mollie fry woohoo

[danbedfordshire]

man..... as i said in my topic the other day, i just set up my breeding/qurantine tank and decided to use my two black mollies for the cycle, and also cos they just had white spot treatment, so i put them into the new(3 day old) tank. As i put them in, i noticed she was looking rather large, and thought, well maybe she could be preggers!! And she also spent the rest of the evening in the corner, just above the gravel.So anyway, went to bed last night, and got up this morning, but didnt bother checking the tank til about 11 am as we were heading out for the day. Well suck me sideways, i couldnt belive my mince pies when i was presented with a shoal of about 17 babys!!!!! WOW....... So i was really please i did send the two mollies to the breeding tank when i did, as the babys might not have survived. Now one quick Q!!!
Do i need to remove mother and father from the tank, and let the fry stay in the tank and do the cycle, or just let them all be, and enjoy parenthood???

Thanks
Dan.
1,2, a 1,2,3,4

 

[a.i.m]

Hi dan, well done on your new fry, i think this post should be in the live bearers section. Any way as for removing the parents, in my experiance i would be only inclined to remove them if the babies are being chased or eaten. Try and provide cover for the fry with floating plants, and crushed fine flake will do to start feeding them.
Good luck

 

[Raechal]

I don't think I understand completely....The tank is already cycled or you want to cycle it with the fry?

Anyways, the mom and dad may not eat the fry, but they may eat them. You never know. My molly never ate her own fry, but she didn't even have a chance because my catfish gobbled all but 7 up.

Since livebearers can have more than 100 fry at once, I am thinking your mollies did eat a few or there are just more hiding.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi danbedfordshire

Raising livebearer fry is not my area of expertise, but raising cory fry is. They never start out in a cycled tank, but by the time they are a couple of months old, the tank is nicely cycled, and they are strong and healthy. There is no need to worry, you can raise your Mollys the same way.

I suggest you remove the parents immediately to prevent them from munching on the fry. Also, set up an air pump with a sponge filter if you can. This is the safest way to go where fry are concerned. Later you can splice in an box filter too for additional filtration.

This is the kind of sponge filter I am referring to:

http/www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/produc...ategory_id=2979

Or, if you are running a HOB filter, I suggest that you tie a nylon stocking over the end to keep the fry from being sucked in.

Now, you will want to do a small water change every day. This not only keeps the fry healthy, and the chemicals down, it helps the fry to grow faster and stronger. The thing that so many people lose sight of is the fact that doing a cycle is no magic thing that will ensure the well being of the fish. The important thing to do is to control the chemicals, which you can do through water changes. The bacteria will grow naturally in their own time, while your fry are growing up.