Freaky molly fry!

[liam101]

Hey i have a large 70 litre tank with abetween 20 - 30 molly fry now and i occassionally see some weird bahaviour! They are now about 3 weeks old and have grown quite alot. I sometimes see acouple of them sortof kiss eachother on the lips and like wriggle against each otehr and go crazy like theyre having a fit in mid water. I know it sounds really weird but thats what happpens. If anyone has any isea to why this might happen then please post some information...

 

[balloon molly]

sounds like ur babies are already trying to breed.even though they dont have gonopodiums they will still try to use their anal fin like one.
horny buggers

 

[willywonka099]

Yup looks like the males think they are "ready" so too speck ;-)

 

[liam101]

Ok thanks 4 that it makes alot more sense now. 3 wesks and allready tryin! so how old is it b4 they are able to have babies themeselves? Im off 2 australia in afew days and would also like to know if one of them holiday blcoks will be allright 4 the fry for 3 weeks. I know that its messes up the water but I don't really have any choice. Thanks any advice

 

[willywonka099]

Well your 70 litre is VERY overstocked !! for one the male and female bettas should be seperated unless you happen too have got some lucky ones or missed sexed the male ...... are the fry large enough not too be eaten by the male molly ?? ..... I keep a tank just for fry ..... 10gal ..... 13 fry (sailfin) (1 sword) with 3 corys ..... bi-daily water changes .... Chances are leaving that tank for 3 weeks I'm guessing you will lose around 20 fry ... the molly and 2 or 3 of the betta

 

[Da_Oz]

If your fry make it 3 weeks with out you or someone being there I will be very shocked. Fry should eat 3 times a day, and water changes atleast every 4 days for the first 20 days. But anyway good luck and have fun.

 

[appleblossom]

maybe some excellent filtration with mature filter media, and a lot of algae covered plants for the fry to eat will give them a better chance. Live daphnia will survive in the tank until they get eaten, maybe adding some for the fry to eat as they grow over the weeks you are away is an idea?

other than that, is there noone who could look after them for you?

the rest of the fish will be pushed to last 3 weeks with no food aswell, and thise holiday blocks contain plaster of paris, imagine what that does to your filter, definitely not going to help your water quality while you are away for so long.

are your lights on a timer? you dont want the lights always off, in which case your plants may die and decompose in the tank, or on all the time, in which case the fish will be struggling to swim through the algae by the time you get back...

 

[liam101]

ive got a mate that can pop in every three days or so to feed them and yes the lights are on a timer.

 

[liam101]

thnx 4 the advice