Mollies

[random919]

I am thinking of getting mollies to go in my new tank when it has finihed the fishless cycle. What fish could i get with them? Also what are the best breeding conditions for them? how easy are they to breed? what is their maximum size when they are fully grown?
hope you can help

 

[Sailfin Zach]

I used to have mollies and there good with platies angelfish bettas most tetras rainbows cherry barb corys dwarf gourami flying fox glass catfish kribs kulie loach ottos swordtail and thats all i can think at the momet.

And mollies for the first 6 monthes they will be spitting out babies non-stop (if you get a female)


And how big they get i would say 3-4 inches

 

[NightPhoenix]

I used to have mollies and there good with platies angelfish bettas most tetras rainbows cherry barb corys dwarf gourami flying fox glass catfish kribs kulie loach ottos swordtail and thats all i can think at the momet.

And mollies for the first 6 monthes they will be spitting out babies non-stop (if you get a female)


And how big they get i would say 3-4 inches

What do you do with the babies? When I had mollies as a kid we got one of those little plastic fry boxes but somehow most managed to escape and then get eaten by their parents. I never could figure out what to do with the babies. Do people sell them to the LFS? Keep them? Wouldn't one need like 10 tanks to keep the babies once grown? That was one of the reasons I got away from livebearers pretty rapidly even as an early teen -- but mollies are fun fish so I am genuinely curious.

 

[OldMan47]

Mollies are safe with almost any small fish, the size of the mollies give or take a bit. Mollies are not aggressive in most cases and as long as their tank mates are similarly peaceful, all will be well.

 

[5teady_2012]

Be aware that breeding mollies, or any livebearer fish needs to be well thought about first.

There is much you will need to consider like:

Finding a LFS that will either buy or exchange, or take the fry off you for free.

Having Additional tank setup for the fry to be moved to so you dont get over run with fry and end up with a over stocked tank.

If you are wanting to save fry (your going to need a breeding trap, or a heavily planted tank to ensure extra safety cover for the fry) otherwise other fish will eat the fry.

Choose a very heatlhy trio of mollies (you need more females than males, this is so the male does not constantly harras 1 female and stress her out) i always recommend 3 females to 1 male, but 2 is the average what most do.

Substarte, not many people bother about this but i always have, in the past i have had problems with fry getting trapped between gravel when hiding away from larger fish, and once they get under that gravel, there very little chance of them getting out. So i suggest either fine gravel, or sand.

Filteration when i was breeding livebearers, i was always trying to save as many of the fry as possible, and although i used breeding traps a lot, i could not always trap all the pregnant fish, which meant a lot of fry was born in the community tank and i endlessly found dead fry in my Internal filters. I worked around this by changing from the internal filters to sponge filters powered by air pumps (brilliant change for me) they worked perfectly and the tank was always stable with the water parameters.

Then there is other things like, what will you feed the fry when born? you can feed them flake food but make sure its a good quality food (just crush it up finely in your fingers) or there is products especially made for fry.

Regular water changes also play a big part in the growth of your fry so always keep them up and keep your tank clean.

As for tank mates, if you was wanting to breed mollies, i would stick to small community fish to go with them.

 

[Scales9]

My mollies are very happy with my guppies, neons, black skirt tetras, dwarf gourami, and my pleco, the easy answer to babies is not to buy a female if you want babies then a good way to get rid of them is to advertise them on line, this is what I plan to do with mine, the kids and I love to watch them grow up change color Ect, we will bick a couple for our community tank then give the rest away, our local pet store will not take fry unless they are 1.5 inches long so I would check with your locals before you make a decision.

 

[OldMan47]

When I breed fish I use a bit different approach to 5teady. To save molly fry almost no precautions are needed. A well fed female alone in a drop tank is my favorite approach. The end result in my tank is this after 35 days from a drop. Yep, that female stayed with her fry the whole time.

 

[5teady_2012]

I reverted to your method quiet a while back now same as you oldman47 and use a heavily planted tank with plenty of java moss in community tanks, and bare minimum in single female tanks, i rarely use traps now

 

[mcqc4]

I agree with old man. I use tanks that are heavily planted with plastic plants. I have a lot of males and females in both tanks and most fry survive. The gravel is VERY important. I have sand in one tank, lots of rock walls and plants and I'd say 90% of the fry make it. The other tank I have gravel, and I always find babies stuck dead in the gravel. Just one word of warning, THEY BREED LIKE RABBITS !! I'm over run with babies right now. I gave away about 100 in the last month and I still have about 50 left. I ran an ad on craigslist to get rid of most because none of the 5 pet stores near me will take the babies.

 

[mcqc4]

P.S. If anyone lives near Lancaster PA and would like some mollies, PLEASE just ask.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum mcqc4.
I find that I can easily dispose of excess fish at a club auction. I find 5 links in our listing for clubs in PA and 6 more in NJ. My bet is that one of them is close enough for you to use their auctions to adjust your stocking, not only by selling your surplus but by buying hard to find fish for yourself. I just can't resist a fish auction within driving distance. I seldom will drive more than about 3 hours to reach one though. Our club listing is here.

 

[mcqc4]

Welcome to the forum mcqc4.
I find that I can easily dispose of excess fish at a club auction. I find 5 links in our listing for clubs in PA and 6 more in NJ. My bet is that one of them is close enough for you to use their auctions to adjust your stocking, not only by selling your surplus but by buying hard to find fish for yourself. I just can't resist a fish auction within driving distance. I seldom will drive more than about 3 hours to reach one though. Our club listing is here.

Thanks old man. I'm new to the forum but I've had aquariums on and off for over 30 years. I recently got a new tank and got hooked again. This has to be the best forum on the net. I've learned so much from everyone here. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

 

[OldMan47]

Give that listing a good look. I have found that clubs often have their own web sites and they are eager to get new sellers and buyers to their auctions. I have also been in the hobby for several decades but my involvement with forums is fairly short by comparison. I only joined my first local club about 5 years ago. I was surprised that it was such a very positive experience for me. The biggest thing that I get from club membership is the opportunity to just sit and talk to other fish enthusiasts at meetings.
Club auctions are treated as mutually beneficial events by the clubs around here. They even announce the next nearby club's auction dates during their own auction. The point is that every club auction is a fund raiser to be able to pay for speakers at their meetings. Dues never cover that kind of cost but auction proceeds do. By having as many people as possible participate in an auction, whether or not they belong to the club, the maximum return from the auction is improved. I attend and sell fish at several local auctions although I am only a member at one of those clubs. Buyers and sellers are both welcomed with open arms in most cases. Tolak, the site admin here, is often at the same club auctions since he and I live only about 150 miles apart. For a fish enthusiast, 150 miles every few months is not a major burden.