Molly fry with red belly...?

[Red15]

So my white molly has just given birth.
I brought her yesterday and since she was heavily pregnant, I put her in a seperate tank.
The problem is all of her fry have this red patch on their bellies and most of them are just lying around, breathing heavy.
I wonder why this keeps happening to my molly fry. The last molly I owned gave birth four months ago and half the fry died with this red belly, that molly died yesterday.
Could anyone please tell me why this happens and what to do?

 

[foxgirl158]

Pictures and video of the fish?
What are your water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, ect)
What size is your tank?
How hard is your water and what is the pH?
How often do you do water changes and how much do you change at a time?

 

[emeraldking]

So my white molly has just given birth.
I brought her yesterday and since she was heavily pregnant, I put her in a seperate tank.
The problem is all of her fry have this red patch on their bellies and most of them are just lying around, breathing heavy.
I wonder why this keeps happening to my molly fry. The last molly I owned gave birth four months ago and half the fry died with this red belly, that molly died yesterday.
Could anyone please tell me why this happens and what to do?

Well, a photo could tell us more. But newborns do have a yolk sac that contains the nutrients they need for their first day. They'll absorb that in one day. And after the first day, they'll seek for food themselves. That's normal. And yes, the yolk sac can be red.
But again, would you be able to post a photo of them? Just to give a proper answer.

 

[Red15]

Oh well, the redness seem to have gone away and they're swimming around actively now.
They are currently in a 5 gallon tank. Water parameters are perfect last I checked. But yeah my tap water is considerably hard and I usually treat it with water conditioner. I do about 30% water change every weekend in other tanks but in fry tank I try to do water change every day-50% or more.
Now that I've got to raise these fry, could you guys give me some suggestions?

 

[Colin_T]

Grind up some fish flakes into a powder and offer that to them several times a day.

Get some dry brineshrimp eggs and hatch them in salt water. Feed the newly hatched brineshrimp (called nauplii) to the baby fish at least 2 times a day.

Get a microworm culture and feed the worms to the baby fish at least 2 times a day. Call the local pet shop and see if they have microworm starter cultures or brineshrimp eggs. Most pet shops also sell powdered fry food for baby fish. It is fine to use but can cost a little bit.

You can also boil up an egg and use the boiled yolk as food for the baby fish. See "Emergency Food" in the following link.

The following link has information about culturing live foods for baby fish and includes hatching brineshrimp eggs and culturing microworms.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

Keep the water warm (28C/ 82F) for the first few months. They grow faster in warm water.

 

[Red15]

Grind up some fish flakes into a powder and offer that to them several times a day.

Get some dry brineshrimp eggs and hatch them in salt water. Feed the newly hatched brineshrimp (called nauplii) to the baby fish at least 2 times a day.

Get a microworm culture and feed the worms to the baby fish at least 2 times a day. Call the local pet shop and see if they have microworm starter cultures or brineshrimp eggs. Most pet shops also sell powdered fry food for baby fish. It is fine to use but can cost a little bit.

You can also boil up an egg and use the boiled yolk as food for the baby fish. See "Emergency Food" in the following link.

The following link has information about culturing live foods for baby fish and includes hatching brineshrimp eggs and culturing microworms.

Back to Basics when Breeding Fish

STARTING OUT Make sure you have a pair, (1 male + 1 female). There is nothing worse than spending your hard-earned dollars buying a couple of fish to try and breed and ending up with a pair of fish of the same sex. Let's face it, to reproduce fish you need a male and a female. Two males won't do...

www.fishforums.net

Keep the water warm (28C/ 82F) for the first few months. They grow faster in warm water.

I have a bigger tank with a few guppy fry in it-I was thinking of moving these molly fry there since I have another black molly squaring off and I'll need to use the tank for her delivery soon.
Can I introduce the fry directly to the new water or should I mix some water from the bigger tank and let them get used to it first?

 

[Colin_T]

I would be very careful adding newborn fry to a tank with bigger fry. The bigger ones usually eat the new ones. If they are the same size, or similar size, it's probably ok, but if the bigger fry are twice the size of the new ones, I wouldn't mix them.

If you have to mix them together in the same tank, feed the older ones before adding the new ones. And check the water in both tanks, they should be pretty similar to each other. Then have the new fry in a small container of tank water and let them float in the new tank for a few minutes, and pour them in.

Don't use a net to scoop up the babies because you can injure them. Use a small plastic cup or container to scoop them up with some water. The same deal applies to gravid (pregnant) females. Don't lift them out of water. And try to avoid moving them if they are due in the next week.