soky5 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 hey my felmale is about to drop some babys in the next week or so but i need to no how old antill i can sex them and how many babys will there be and just any hips on how to rise them thanks very much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedazzled Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 She could have any where from a few to 20ish, apparently more too but I don't think that is very common. If you leave them in with parents and other fish they will probably get eaten. A fry trap/net is a good idea or another tank if you have one. I have also just floated the fry in a container in the top of the tank until they got a little bigger, if doing this they need VERY frequent water changes though, like a couple a day You can feed them finely crushed up flake food or you can buy liquidfry (I think that is what it is called) which is a special food for fry. Also you can feed bbs (babybrine shrimp) Sorry I am not sure how long til you can tell the sex lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenna Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 If this is her first batch of fry, she will probably have anywhere from 1 to 20 or more. First few batches of fry are smaller, but eventually she may have up to 80 or so each time! Mine are a little over a year old now and still have smallish drops (30ish lol) so I guess it varies from fishy to fishy. If you want the fry to survive, get lots of flotating plant, like indian fern etc for them to hide in, and/or a breeding net to separate them as soon as you find them. Mollies are notorious for eating their fry, and it can be a little disturbing to see the babies popping out one end and immediately into the other! You can tell the sex between 2 and 3 months, depending on how they are growing. The females have a fanned out anal fin like this: while the males have an elongated anal fin called a gonopodium, which looks like this: As far as feeding them, put some regular flake food into a small plastic bag and crush it between your fingers until it is as fine as you can get it - voila! fry food :lol: the babies won't bother eating it for the first couple of days, but it is a perfectly fine food for them. Mollies are attractive, fun, sociable fishies - enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soky5 Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 hey thanks for your help i have 2 felmale in a tank all buy them selfs so when they drop it just the felmale do you think i can put them into a Betta Container do you think the babys will be able to get out of the wee gaps as then that would be a perfect idea thanks and when should i start feeding babys after birth and how offen a day and when will i no when the felmale has stoped dropping and isnt going to drop anymore thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenna Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 I always recommend a net breeder over a solid trap for fry. Simply because if they are in there for protection from other fish they'll be there at least a couple weeks, and the net allows the water circulation, filtration and aeration through the mesh. Try feeding the babies a day after they are born, but just a little, they may not eat yet. Don't worry if they don't eat yet that you're not feeding them - there's plenty of food in the tank for them in the form of algae and leftovers which you may not even know is there. They'll come running at feeding time soon enough! As far as how often - once a day is plenty for all your fish. any more than that and there will be too many leftovers which will rot, create ammonia and throw out the chemical balance in the water. Only feed as much as they can eat in 5-10 minutes - if there are leftovers, you're feeding too much. And if the female hasn't dropped any in the past 24 hours, she's probably finished for now. They all take different amounts of time really, so there's no clear answer. Happy to help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soky5 Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 hey thanks for the that helped me alot they dont need sait do they the babys and if im feeding them liquidfry how offen a day for how long thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rox Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Hi I got nearly 40 fry from my Mrs Molly not last Tuesday but the Tuesday before, 12 days old now. I was very surprised to see so many and equally as surprised to see how huge they were. Nothing like a Guppy fry and quite coloured even to begin with. Mrs Molly hadn't been with Mr for about 3 weeks as I didn't want him hassling her. The babies, still under 2 weeks old are in their own tank as I really want to feed them well with microworm and decap and don't want them competing with older fish. But could easily have kept them were they were, I don' think she could have eaten one whole. Before the birth I had condition Mrs Molly too, cos I had read that the fry would be large and that there could be plenty and I must admit she looks no worse for wear. Good luck with yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soky5 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 hey i was just looking at my molly that is all by herself and she was really fat then i took her out cleaned her tank and now she isnt as fat is there something to worry about thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rox Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Any babies to be seen? Does she still look pregnant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soky5 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 hey there are no babys there and he isnt as big as she was she got smaller after i cleaned the tank she is a white molly with black dots how will i no she it going to drop will i see a black mark near her bum or just fat thanks but she was really big but now she dosent even look pregnant and has had male with her for 2 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rox Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Gosh I'm not sure, this is my first time with Molly fry. As I said earlier my female didn't look much worse for wear after delivering. I had fed her up really well while she was carrying and she looked very healthy not overly huge like Guppy or Swordtails, looking at her because she is quite coloured I couldn't see a lot of darkness of fry before she delivered and was very surprised to see the fry and so many. Because I bought her from the Pet shop with her mate I have no idea how many times she has carried although I'm thinking this isn't her first time. Hopefully someone much more knowledgeable than I comes along to help you! I do know they carry for 45-60 days perhaps she needs feeding up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I always recommend a net breeder over a solid trap for fry. Simply because if they are in there for protection from other fish they'll be there at least a couple weeks, and the net allows the water circulation, filtration and aeration through the mesh. A solid breeder (or ice cream container or something floated in the top) is more secure, because fish can suck the fry out through the net. Not such an issue if you only have the mollies in there, but if you have fish that are a bit bigger, or corys or something similar, then watch out for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 As far as feeding them, put some regular flake food into a small plastic bag and crush it between your fingers until it is as fine as you can get it - voila! fry food :lol: the babies won't bother eating it for the first couple of days, but it is a perfectly fine food for them. Would grinding it in a pestle and mortar do the same thing or make it "too" fine ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenna Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 A mortar and pestle would do a very good job of powdering the food. Though it isn't necessary to have the food ground quite that fine, the fry would love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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