Balloon Molly Fry

[LIL860]

Well after a disastrous weekend which involved my dropping my biorb life and cracking the base beyond repair I had to quickly go and buy a replacement tank on Saturday which is a boyu 80 litre.Lost 2 platies and a tetra in the process, All fish added including 6 balloon molly fry. Well this morning i have woken up to more newborn balloon molly fry which seem to be doing well whizzing round the tank even near the platies which dont seem bothered about eating them. How long does it take for them to get adult size as the older fry are now about 5 weeks old.Also when do they start getting their balloon bellies? I shall obviousley rehome some of the fry when old enough as my tank will become over crowded.

 

[OldMan47]

A well fed and cared for molly will reach adult size in about 6 months. Crowding can restrain the adult size to some degree and to get truly magnificent mollies requires enormous tanks for grow out. I have grown out nice pet shop mollies to a typical pet shop size in a mere 55 gallon tank but have never tried it in a small tank like a 60 litre. My 120 gallon would have given me better results, but it contains predators that would not have let the mollies survive to become adults.

 

[LIL860]

Thanks i will wait and see how many survive, ive counted 8 newborns today plus my older 6 fry. So i hope there isnt anymore as i dont have room for another tank.