My Fry Are All Dying Off? D:

[ninjacheesefish]

So a few days back my molly had some fry. 5 survived and I found a live one in the filter bring the total to 6.

One managed to escape the breeding trap (its homemade, and I'm assuming it got eaten) but today 2 fry have died. There are no symptoms, nothing on them after they've died. The water is fine (Ammonia 0, Nitrate 5ppm, Nitrite 0), they're getting fed tiny amounts 3 times a day, theres a filter and air pump in the tank.
Is this normal? Or can I do something to help?

 

[Akasha72]

Hi, if your water stats are all fine (which they are), there's not much more you can do IMO. Is this the first drop from this female? Is she very young herself? If that is the case it could be that they've been born premature and they're just not strong enough

 

[ninjacheesefish]

I'm assuming its her first drop, I don't know how old she is, I only picked her up from the fish shop a couple of weeks back. I suppose its a possiblity, I wasn't expecting her to drop her fry so soon to be honest. I'll just keep an eye on them and hope that the other 3 fry turn out okay.

 

[Akasha72]

it may be that she's become stressed and dropped her fry premature then. Hope the remainder do okay. Good luck

 

[FishBlast]

I used to lose like half a batch back in the days, some fry just have some genetic errors that won't let them survive. Even nowadays I've lost 2 out of 4 swordtail fry within the first month. And one of the survivors seems to have a genetic defect as she poops spirals...

 

[RossC]

It happens sometimes, if the water stats are fine and theres no sign of disease or infection then I wouldn't worry. The next lot will probably do better. Good luck with the survivors

 

[LucyB]

This always seems to happen to me, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why?! I have a pretty low survival rate even though my water readings are spot on, I do weekly water changes, and I feed them a variety of food! They have a decent sized tank with a good heater, cycled filter, live plants and sand, where is the problem?!

 

[FishBlast]

This always seems to happen to me, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why?! I have a pretty low survival rate even though my water readings are spot on, I do weekly water changes, and I feed them a variety of food! They have a decent sized tank with a good heater, cycled filter, live plants and sand, where is the problem?!

Genetic errors.
I'm surprised Pinky is still alive and 2 months old. She wasn't a lively fry when I saved her.

 

[Ny82]

I had this too. When my female dropped her fry, the other female dropped hers too (this was a while back) I had 21 fry. Only 11 survived. I do daily water changes (2 buckets) and on a sunday do a 50% change.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

I didn't lose any today

I'm quite happy, I suppose if they have genetic issues there's nothing that I can do. I'll keep up with the water changes and hope for the best. I bought some more mollies today so hopefully that means more fry anyway

 

[OldMan47]

Losing half of the fry from a drop is excessive.
This is a tank at day 1 after a drop.

This is the same tank and fry 35 days later.

As you can tell, the fry are mostly still all there. I never did count that drop.

I would start looking for something else wrong with the fry tank. Have you changed huge amounts of water every few days? Are you feeding until they are satisfied at least 3 times each day? Is there any evidence of disease in any of the fish in the tank, not just among the fry?

 

[FishBlast]

I just love that mommy Mollie with her fry in your pic, Old Man. Reminds me of a hen with her chicks, but too bad most fish eat their "chicks".

The fry I've been losing back then might have been because of not having a filter, but the 2 I lost nowadays died even though I was feeding them enough, cleaning their cage and changing water. And the ones I have remaining are rather awkward.
One like I said, is pooping spirals... Another has a tail that will orient itself to the light and a third doesn't have much of a problem but sure has a temper, as it's the youngest sibling yet manages to scare the other two 2 month old fry.

 

[OldMan47]

If you have no filter, you have the answer to why you are losing fry. Fry are fish and have the same needs as any other fish, which includes temperature control and water quality control.

 

[FishBlast]

If you have no filter, you have the answer to why you are losing fry. Fry are fish and have the same needs as any other fish, which includes temperature control and water quality control.

I didn't have back then.
But why was I losing fry nowadays when I have a 20 gal with cycled filter and frequent water changes? Although they were just 2 fry.

 

[ninjacheesefish]

I would start looking for something else wrong with the fry tank. Have you changed huge amounts of water every few days? Are you feeding until they are satisfied at least 3 times each day? Is there any evidence of disease in any of the fish in the tank, not just among the fry?

The place where I keep my fry is a little breeding net attached to the side of the tank, so its got the main water flowing through it. The water is being changed every other day to keep it fresh and clean. I'm feeding small amounts 4 times a day untill they stop eating. No other disease in the tank, all other fish are fine and healthy. I'm thinking it was a premature drop, as she wasn't that big, and I only ever found 6 fry which is unusual. Also its the first time I've had molly fry so I wasn't expecting it to go well. It's all a learning curve.

Oh, I'm down to 2 now. One jumped out the breeding net and got eaten.