Mollie Fry.

[singharmony8]

My sailfin mollie recently had her fry, about 25-30 survived and I removed the mother instantly. I am new to this, as the Mollie was pregnant when I got her from the store. I wasn't really planning on taking on fish, but the place I got her from kept them in nasty tanks. The babies are 3 days old now and eating and acting normal. They are currently in a breeding net as to not be sucked in to the filter in my 5 gallon tank [my adult fish are in a seperate tank]. When is it a good time to let them out? And do pet stores usually take Mollies? I know it's best to wait until they are grown up a bit.

Thanks.

 

[Ripley]

In the past I have put a small filter sponge over the intake tube so the fry wouldn't get sucked up. But I have also done nothing with the intake tube and had no trouble. To raise that many fry you will be needing a larger tank for them. When I have bred live bearers in the past I would put the fry in a larger Rubbermaid contianer along with a filter and heater of course. They are cheap and the fry will grow much faster in a larger space.
Most of the LFS around here will take fry, but give you nothing in return. But if you could get them almost full grown they may give you some type of store credit.

 

[HCpetraitis]

Well, here are my rules if you answer yes- they cannot be let out
1. If the fry are smaller than the mallest adult's mouth
2. If the tank filter has a strong intake current
3. If your substrate is so big the babies can hide inside it
4. If you feel they wont'e be safe

Also, if you live in USA most chain petstores don't take fish back due to disease and cleanliness. Otherwise I don't know about giving your fish back.

 

[OldMan47]

The fry in a tank by themselves should be fine from almost the beginning. Molly fry are huge compared to many other fry.

I also have about 40 molly fry that I am trying to grow to a decent size. I first kept them in a 10 gallon but decided it was too crowded by the time they were a little over 1/2 inch long. I moved half of them to a 55 gallon yesterday and the rest got moved today. In my case the female was gentle enough that I actually kept her with the fry for a few weeks but she got evicted from the 10 gallon along with the fry. She is now back into the 120 gallon community that she originally came from, with her male friend.

 

[HCpetraitis]

What size tank do you want to keep them in?

 

[OldMan47]

The OP said a 5 gallon. IMO that is far too small for the long term. Mine in a 10 gallon looked like this before the last of them were born and caused the tank to nearly overflow with fish. At the time of the picture there were between 25 and 30 by my best estimate.

 

[HCpetraitis]

I would say a 10 gallon would be fine.