Molly and catfish

[Kerriemichael]

Hi the im rather new to this started with a 25ltr tank and upgraded to a 280 ltr tank as my molly had fry (alot of them) now my catfish has had eggs only have 2 catfish thought they where both male oops. Think my tank is going to be over crowded wot can i do with them

 

[Colin_T]

how big (length x width x height) is the tank they are all in and how big are they?

 

[fluttermoth]

What species of cat fish are they?

 

[Kerriemichael]

There bronze cory catfish and my tank is 280ltr 4foot long

 

[seangee]

Corys need to be in groups of 5 or (ideally) more. Since you have plenty of space for now I wouldn't worry about what to do with them if any survive (survival rate will be fairly low as eggs and fry make tasty snacks for fish). For what its worth Corys also need a sand substrate. I can't see clearly from the pic what you have.

Do you know your water parameters? Specifically hardness (GH and KH) and pH. If you don't have a test kit for these the info should be available on your water suppliers website. We will need the actual numbers as well as the units of measurements as there is no standard way of reporting these. The reason for the question is that Mollies require hard water while the Corys prefer it softer. I have water that is suitable for Mollies and my Corys will not spawn, despite my best efforts, because they recognise that conditions are not ideal. This is ok but my concern is that if your water is ideal for Corys your Mollys may end up being sickly and short lived. Obviously I don't know if this is the case but if you an post the numbers someone will be able to advise.

 

[Kerriemichael]

My mollys have had 2 or 3 lots of fry in last 3 weeks so there good. None of fry was meant to be they where all ment to be male. The male has now gone to new home.ie my mothers lol. Iv had my catfish about 6 months or more and never seen the eggs before. And they where in a 25 ltr tank

 

[NickAu]

The male has now gone to new home

The females will still have fry for months to come even without a male. Mollies can start reproducing at about 3 months old so you will have to remove male fry long before that or in no time all the sexually mature females will be pregnant.

 

[Kerriemichael]

At the min there only 3 weeks old so finding hard to sex them at minute. Can you tell the difference between catfish babies and molly babies

 

[Kerriemichael]

These are my readings

 

[Lunar Jetman]

These are my readings

Its a bit difficult to tell from your photo but both the left hand tests are in some way pink so you have Nitrate and Nitrite present in your tank. Nitrate is ok but you need to have 0 Nitrites so you need to do a water change of at least 50-60% straight away to try to reduce this.

Was this tank cycled before you put the fish in? Did you use some of your old filter media from the old tank with the new one?

 

[Kerriemichael]

Yes its a new tank i put the plants from old tank in there and most of the water from old tank but since my fish have been in there my mollys have had fry and my catfish had eggs and its near a window at min cos the room that it goes in is being decorated

 

[seangee]

Agree with LJ. Needs a big water change if we are to avoid a "please help my fish are dying" thread

 

[Kerriemichael]

Ok will do it tomorrow thankyou

 

[NickAu]

Can you tell the difference between catfish babies and molly babies

At 3 to 4 weeks old Molly fry should be easily distinguished from Cory fry.