New Molly Fry

[cferns]

Hi All

First timer posting as I have managed to trap my first molly fry. They are in the hatchery at the moment.

I only bought the mother yesterday and the lady at the LFS said she suspected that one of them was pregnant. Got them home and gradually put them in the tank. 3 hours later I spot a baby in the tank! Managed to isolate the mother (after getting the wrong one first time around) and she gave birth to another 12 in the hatchery. I thought she was finished so let her go but spotted 2 more in the main tank this morning which I couldn't trap in time

Question is there are also a couple that look like fry in the bottom of the hatchery but not alive, they just look like they did not fully grow. Is this normal? Should I take them out or leave them there for the fry to eat?

Many thanks
Chris

FYI main tank is 75L with:
6 platies (all female)
6 x-ray tetra, 2 remaining glowlight tetra
4 black mollies (one male, one "speckled")
4 white mollies (one male, one dalmation)
4 orange mollies (1 male)

 

[Spishkey]

this happened to me a few weeks back, i had around 12 healthy fry in the hatchery but about 20 dead.dying/deformed/unformed egg shaped 'bits'

apparantly it was due to the stress of being moved she aborted her babies.

gradually over the next few days the 'healthy' fry started dying as they were not full term. i am left with just two who have made it and are now 3 weeks old

 

[kirstyrickman]

if it is possible to remove them without disturbing the other fry then yes do remove them.

it is very normal to for you to have alot of dead ones your mother molly has been through alot in the past couple of days the death of the baby fry is due to stress of the mother first she came to your tank then being trapped in the hatchery causes alot of stress to her also

it is recommended that you trap the mother 3-4 days before she is due to drop her fry. make the bday of these fry on your calandar and then you will next know when she is due and can trap her before she drop you should hopefully not get as many dead fry next time .

good luck

 

[cferns]

Thanks all for the responses.

Should I feed the dead ones to the rest of the fish or dispose of them?

Hopefully next time i'll know she is ready and trap her earlier.

Only other problem is that the fry were to big to drop through the slot in the hatchery. They got caught by their heads.

 

[Spishkey]

next time instead of using a hatchery then do you have a spare tank, plastic tub etc? you could move mother fish into this, with lots and lots of hiding places/pla,ts etc, and let her have babies in there, they will dive for cover once born then when mum has finished let her have a little break then pop her back into the main tank.

 

[OldMan47]

You have experienced some of the more obvious problems of using a breeding trap CFerns. A poorly designed trap or one made for smaller fry can be a problem with a fish like a molly where the fry tend to be large. The fish all experience some amount of stress when placed into a container only 3 or 4 body lengths in size. It is a reason that many, but certainly not all, who breed livebearers will favor placing the female into a separate tank a week or so before they give birth. If that separate tank has lots of hiding places, the survival of fry can be about the same as it would be in a trap but it is much better for the female and causes her almost no stress. If you are not concerned about producing large numbers of fry, the best method for stress is just lots of cover and don't move anybody. With good cover, plenty of fry will survive to keep your colony going and the only stress is the hiding that the fry need to do to survive the first couple of wks.

 

[twilight_angel]

excuse me...

what is a hatchery...

 

[cferns]

excuse me...

what is a hatchery...

http/southernaquatics.co.uk/product_info...products_id=355

 

[twilight_angel]

do you mean a breeding trap...

i' not using them...

 

[cferns]

do you mean a breeding trap...

i' not using them...

Yes, same thing I think?

 

[twilight_angel]

I'm not using thaty kind...

for me, fishes who are sometimes irritated in small places...

they tend to move fast...

and so the babies are also distructed and the mother is stressed...

specially if the mother is not yet on her due date...

lol...

 

[cferns]

Only 5 left now, the others have gradually died off . The remainder look healthy though .

But I think one of the other mollies has dropped in the main tank as there seem to be a lot of fry hiding in the plastic plants and ornaments last night.

 

[twilight_angel]

how sad...

yap...

another mommy molly gave birth, i think...

do you know who's that motther...

 

[lilfishie]

if she has had them early then you will have a good number die, my platy had hers a day or so after i brought her, only got two left and one of them i found a week after as for the breeder, i use them but don't put the bottoms in them, i have never had any problems with platies, guppies, swords doing it that way, also gives mum that extra space

 

[cferns]

how sad...

yap...

another mommy molly gave birth, i think...

do you know who's that motther...

I think so. The dalmation molly I got at the same time looks a lot smaller now. There are still a few of the fry about hiding away.