pairing up

[iron maiden fan]

if i buy a male and a female molly will they definately pair up or would i have to buy several and let them pair up at will

 

[xander_chookeypud]

I think its pretty much guaranteed that they will pair up although the best ratio for keeping them in is 2 females and 1 male (2:1). This takes the stress off one of the females as the male will pester the female possibly to death. This is certainly the case for guppys, not quite so sure about mollies although i think it applies to them as well. Happy breeding

 

[Annastasia]

Yes, if you have a male and a female, they will breed. Be prepared for a LOT of fry though. Some females can have 100 babies per month. So you'll need to be ready to grow up all these fry, and have homes ready for them...because if you keep them all, the brothers and sisters will start breeding, and you'll be totally over-run. So just think through the fry first.

I'd have a fry tank ready if you decide you still want to do this....probably about 20 gallons, since they are Molly fry. Sponge filters are the best, so the fry don't get sucked up. And then lots of plants, and decorations. Another option is growing some fry up in Breeder net, though you could really only have a couple. Mollies have pretty big fry, and Breeder Nets are kinda small. Or you can do, survival of the fittest, just letting the ones that survive, survive. This can help with fry control, though I know it sounds mean. The water will also have to be kept in very good condition, for the fry to do well. And you should feed at least 3 times a day, if you can. Probably start off with Fry food, by Hikari or Tetramin, and then work up to crushed up flakes, and other foods, like freeze dried Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp...etc. You can also feed live BBS through the whole thing...and you might want to try blanching some small veggies for them too.

And yes, as mentioned, the best ratio is 2-3 females per male.

If this all sounds like too much, though...you could go for one sex. Probably females, though you'd still have some fry, as they can store sperm for up to 7 pregnancies.

And now, I'll stop rambling.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree the absolute minimum of females to males for any common livebearer is 2females per 1male, although the more females you have the less stressed they will be and thus the more balanced the pecking orders will be. The minimum tank size for 3mollys is 15gallons as they are very active fish with lots of personality and can grow to 4inchs long.
Mollys can produce huge amounts of fry, somtimes over 100, although their pregnancys are longer than guppys in general and can last up to 2months. Molly fry take up to a year to mature and the minimum advised fry tank size is 10gallons due to their large batchs of fry and how overstocked fry tanks can get in a single batch of fry produced by one female.
Most lfs(local fish stores) will take mollys at around halfgrown size although this is by no means assured so if you want to breed them i strongly adsvise you look around your lfs's and see who takes fish off customers and under what conditions before you breed the fish, i wouldn't kid yourself you'll be making any money from breeding mollys as the vast majority of lfs's buy mollys, amoungst other livebearers, for pennys and have no insurance against sick fish when taken off customers/unoficial breeders so most won't pay anything for them but simply take them off your hands for free.
You will need to feed the fry at least 3 times a day and the fry tank will need more maintanence than the adult tank as fry are very sensitive to water quality and enviromental conditions than their parents, to say the least getting the tank fully cycled is an absolute must.

EDIT: ah annastasia got there first