newbie

[too many fry]

Hi ,

I just registered but have had my tank about 6 months now, I've got too many fish and no room for another tank. (It's about 24" by 12" by 12")

2 female red swordtails
1 male red swordtail
1 female black molly
2 female balloon black mollies
1 male black molly (possibly lyretail)
3 peppered corys
8 neon tetra
60ish sword + molly fry (from 7 broods I think)

My LFS said the no. of adults I have is suitable for the tank (I do quite a lot of water changes - at least once a week) and the water has been fine, but they also told me that I wouldn't end up with too many fry because the adults would eat them. I have plants along the back of the tank which provide cover for them, and although I haven't made any effort to feed them differently or seperate them at all, lots of them are surviving.

What do I do with these fry? I obviously can't keep them, my LFS says they will take them when they are at least 0.5" long, but there are loads of them and I'm worried they ruin the water quality while I wait for them to grow. I'm on holiday for the next 10 days, but would love to read any advice when I get back.

 

[Cat]

Yikes you have a lot in your tank,not sure they will all survive if your away for long
(Forgetting my manners) to the forum.

I'm sure the more experienced will advise you better .
Have fun on here .

 

[nutter]

WOW you sure do have alot of fry! Welcome ot the forum though

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Your're a one man livebearer factory!

You should be able to sell/swap some of your fishes for others in any number of LFSs. Just ask them to place their order with you a couple months in advance.

 

[Wisperian]

put em in a public pond?? lol

 

[clutterydrawer]

Is there absolutley no possibility of getting another tank? You could set it up temporarily and get rid of it once the fry are big enough to go to the lfs. Maybe they would also take some of your adults off you. If you gave them all the females there would be no more fry.

I think there's gonna be water quality problems if they're all left in there.

 

[too many fry]

Just back from my holidays B) and from what I can see they are all still there (so many little black dots I can't be sure), and after an urgent water change the quality seems OK. The temporary tank for raising the fry seems like a good idea, I guess they would be OK in quite a small area for the few weeks it takes for them to grow big enough to hand in to the LFS.

Thnx for the advice.

 

[corrosive]

Make sure they have **** loads of oxygen getting pumped around then i guess lol, and just hope they can be moved somewhere.

Even if you could borrow or buy a cheap little 5g tank or something, just to move a few fish that would help all of your fish including your fry.

Also, might it pay to separate some of your male and female to prevent any thurther breeding at this time, not sure if that could work to well though, as i heard some livebearers can store sperm for up to two months .