mollie fry growth rate?

[philby4000]

ive had mollie fry ever since i got my fish (two-three months).
they haven't grown much.

they are currently between 8 and 13 mm in lengh.

heres the confusing part (for me anyway), i gave 4 of them to my sister, she put them in her huge tank.

those mollies are now twice the size.

her tank is a lot bigger.

i feed my fish sera flora flakes, its designed for livebearers, and she just uses normal tropical flake food.

why are hers so big?

does the rowth rate depend on the size of the tank?

 

[aquarius]

hmm i guess the tank size can have an effect on their growth. how big is your tank? also, what and how much you feed them is probably a big factor too.

 

[philby4000]

my tank is 25-30 litres.

her tank is huge. on of those nice all in one jewel thingys.

she puts in loads of food, but she has many fish.

i put in a genourous pinch.

 

[MAM]

yes, tank size does make a difference. i kept some of my fry inthe 10 gal (37 litre) tank and some in a 2 gal (7 liter) tank. those in the 10 grew so much faster. also, how many times a day are you feeding them? they need to be fed 3-6 times per day, a pinch or crushed up flakes should be enough, but a little extra wont' hurt, as long as you clean up the tank. also, becasue its a smaller tank, you'll need to do more water changes and cleanings to keep the water optimal than you would with a bigger tank. fry need really good water, plenty of food, and space. you could probably safely keep them in the main tank, depending on what other fish you have in there and if you have enough plant cover for hte smallest fry to hide in.

 

[philby4000]

thanks for the advice, but i'm not putting my 4 mollies back in there.
not after my female betta's ate 2 of them
anyway my old tank is over crowded, the mollies would probably be fine now, but when they got bigger...

 

[guppymonkey]

Fry have a lot of requirements to make sure they grow up correctly. Like mentioned, food should be given several times a day and weekly water changes are definately required. With all the feeding they get fry tanks can get nasty quite quickly, I usually do at least two partial water changes a week on my fry tank. The type of filter used on the fry tank can also have an effect on growth, the better the filter the better the water quality usually. I found that feeding my fry live food such as just hatched brine shrimp improves their color and growth.

 

[philby4000]

i sometimes feed them frezze dried bloodworm...

so i need to change the water, crush the food up more, feed 3-6 times a day.