Mollie Fry

[cjohnston]

Hi,

I have some Mollie fry. How old does anybody reckon they need to be before you can sell them and how much for. Its really a hobby not a money spinner but it would be nice to be able to buy another fish for another tank.

Cheers

 

[donna123]

hi,
ask about see what pet shops are willing to take the fry and ask if you could swap so many for another fish,
being livebearers there not worth an awfull lot, some pet shops will take the whole batch, others will take the fry when they know what sex they are, between 3-5months.donna

 

[cjohnston]

Hi,

My local LFS will take them when there about 1.5cm long and they will swop for another fish, but I would like to give other people a chance because not everybody has the money these days. I was thinking about using my local freeads, do you think 50p is reasonable per fry?

hi,
ask about see what pet shops are willing to take the fry and ask if you could swap so many for another fish,
being livebearers there not worth an awfull lot, some pet shops will take the whole batch, others will take the fry when they know what sex they are, between 3-5months.donna

 

[donna123]

hi,
yes thats a fair price. give it a go then use the pet shop if that fails. good luck, donna

 

[nmonks]

When breeding fish, remember, the LFS wants stuff they can sell. Pure-strain fish are more desireable than mongrels, and big fish are better than stunted little wretches. Older fish are better than newborns. Ideally, ship them off when they are about 20 mm long (about the size of a small neon). At that size, the LFS can be sure to keep them alive, mix them with other fish in his tanks, and have them big enough to attract buyers. As donna123 said, that could be 3-5 months from now.

Hence, a raising tank is a very sound investment. Instead of managing to get 2-3 babies to full size in your breeding trap or community tank, you can get 30 or more to a decent size. Even at 50p a pop, that'll be 15 quid right there, and after two or three broods, you'll have easily recouped the cost of buying a 5-10 gallon tank and its filter and heater. Filtration need only be simple (I use an air-powered box filter) and lighting is totally unnecessary.

With mollies, adding a bit of salt to the water can be very useful, and if you want to minimise your losses, I'd consider adding salt essential. Also, remember the more greens they get, the better their health and colour, and problems like constipation are avoided. Baby fish need up to 6 feedings per day, and set the heater a little higher than you would for community fish; mollies, by preferance, like it on the sultry side. 28 C will do nicely, and that'll pep up their immune system while speeding up their metabolism, both essential with young fish. When fish are stunted or sick as babies, even as adults they are often smaller and less attractive than otherwise would be the case, however well cared for subsequently.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[wendyngd]

Hello to all my fishy friends-

I'm up late tonight (4AM New York time) because I can't sleep 'cause tomorrow I'm bringing about 10 mollie fry to our local pet store....and I'm having separation anxiety!! This is our first fish birth--(Is there a fish word for litter?) and our tank is just getting too crowded--They have to go. But I am so sad...They are so cute and full of life--Hopefully, they'll find good homes with people (and other fish) who will care for them! (I'm such a Jewish mother!! Literally, too )

We are keeping 4 or 5. We intended on keeping 3 but we've had some sneak out of the netted birthing box we put them in earlier this week when we were cleaning the tank--figured they'd be easier to round up.

Since we have 2 known female adult mollies (balloon and dalmatian) and 1 adult male (dalmatian), I have no doubt that we will have many more births of fry--and who knows what sexes the little ones we're keeping are and who they'll produce!!

I'm trying to decide what kind of container I'm going to bring them in. I first thought some big zip lock plastic bags since I don't have any from the fish store, but I've prepared two quart plastic containers--used for chinese take-out soup--punched some airholes in the top. I read everything I could find about transporting fish so I'll just be careful with them. Say a prayer and thank them for their hours of delight they gave us and bring them to their new home.

Goodness, I still can't believe one could get this attached to some fish!! In fact, I'm publishing a story this month. in a newsletter I edit, about the death of our first Betta a few weeks ago and how stunned I was at how attached I became to this little pal. Also about how much joy he gave us. We did get another Betta recently, but he's a lot more skittish than the other one...slowly starting to come to the edge of the bowl to say hello once in a while...

I guess I've "caught the fish bug!"

lOVE TO ALL, THANKS FOR LISTENING

Wendy

 

[cjohnston]

Hi,

Thanks for the great advice, I was starting to consider setting up a fry tank (you've just encouraged me). I have been feeding them on crushed flake food and daphnia. By greens do you mean cucumber or is there something better. It's not only the money (although that helps) dare I say it but they feel like my babies. As for pure-strain, I was aiming for crosses and getting some interesting variations, but realistically, you're right, it would be more sensible to aim for pure-strain if I am going to sell them.

I am probably going to sort out my tanks and use an existing one for the fry which will already have filter and lights. Are lights okay for the fry then, because I also won't to grow plants (and we seem to grow them really well), it would be handy to combine the two and the fry will feel safer amongst plants anyway.

Thanks again for advice.

Cara

PS. Despite being novice, Iive already added salt.

When breeding fish, remember, the LFS wants stuff they can sell. Pure-strain fish are more desireable than mongrels, and big fish are better than stunted little wretches. Older fish are better than newborns. Ideally, ship them off when they are about 20 mm long (about the size of a small neon). At that size, the LFS can be sure to keep them alive, mix them with other fish in his tanks, and have them big enough to attract buyers. As donna123 said, that could be 3-5 months from now.

Hence, a raising tank is a very sound investment. Instead of managing to get 2-3 babies to full size in your breeding trap or community tank, you can get 30 or more to a decent size. Even at 50p a pop, that'll be 15 quid right there, and after two or three broods, you'll have easily recouped the cost of buying a 5-10 gallon tank and its filter and heater. Filtration need only be simple (I use an air-powered box filter) and lighting is totally unnecessary.

With mollies, adding a bit of salt to the water can be very useful, and if you want to minimise your losses, I'd consider adding salt essential. Also, remember the more greens they get, the better their health and colour, and problems like constipation are avoided. Baby fish need up to 6 feedings per day, and set the heater a little higher than you would for community fish; mollies, by preferance, like it on the sultry side. 28 C will do nicely, and that'll pep up their immune system while speeding up their metabolism, both essential with young fish. When fish are stunted or sick as babies, even as adults they are often smaller and less attractive than otherwise would be the case, however well cared for subsequently.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[nmonks]

Cara --

Trust me, that feeling of "motherhood" when the babies appear never goes away. I just got a batch of Dermogenys halfbeak fry today, and I'm like a father in the maternity ward, taking pictures and telling all my fishkeeping friends.

Anyway, by greens, you can basically use your imagination. Thin slices of cucumber work well, as does blanched lettuce and cooked spinach. Mushed frozen peas can be good, too. Depends a lot on the fish. If all else fails, get some vegetarian flake. This is sold as flake food for livebearers, and all the manufacturers make some variation on this theme. It'll keep your fish in tip-top health.

Going for interesting crosses is well worth doing, but that's the advanced course in livebearers! To start with, you want to stick with pure-breeds. After that, once you have a feel for the genetics, then look at crosses. Some features and colours are dominant to others, which is the challenge to creating your own variety of guppy or molly or whatever. It's certainly do-able, but it's very serious stuff.

Lights are fine with baby fish, but let them have some shade, too. Floating plants are absolutely ideal, even duckweed. I happen to like hornwort.

Cheers,

Neale

A newborn halfbeak: