Baby Fishies!

[Jay_Bunny]

As you read in another thread about Petco, I got two mollies from there, a male and a female. I read somewhere that most females come pregnant since they've been housed with males. I got a female anyway and saw immediatly when I brought her home that she was preggers. That was Monday.

On Wednesday, I went to Petsmart and got her a 2way breeder tank that fits inside the home tank. It is shaped so that fry fall down into the lower half of the tank while momma sits in a triangle shaped space above. I put her in on Wednesday.

Well this morning, I wake up and what do I find? BABIES! There are five of them so far, and one undeveloped egg. Momma is looking thinner now, but I'm not sure if she's got more to go. I definatly see some dark spots in her belly still. I'll be keeping an eye on her for the next few hours. There is also one undeveloped egg among the fry. One baby is swimming in circles. Wierd?

So I've never raised baby fish before. What do I do? The bottom of the breeder tank has feces in it as well. I want to get that out of there, but how do I do it without disturbing the fry. Two walls of this breeder tank have slats small enough the babies can't get through it, but allows for water flow.

When do I offer them food? When do I remove Momma? How often do I do a water change in the home tank now?

[MATT FISHER REPTILES]

dosnt sound like you planned this out to well hahaha. ok first off. as soon as the babies are swimming around you proabbly want to take mom out of the tank. as far as cleaning the tank you can use a syphen to get the bottom layer of crrap out but be carefull not to suck up any fish. best of luck.

[Jay_Bunny]

Well I knew she was pregnant, but I wasn't expecting her to pop out babies this soon. Thankfully I get my paycheck today, so any additional things I need to get today for them, I can get. (Such as a grow out tank)

My syphon is a bit big for that breeder tank. On the site it says that once she's had all her babies (which can be anywhere between 12 and 30), to remove her and feed the babies powdered flake food. What about using baby brine shrimp? I've heard they are a good food for many types of fry.

[slartibartfast]

My brother kept two female mollies for years in a very low-maintenance tank, and they would periodicly give birth to a handful of babies without the presence of a male. We never separated them (except when we gave them away) and they all ate the same food as the adults and thrived for years until my mother did something funny when she cleaned the tank. :-(

[Jay_Bunny]

Well Momma (as I now call her) looks like she has no interest in giving me more babies, so I turned off the light (as it was last night and this morning when she gave birth) to see if maybe that will coax a few more out of her. (A site I read says she will give birth to 12-30 babies for her first birthing.

One baby just isn't right. Its constantly swimming in a circle. Its smaller than the other four.

[jessie_k_pythons]

I raised mollies for years and years. That little fry is prob.not going to make it. there is at least one in every litter that wont make it. Here is what I did for my babies.

Gave mama a few days in the birthing tank. once I felt she was done I would place her back in the standard tank. feed mama. then i would take some flake food and place it in a ziplock bag and crush it very fine. once it was powdered i fed them a very small amount each day untill they made it to larger food. once they were to big for the other fish to eat I would let them in to the adult tank and get the birthing tank ready for the next litter.

it got to the point that i had to get a full blown birthing tank. (a small 5 gal tank with an UG filter) I also ended up buying a small can of flake food and grinding it all up. it was much cheaper that way then to buy pree ground food that was the same as the stuff I was making.

[Jay_Bunny]

Well, we are still at 5 babies. I've turned the light back on so I can moniter the babies. The mother is swimming around trying to find a way out of the breeder tank. Should I leave her in there for a few days? And how soon should I feed the babies?

[Jay_Bunny]

Five hours after the discovery of little fins inmy tank, and there are still only five. The little one is swimming in circles still.

I'm going to the petstore today to get stuff for them (food, and a possible grow out tank.)

If I do get a grow out tank, what size should I get? Will they need a light hood, filter, heater, ect? Without a heater, temps range from 67-72. With a heater, it climbs to 82. (This is based on a 10g) I currently have no room for another 10g, so would they be ok in a smaller tank? If so, would they require a filter if I plan on doing frequent water changes? Would they need a heater?

[Ginevive]

I like using the fry food; it is a liquid and comes in a tube. I used it for goldfish fry years ago, and 3 out of 3 of those are still alive and kickin' today

[Jay_Bunny]

Well the babies have made it through the first week. (well four of them anyway) The babies are now 10 days old and doing great. They have thier own 10g with fake plants for them to hide in and they get crushed flake food everyday. They gobble that stuff up and there are lots of little poops on the tank bottom. Sucked all that nastiness out with a syphon and got it all nice a clean.

I can't wait till they are all grown up.