Babies? Maybe....

[FishySarah]

Well, my molly gave birth last night. At least I think she did. No more round belly. However, no sign of fry.

It's a 29 gallon tank with 4 gold barbs, 4 platys, 2 mollies, 4 longfin and 6 neon tetras. Plus one otto. But there are a lot of hiding places. About 1/5 of the tank is taken up by java moss- I really need to weed it- it grows like you wouldn't believe. Also tons of silk and plastic plants, many of them bushy, including two large 'baby savers' I got online at petco - really bushy plastic plants meant to hide baby fish.

Could it be there's some hiding? They were born the night before last, and no sign. Not in the gravel or that I can see (of course, the java moss is so dense you really can't see anything) No sign of babies at feeding time either. However, my otto was lost for a week in the tank- I moved stuff around and still couldn't find him. Then he came sauntering out into the open one day. Do the fish I have usually eat baby fish? Has anyone else had babies that show up later? And if there are any, how will they get food? Should I overfeed or crinkle up the food really small or something?

What do you think?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Mollies and platies often eat their own babies- I have seen a livebearer female literally turn round and devour each fry as it popped out. Some do, some don't. Golden barbs also sound a likely suspect. There may still be babies lurking- if so, they should be able to sustain themselves on infusoria living among all those lovely plants, and they can graze on any algae you have going. You could also try with a little crushed flake.