Molly Fry :d

[KrystaK]

I bought a gold and black spotted Molly about a week ago and she dropped her fry during the night. I didn't think she would so soon! Her babies are rampant around the tank. I managed to catch five of them, and there are three that I can see but can't catch, so they're on their own... Anyways I have some questions about how to raise these little guys... I've read the forum on how to raise them but I have some questions. (Normally I just leave the fry but I want some Mollies with gold spots so I want to save a few of these guys)

Currently they're in a breeder trap with some plants for them to hide in. Can they stay in the trap? How long can they last in there before it starts to stunt their growth? Should I just feed then crushed up dry flakes or can I supplement with anything?

I have a 5 gallon I can set up as a nursery for them, but they're so small, won't the mild temperature change from their home tank to the nursery tank kill them? (Or will they get sucked into the filter?) Also, if I set up the tank, what should I put in it? I want it to be as low maintenance as possible. Im assuming they'd need this little tank for about 2 months... when will i be able to tell their gender?

Anywho, here are my newest fish

 

[OldMan47]

A nice 5 gallon tank would be a good home to raise them until they can easily survive with the adult mollies. Be sure to filter that 5 gallon or do plenty of large water changes on it. Feeding should be frequent with very small quantities. You can add golden pearls or very small live foods like daphnia or baby brine shrimpto the powdered flake food to enhance faster growth.

If you are concerned about temperature, do a drip acclimation for the fry. What that means is you set up a very slow siphon from the tank to the smaller container where your fry are located. Once most of the water in the smaller container is water that came from the tank, the water chemistry and temperature reflects the conditions in the tank and you can pour the smaller container, fish and all, back into the tank. I use a piece of air tubing for my slow siphon and tie an overhand knot in it so that I can almost choke it off completely. At about a drop a second, it takes a while for even a quart jar to fill up with tank water. With 5 fry, I would start with a quart jar holding maybe an inch of the water they came from.