Hi new here

[tizme]

Hi I am new to this forum.....looks like I will be able to get some very good info here!!

My husband and I just recently got a fish tank (20 gallon high)....we had several fish most of whom died from ich and fungus, the closest we can come to a reason is probable due to high ph....finally got the ph under control and had one sole survivor (mickey mouse platy)

Last weekend we bought some lyretail mollies (2 female 1 male) 2 swordtails (1 of each) and by accident we got another female (sold us the wrong fish and decided to keep).......two days later I noticed a fry, caught it and put it in a 5 gallon we had set up.....by the end of the day had close to 20(most white, but a couple with black).....I think they are probably mollies but not sure as I didn't have the fish long enough to notice a pregnancy!

now just this weekend found 3 more fry in the big tank.....these are a lot smaller than the ones from last weekend.....could they be from the same birth, but just not as big because not as much food (feeding the others brine shrimp and liquifry several times a day), or is it more likely that another fish gave birth???

Also, how long can we keep the fry in the small tank (we only lost 2 so far as I can tell -- hard to count so many!)??? New to this breeding, but already thinking about possibly getting a bigger fry tank!!

 

[Vip]

I would say there from a differnt birth, how many females to males have you got sorry?

 

[tizme]

We have 2 female lyretails, 1 non lyretail, and 1 male..those are the mollies.....also have 1 male and 1 female swordtail.....and a coulple of platies (think they are male, but not sure).....only had the fish 1 week, you think 2 were pregnant when we got them??? how long from mating to birth???

 

[appleblossom]

I have found the molly fry are bigger and have moire distnct colours so the first batch were probably mollies and the second may have been platies (you can tell the sex of your platies by looking at the anal fin: triangular = girl, pointy stick = boy) or swordtails.

Mating to birth takes around a month but it depends on the temperature you keep your tank at. If the temperature is too high they will breed too quickly and die a lot faster.

Congratulations on your new arrivals!