Too many fish and more on the way!

[shelly25]

Every time I turn around I find a baby fish. I have a 29 gallon tank and am up to about 25 assorted mollies and platies. I know this is TOO much. But get this - just found 6 more baby fish this weekend! I already have three tanks and can't afford to buy another right now. Do you guys know if pet stores will buy the babies from me? Can I sell back the original mollies? What should I do to end this madness? Help!!

 

[Ben]

most lfs will take ur babys.........and to stop them having babys u should get more males then females or no females at all.

 

[EX-AmP]

you can always give babies away, but not for that good of a price

 

[AW0L]

most lps will take platys and mollies but for store credit. i have a bunch of diffrent liveberes in my heavly planted tank. but i have some killis in there and ADF and they pretty much make quick work of the babys.

 

[Sky042]

one of my LFS sells gupy fry as feeders so you may want to approach your LFS and see if they'll buy the fry from you or even take them for free most will always take em for free.

 

[NEON98101]

This is not always work but I think this is better for you and your fish. Whenever I have extra fish from the breeding. I try to find the home for them through local aquarium society. Sometime, I sell them for about the 1/3~1/2 of the store price. That is what you gonna get from the store anyway. But you know the fish will be better off going directly to the other hobbist home instead of going through the store. More moves mean more stress for the fish.
I also sometime make some kind of trading deal. Like group of fish for the surplus plants some other aquarist have. That way, you don't have to spend money buying plants and you make more room for your fish still in your tank. Beside you tend to get the healthier plants than you would get from the store, and the other person would get healthier fish also. And you can also ask the condition of the tank they grow it and you can tell the other person same info.
This may take some planning to do. But I believe it's a good way if you care about the well-fare of the fish. Usually you can find the web of the local aquarium society and post your offer. And just might someone answer and you can make a deal. They usually meet once a month.
But I did collect some money to spend back to my hobby or traded for some plants through this method. I know this is not for everyone but it works for me. Since I rather see the fish I raised from the eggs find good home and live long time by the person who appreciate.

 

[shelly25]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I stopped by my local Petland today and they said they would take the fish as long as they are fullgrown....if I bring fry they'll dump them in the feeder tank (*gasp!*) So I'm going to take the molly parents to petland for them to sell (to stop the continuous baby problem), then continue to raise the fry until their grown and take them to Petland too!

 

[Lenna]

That's exactly what I did (sold the parents, raising the fry to sell). I got lucky and the LFS bought the mollies off me for $3 each. I got 8 neons (6 bought, 2 free) and a new female betta with the credit Good Luck

 

[Sassygrrl]

That's good to hear! I am doing the same thing. I set up various molly tanks and have a regular baby factory going on here. I just love watching the whole process, especially the birth and watching them grow. It tugs at my heart a tiny bit when I sell them to the LFS. They love the fish though. They know mine are always healthy as opposed to wholesalers who tend to have plenty of ich and such. Good luck and glad you are having fun!