The Birthing Process

[Trooper]

I started my new tank on boxing day (Dec 26th), First time with a larger tank (10 gallon, usully just used a fish bowl ) I purchased 2 balloon mollies, one male and one female. I have 1 male german yellow guppy, 1 male pink guppy (picked by my two year old) 2 galaxy guppy (one by mistake) and 3 female german yellow guppies.

My Female Molly was/is pregnant but she had two still borns right after I put her in the tank, but she also looks pregnant still. I'm assuming by what I have read so far that she still is and will be for some time to come

One of my female guppies started giving birth on thursday night, I moved her to a breeder tank (small one that hangs on the side of the tank) and she's still popping the fry out. so far, as of my last count I have 23 live fry including my little trooper as he has been named since he has "escaped" out the breeder everytime I put him back in and is hinding out in the bottom of the tank. I have 3 still born and 2-3 that I believe will be dead within days because they have "birthdefects" just think nemo. It's now sunday early am and she's still poping them out and looking at her she looks like she's only half the size that she was.

How long do will she give birth for?
And how many more fry am I going to have?
Suggestions on the rasing of the fry? Am I looking at buying another tank in the near future?
Whats the best thing to feed these little guys? I know little as possible flakes for them.

And my last question..... Water Maintanence...... I am suppose to change 20% of the water within the next few days...... any suggestions on when I should do it? How should I do it? And what should I do with my little Troopers?

 

[Annastasia]

First off, welcome to the forums and congratulations on getting your new fish! I'm assuming you didn't cycle the tak, since you put fish in right off. Which means your tank will be cycling right now. You can read more about that here.

Now, onto your stocking. The Balloons might be okay in that tank full grown, but it'd be pushing it some. Also, as with all Livebearers, it's best to have a ratio of 2-3 females per male. Same with the Guppies. So I'd pick one male you really like, and keep him with the three females. Eventually, you'll probably have to get rid of the Mollies, as they can get to 3 1/2" which will be big for your tank. Then you'd have more options.

Finally, on to the questions! Your Molly probably still is pregnant. It sounds like she aborted fry, which can be due to stress. Probably from moving to the new tank. And how long did you acclimate for? I'd expect her to be pregnant for...well, it's hard to say. She might have fry within the next week or so, or she may have had all she's going to have for this batch and re-absorbed the fry, which means it will be a month or so.

Your Guppy can continue giving birth until next Thursday or so. Some take longer then others, but I'd expect her to be done pretty soon. Once she is done, try feeding her some Frozen/Live/Freeze-dried foods to get her strength back up.

It's hard to say. They always are going to be fat, since they have others eggs and sperm in them, so she's never going to be stick thin. She may have had them all already, or she might have a few more. Any chance of a picture?

I could branch into a huge ramble onto raising the fry, but I'll spare you from that with some links!

Your First Baby Fish

Options for raising them are basically;

1. Leaving them in the main tank. This is called Survival of the Fittest, because you basically don't do anything for them. It's a good way to control fry numbers, because otherwise you will be over-run very quickly.
2. Raising them up a bit in a breeder trap or net.
3. Using a fry tank. This is probably the best option, because you can grow them up longer in there, and you can also move the mother into there before she gives birth so she doesn't have to be stresed by the breeder trap.

And finally, yes, you should probably do daily water changes. Your tank is cycling now, and to keep the water levels in an appropriate range for your fish to live, you'll need to bring them down once a day. I suggest you purchase a nitrIte, nitrAte, and ammonia test kit for your tank. How should you do? Well, if you have a gallon jug, you can take water out of there with that. Just be sure to turn off the heater, and probably the filter while you do it. Otherwise, if you have a siphon you can use that. For your little troopers (I assume you mean the ones with birth defects?) just humor them. Feed them, let them live. Some will get better, but most will just die.

Best of luck! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!