, Brian! They're salt, they're fresh, they're Two, Two, Two fish in One!

 

[Guppyman]

Mollies

Hey, Kids. I'm no expert. I can offer my experiences. We all know that everyone's experiences are different. I don't even know as much about guppies as I should. Well....... - maybe about guppies I do.

Just trying to keep the debate alive. - Frank

 

[myriam]

Well guess what everybody, I just found about 8 little black fry last night. Geez, my fish are too active 8O The odd thing is that the one black molly is surely not pregnant...she is quite skinny right now. One of the platies looks pregnant, but not hugely so, and I figured she still had another couple of weeks before she dropped fry. So I'm not sure who these black fry came from, and if they are 100% molly or half-platy. I also have an oto that is quite fat and pregnant, and I keep searching for signs of spawning, but nothing yet.

I also realized that the originator of this thread was gregerika, who was looking for info on breeding. Sorry that my one question kind of took over your thread! Hopefully there is info here you will find useful, as it sounds like you are in for a lot of fry in the future.

And Frank, c'mon you modest man, you ARE a total expert if I ever knew one

 

[platylover]

Congrats, Myriam! that's great news! It's always fun to find new fry in your tanks. I'm glad you finally got your black fry. I hope that they are totally molly. I was thinking of getting osme ottos for my tank as soon as I find a new home for my CAE. How do you like them?

Anyways, congrats again on the new additions and I totally agree with you on Fank being a livebearer expert.

 

[myriam]

Thanks platylover! I'm hoping they are all molly, too. I guess we'll see sooner or later.

I love my otos! They are cute and funny and pretty easy to care for. They did an amazing job clearing up the algae in my tank; now they eat algae wafers. I also noticed another oto is looking round in the middle, so we'll see if she is pregnant, too. I highly recommend these fishies Let me know if/when you get any.

 

[platylover]

Cool, that sounds like my kind of fish, easy to take care of. I don' really have an algae problem right now, my CAE is still young enough that he eats algae. I just need to find a good home for him and I'm set for the little guys. Thanks for the recommendation!

Good luck with the rounded oto and keep me posted if she does spawn.

-Jim