Molly breeding

[Beth_obrien2424]

1 more thing. Are you sure i shuld wait 2-3 weeks?
I have a better picture here. Please confirm. Thanks
View attachment 118048

It’s difficult to say really. It depends on the age and whether they have had fry before in my experience. My molly was not very big at all when she had her first lot of fry and I was told she had weeks left but I thought she looked square-ish and had a separate tank, so I moved her anyway. She then had the fry within the next two days. She also did not display any signs of labour, such as hiding and not eating. However, she is pregnant again with her second lot of fry and she is very big and has squared off. So look for the stomach going square in shape and that means they should be ready soon. I agree though that a breeder box is very stressful and can cause you to lose the fry. If you want to make sure they live and need to move the mothers out, is there a possibility for getting another tank? This would also be a place to keep the fry with more space than a breeder box

 

[Tonymolly]

It’s difficult to say really. It depends on the age and whether they have had fry before in my experience. My molly was not very big at all when she had her first lot of fry and I was told she had weeks left but I thought she looked square-ish and had a separate tank, so I moved her anyway. She then had the fry within the next two days. She also did not display any signs of labour, such as hiding and not eating. However, she is pregnant again with her second lot of fry and she is very big and has squared off. So look for the stomach going square in shape and that means they should be ready soon. I agree though that a breeder box is very stressful and can cause you to lose the fry. If you want to make sure they live and need to move the mothers out, is there a possibility for getting another tank? This would also be a place to keep the fry with more space than a breeder box

Yes, i have heard too about sometimes they may give birth earlier than we think. All these add upto my question of when i should actualy separate them into another tank. I will definitly move them to another tank. Thanks.

 

[Beth_obrien2424]

Yes, i have heard too about sometimes they may give birth earlier than we think. All these add upto my question of when i should actualy separate them into another tank. I will definitly move them to another tank. Thanks.

I would fill the new tank with water from the tank they’re in now if you can. That way, it’s cycled water

 

[Essjay]

Water won't do much. The bacteria live on surfaces not in the water.

If the other tank is not cycled, moving some filter media over will help. And for a temporary tank, getting some elodea (anacharis) and leaving the stems to float will also help deal with any ammonia.

 

[Tonymolly]

I would fill the new tank with water from the tank they’re in now if you can. That way, it’s cycled water

Yes, thats what i did. Thank you.

 

[Essjay]

The old water is not cycled in that there are no bacteria in it to remove ammonia and nitrite. if you move some filter media, that does contain the bacteria as they live on surfaces rather than in water. Putting live pants will help as well.