Molly babies

[Brian02]

I just brought home 4 mollies a few days ago and can now see numerous tiny babies swimming around the tank. Had no plans and had got all female mollies. Obviously one was pregnant when I got her. No clue what to do with the babies. Any advice? I have another empty 20 gallon tank should I catch all the babies and put in there? How do I catch them? So small

 

[Guyb93]

What else do you have in the tank ? You might get away with just leaving them in there

 

[Retired Viking]

If you feed the other fish well and have plenty of hiding spots some may survive. You can use a turkey baster or lower the water level to a point you can use a small cup to catch them. A fry net works well for the young, the other tank sounds good but you have to cycle it. (Tetra Safe Start Plus can speed up the cycle)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Congrats on the fry!
How large is the current tank that they're in, and do you have a lot of plants in there, either real or fake? Like @Retired Viking said, plant cover can help fry to escape and hide from adults. Some might still get eaten, but some are more likely to make it. But if your tank is quite small, and if you want to keep the fry from being eaten, it would probably be a good idea to set up the other tank for them. You can use some filter media, substrate and even decorations from your current tank to help cycle it faster (as long as your current tank is cycled).

Best check if your local fish stores are willing to take any molly fry you produce. Mollies, like most livebearers, can store sperm and don't need a male around to keep producing fry. More fry every month, and they've been known to store sperm for six months, even up to a year and continue to produce fry. And if one of your females was gravid, it's likely that they've all been in contact with a male and could be giving you a lot more fry soon.

I just use a fine net to catch molly/platy/guppy fry. It's fine enough and gentle not to hurt the little fellas.

 

[Brian02]

Thanks. The other tank was already cycled so I moved the adult fish into that and now have I think 7 or 8 fry left in the tank on their own. Got to figure out what to feed them and talk to the pet store as it’s only a 20gallon tank so they’ll be too big to stay there all together. One question - do I need to worry about the little guys getting sucked into the filter? It’s a Fluval flex tank. This is a picture of the filter

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thanks. The other tank was already cycled so I moved the adult fish into that and now have I think 7 or 8 fry left in the tank on their own. Got to figure out what to feed them and talk to the pet store as it’s only a 20gallon tank so they’ll be too big to stay there all together. One question - do I need to worry about the little guys getting sucked into the filter? It’s a Fluval flex tank. This is a picture of the filter

Yep, they can get sucked into filters. 13 odd guppy fry got sucked into my canister filter once when the sponge over the intake slipped Some survived, but some didn't.
Never used that kind of filter myself, but covering the intake holes with aquarium safe sponge or a net will make it fry safe while slowing the flow a little usually. Is that filter intake built into the tank though? That makes things tougher.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Perhaps do your best to secure an old fish net over it? Or to cover with some filter floss, and try to secure it with a rubber band? It takes some figuring out sometimes, but the holes are big enough for molly fry to get sucked into if they stray too close, which they will. @EllRog and @mbsqw1d any ideas?


As for food, they'll eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths really. crush your usual flake food up very small, things like frozen cyclops, daphnia and moina are great for them too, adds some variety and it floats around in the water column for a while - perfect for fry. I also use Hikari's first bites when they're newborns, and the really finely ground BugBites.

 

[Retired Viking]

I crush up flake food to a dust and my platy fry eat it, They are now twice the size and growing in their own 30 gallon tank.

 

[EllRog]

Perhaps do your best to secure an old fish net over it? Or to cover with some filter floss, and try to secure it with a rubber band? It takes some figuring out sometimes, but the holes are big enough for molly fry to get sucked into if they stray too close, which they will. @EllRog and @mbsqw1d any ideas?


As for food, they'll eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths really. crush your usual flake food up very small, things like frozen cyclops, daphnia and moina are great for them too, adds some variety and it floats around in the water column for a while - perfect for fry. I also use Hikari's first bites when they're newborns, and the really finely ground BugBites.

I couldn't suggest anything better than yourself and @Retired Viking already have if I'm honest