PETEYPLECO Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 I have a few yellow mollies and a pair of Red Lyretail swordtails, will these guys just breed on their own or do you have to encourage them in some way by providing certain conditions? They have lots of plants and places to hide but I could imagine the larger fish in the tank would not only put them off but also the chances of babies surviving would be quite low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Whatever you do, DON'T encourage them :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: My swordtails and platties in the community tank never stop, and enough babies survive the bigger fish to constantly over populate the tank. If you wanted to breed them seriously then you might have to consider other options - like breeding tanks etc Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Whatever you do, DON'T encourage them :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: My swordtails and platties in the community tank never stop, and enough babies survive the bigger fish to constantly over populate the tank. If you wanted to breed them seriously then you might have to consider other options - like breeding tanks etc Cheers Jude yours are in wainui water tho Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 They'll breed but babies may not last long... in saying that I just saw 2 new swordtails in my community tank. I was quite surprised as they look to be about 3-4 weeks old. I know that’s not even 5% of the number of babies that the 1 female in there probably had but it’s still kinda cool. (I have 4 breeding tanks for swordtails over and above this.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoban Posted December 3, 2006 Report Share Posted December 3, 2006 With Livebearers if you want to get the max survival rate then a separate tank for birthing and another for raising is my suggestion as per links to my tanks in sig. To have average survival and not need the extra tanks and have sudden mass influx of fry and fishes to deal with then just make sure main tank is well planted with lots of bushy plants and maybe some floating plants. Basically somewhere for the lil guys to hide. You will still lose some from each batch but the strong and or smart survive by hiding in the plants till they are too big for Mouthes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 COOL ! I have a few plants - enough for them to feel comfortable and there is probably enough for the bababies to hide, there's also lots of driftwood and other hidey holes too. I sure hope the Red Lyretails breed they're really nice fish, I have not seen them before. Any other suggestions? Cross your fingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 HEY just took a look at my fish while feeding them and one of my yellow mollies looks like it has swallowed a golf ball and is about to pop? Is it prego???? I'll have to go get one of those separator thingy majingies ? ? Watch this space . . . . . . . . . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoban Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Most likely pregnant if it has EVER been around a male.. Don't recommend the lil breeder traps as they stress the female much more then is safe, usually causing her to abort or give birth premature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 This morning this fish is a lot thinner around the tummy and sitting in a particular corner of the tank looking a bit protective toward the other fish. I cant see any little babies though, how small are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 About a 1 cm long, look around the edges ot the surface of the water against the sides, also on top of your plants if you have floating indian fern, or amonst denser plants like java moss or cabomba. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 also if you have gravel they sometimes burrow in.... pain in the neck having to did them out of UG filters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Yup im a proud dad of little molly babies. Sorry its my first time to have fish breed. Got home from work to find only a couple (rest may have been eaten) of youngsters hiding in my plants leaves. I disconnected my external filter and had a good look around inside but there were no fry in there. I have no fry food but I crushed up some flake food and one had a go at it, dont know if they can eat this but its all I have. Will also have to invest in a seperator thing for the bubbies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Molly fry are big enough to eat crushed flake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Cool, how many fry is mum likely to have had ? ? Also how often will mum give birth ? What do you do to separate the fry as I dont have a spare tank . . YET. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 6, 2006 Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Depends on how old mum is. Anything from 4 to 204. She will produce every 4 - 6 weeks I never separate fry, I just provide lots of fine leaved plants for the fry to hide in - Java moss, water sprite, cabomba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETEYPLECO Posted December 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2006 Thank you Caryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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