Balloon Mollie Fry Size (overstocked?) Help Please

[Seidge]

Hi,

My balloon mollie just gave birth to about 20 fry, only 4 have survived. I am going with survival of the fittest approach because i dont have another tank to put them in.

My question is how quickly will they grow? They are about 10mm at the moment, only a few days old. They are being prayed upon by my zebra danios and i fear that if they dont grow quickly they will be eaten.

Also i think i have overstocked my tank but nothing has died yet (tank about 3 months old). I have 4 zebra danios, 1 very small albino catfish, 4 balloon mollies, and 4 fry now. It is 30 litres, think that is about 6 gal

HELP!

 

[Annastasia]

I've never had Balloon Molly fry, so I couldn't tell you. Maybe someone else can come along and answer that.

As for overstocking...yes, it is, unfortunatly. The Zebra Danios are very active fish, and they need a tank of at least 15-20 gallons. I'm guessing you mean an Albino Cory, in which case they need schools, and probably a 10g mimimum. The Balloon Mollies would also do best in a tank of about 10+ gallons. I'd recommend you either upgrade, or take some fish back soon. Do you test your water params? What are they? Did you cycle the tank? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it's best to find out now, rather then have your fish start dying.

 

[Seidge]

I have never tested the water stats as the kits are just too expensive. Why would they start dying now if they have survived so long. I do water changes (20%) every 5 days. I guess the LFS told a few porkys cos i did ask them if i was overstocking, money grapping gits.

I will see how it goes, tank is fully cycled though and is about 6 months in. No deaths yet.

P.s. What can i do to help fish in an overstocked tank. They seem really healthy at the minute as they are and dont want to take any back. How many fish would you recommend in a 6 gal tank?

 

[Annastasia]

Because they get bigger, and produce more waste. They also may get more stressed. Your water change schedule is pretty good, but I'd still upgrade or rehome soon. Most fish stores cannot be trusted, unfortunatly. Usually the employees are just hired without much previous knowledge. There are some really good ones out there, but they aren't that commom unfortunatly.

How many would depend on what fish. I wouldn't recommend you keep any of your current fish in there, except maybe the fry to grow him/her up a bit.