Livebearer Potential Problem?

[Rhys]

Hello everyone

I'm relatively new to keeping tropical fish so please be patient.

I have a 50 gallon tank set up at the moment with about 5 different breeds all of which seem to be doing fine. I have 4 male molly's and 4 female mollies and 2 male guppies and 2 female guppies.

At the moment 2 of the female mollies seem to be pregnant and 2 of them have just recently given birth. The baby fish are stored in net breeders.

However what I didn't realise when I first bought the female fish is that they can breed every 5 weeks or so, which will mean in about 6 months you won't be able to see the water for the fish.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to combat this problem?

Should I buy a seperate tank for the females or should I just do away with the net breeders and use the "survival of the fittest technique"? Any ideas?

Thanks
Rhys

 

[LouiseRat]

me and my hubby are also new to this

we have ry in our tank from our swordtails , 1 of which is preggers again , also have 3 pregnant female guppys

we are just leaving it to nature and not interfering , if the fry live , they live , if they dont , they dont.

any that do live we will either keep , or pop in the paper as free to a good loving home

its 100% your choice , do what you feel you want to , dont be pressured into doing something you dont want to do

take care and good luck , louise

 

[sussexgirl]

Should I buy a seperate tank for the females or should I just do away with the net breeders and use the "survival of the fittest technique"? Any ideas?

My first batch of Platy fry got eaten, infact I only noticed one in the tank one day and have never seen it since so that goes to show that the survival of the fittest technique you mention deals with the problem. However, if you're anything like me you'll become totally absorbed in this hobby and within a few months will have bought a small tank to use as a nursery for your fry. Contact your local LFS and ask if they would take your fry off you. I have and they are willing to give me credit to use on meds, products, plants or new fish. It's great to watch the babies grow so long as you're not completely overun with them.

 

[LouiseRat]

survival of the fittest can work

our swordtail gave birth to only 5 fry , 3 are still left and doing great however , it is tempting to get a fry tank as they are so cute lol

 

[Chri$]

I have 4 male molly's and 4 female mollies and 2 male guppies and 2 female guppies.

Hi

The female to male ratio is 2:1, so really you should have 8 F mollies to 4 M mollies and 4 F guppies to 2 M guppies.