My Fry Are All Dying Off? D:

[creeker]

In my experience, mollies are prone to premature delivery if disturbed when almost ready to drop. Way more so than other livebearers. Are you putting the female into the breeding net or some kind of trap? Better to fill the tank with bunch plants, real or artificial. Mollies are also one of the fish that benefit from some salt in the water.

 

[fish48]

it's not genetic issues

 

[ninjacheesefish]

I let them drop in the tank and then just take out any fry I see floating around and put them in a breeding net. I don't let them drop fry in a breeding net/tank, I'd end up with too many, so I save the ones that are smart enough to hide.

 

[OldMan47]

One thing you have yet to answer is the type of water that you have. Mollies, among all livebearers, are probably the ones most likely to have troubles if they do not have enough minerals in their water. Some people provide those minerals with salt although I never use the stuff myself. In my tanks I use tap water that has about 225 ppm of TDS and has a pH of 7.8. My water is plenty hard enough for molly health but that is not always the case. Many people have less than half the minerals that I have and have a pH that is far closer to 7.0. Those people tend to have more trouble keeping mollies. What kind of water do you have straight from the tap?

 

[ninjacheesefish]

pH of around 7.2 is very much hard water. I was thinking of starting to use RO water. Would this be a good idea?

 

[FishBlast]

pH of around 7.2 is very much hard water. I was thinking of starting to use RO water. Would this be a good idea?

RO water softens it / gets it neutral. Not good for livebearers.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

Ah. Thanks for that. Maybe I won't then.

Also, proud mother moment:

They're so cute :3

The white blur in the second one is their mum. They've gotten quite big actually I just hope they dont die
I was thinking of naming them? I think they're both girls.

 

[FishBlast]

Gratz on them X)
I think at around 3 - 6 months of age they show their genders.
I suspect my biggest fry to be a pink female hi-fin (so i guess my male swordie isn't her dad since both mother and father of most of the fry are normal-finned).
Then there's Ninja who courts Pinky, I think he's definitely male. And looks like a ninja with black body and pink face.
And their younger sibling, no idea what it is but looks like Ninja.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

Both of them have fins underneath, so that's what made me think they were female.

Ninja is a good name I'm thinking of calling them Tic and Tac. They're both white and really small. I think it works.

 

[FishBlast]

Both of them have fins underneath, so that's what made me think they were female.

Ninja is a good name I'm thinking of calling them Tic and Tac. They're both white and really small. I think it works.

They all look female until their genders start showing. And for some odd reasons, in swordtails case, I've experienced a female that has given birth to fry turning into what looked like a male after that. I've also experienced the case where a female-looking one was actually a male and it grew a sword tail and the gonopodium when it was probably about 1 year old.
Tic and Tac sound like nice names. X) I was thinking of finding a unisex name for the smallest fry since it's now showing any behaviors of either gender yet. But no idea what to call it.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

That is werid...
Haha thanks, they're doing quite well.
Some ideas: Sushi, Prometheus or Ace. They're nice unisex names.

 

[FishBlast]

That is werid...
Haha thanks, they're doing quite well.
Some ideas: Sushi, Prometheus or Ace. They're nice unisex names.

Sushi sounds best fit for both, Prometheus sounds male, same with Ace, never heard of a girl named that.
I guess Sushi it is. Thanks.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

Haha fair enough. Glad I could help.

Anyway: exciting news.

The third molly fry that I though had got eaten hasn't. I found him this afternoon swimming round the tank. He's a little shaken, but he's ALIVE

So now Tic and Tac have been reunited with their sibling Toe.
I think this may have made my week.

 

[FishBlast]

Haha fair enough. Glad I could help.

Anyway: exciting news.

The third molly fry that I though had got eaten hasn't. I found him this afternoon swimming round the tank. He's a little shaken, but he's ALIVE

So now Tic and Tac have been reunited with their sibling Toe.
I think this may have made my week.

"The only way to win is... not to play." ...in the main fish tank.

Gratz on finding Toe.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

Haha thanks. They're getting quite big now. I'm starting to intergrate some frozen food into their diet, and they seem to be taking it.