Sick Molly Gave Me A Shock This Morning.

[Scotty001]

what a shock, we bought my girlfriends mum 2 mollies about 1 month ago from the local lfs as she always wanted 2 jet black fish, 3 weeks down the line and shes not too sure she likes them so i moved the male into my mothers tank but not the female mainly because the tank they were in had apair of kribs that had just spawned, trying to get the mollies out was causing a little stress as they were adamant they wernt going to budge, anyhow a week later the female molly looked to be getting itch which i presumed from the stress of trying to net her the week before.

So i went ahead and finally got her out but moved he into my hospital tank to treat, all was going well and the Itch clearing up real well, then i looked into the tank this morning to find the female lay down on the sand in the corner and 31 black dots darting around.

now i have no idea how to look after the babies (I'm hoping some of you can help me here) Ive swapped the filter media over strait away to some media i keep spare in my main tank, and a 80% water change to get any chemicals that would be left out as i have no idea how white spot treatment added yesterday will affect the fry.

also in this tank is a large adult male krib, he is in here as he is bullying the female after there fry died and now pins her in a corner, Now i know how he loves to eat anything that moves so Ive gone and bought another 60l Aqua-cube tank too, I'm looking to house him in here for the time being as i think that the Molly fry will need the length of space more than he will (for the time being) again i have more spare media in My mums filter so thats going into the filter in his new little temp home.

currently the fry are in a 60l clear seal tank with a hood nd light, running a fluval 2 filter. sats are Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-10 (ppm on API master test kit)

*can you advise me how quick these guys grow, there less than a day old so still v small.
*The fry are as mentioned in a 60l tank, i will be looking to re home them at LFS, friends etc, are the fish going to rapidly outgrow this 60l in the next 2/3 weeks ?? or do i need to get another tank if so what size would you recommend ???
*what food is good to use for them at this age (20ish hrs lol) (uk brands if poss pls)
*Should i move the female out of the tank too and put her back with the male even though she hasn't had the full Itch treatment tho the Itch is no longer present
on her.
*As i didn't see this coming, and presumed we had a FAT fish, how long does it take from start to finish of mollies pregnancy ?? (got to be ready for the next time.
* there any way to tell when she is about to drop her load ???

Any help you guys can give is much appreciated,

Scott

 

[12azor]

*can you advise me how quick these guys grow, there less than a day old so still v small.
Your lfs will probably accept them when they reach 2-3cms. This should take up 8-12 weeks for them to get this big

*The fry are as mentioned in a 60l tank, i will be looking to re home them at LFS, friends etc, are the fish going to rapidly outgrow this 60l in the next 2/3 weeks ?? or do i need to get another tank if so what size would you recommend ???
If you plan to give them all to your lfs at 2-3cms then they should be okay in that tank. If you get them any bigger then you won't be able to house them all in there, depending on whether you want to grow them so they are you will need a bigger tank.

*what food is good to use for them at this age (20ish hrs lol) (uk brands if poss pls)
I used tetra powder food to feed my fry, or I use the yolk from a hard boiled egg. My platies liked that

*Should i move the female out of the tank too and put her back with the male even though she hasn't had the full Itch treatment tho the Itch is no longer present on her.
I'd say finish the treatment, I don't think it would harm the fry. but do get her bakc in with the male asap.

*As i didn't see this coming, and presumed we had a FAT fish, how long does it take from start to finish of mollies pregnancy ?? (got to be ready for the next time.
They can give birth every 4 weeks. (They keep sperm packets for up to 6 weeks) So you could have a few more fry on your hands.

* there any way to tell when she is about to drop her load ???
Now you know when she gives birth then you will know 4 weeks from now, she could give birth again.
She will get very fat and depending on her colour you will be able to see a dark spot by her anal fin, this is a sign that she will be dropping soon.

Answers in bold

 

[OldMan47]

I agree with most that 12azor said.
Ich treatment needs to continue after all signs of the disease are gone. The particular medication you are using will tell you how long that is. The fry will or will not be OK with the medication but they will definitely not be OK being infested with the ich parasite. By interrupting the medication you may need to start again on treating the female. Do not return her to the tank with the male until the treatment is finished unless you want to deal with ich in that tank too. If you want to save the fry from predation, you will need to separate them somehow from the mother and the krib. All o the fish in that tank need treatment for ich to rpevent it showing on the fish again. It is still in the water if you have stopped the treatment short. As far as future batches of fry, the female can hold sperm for 6 months, not 6 weeks.

 

[LauraFrog]

After the fry get a bit bigger you can put them onto crushed flake, mine grow on it pretty well. Most LFS don't take fish until they are several cm's long so you might need a second tank. I use 50L plastic bins, outdoors, with heaters and air driven filters as grow out tanks. When the fry are big enough, separate males and females or else your fry will start having fry and you will quickly be overrun.

 

[shelaghfishface]

i have just got mollies and i cant wait to be writing similar - congrats

 

[helterskelter]

Crushed flake if fine and a little egg jolk

How ever if u use egg yolk you need to remove any uneaten yolk as it will quickly pollute the water.