Pregnant Dalmation Molly

[Althamon]

I won't be able to have a snail as I am growing these from small cuttings plus my shrimp would tell them where to go pretty sharpish, I must admit I think the only reason the plants survive is because it is very slightly overstocked but not so much ammonia starts showing. I also do weekly 20% changes the replace nutrients from tap water and they have about 15 hours light on a timer 7am - 10pm.

Also my housemates tank will be used to look after the fry when they get big enough to move.

The easiest one to grow I found so far is a species of spider plant (develops runners to reproduce) "pogostemon helferi" is the name of the plant.

Reason it was so easy in my view is that it grows relatively quickly even if munched by hungry goldfish down to nearly bare stems (goldfish gone now to a pond at workplace) also you don't need to do anything special or add to the water to keep the plant alive.

 

[Lyra0727]

Can I barrow your shrimp then.. maybe they'll eat the snails? I bought a plant from walmart (which died) and it was infested with baby snails even though it was claimed to be snail free. I was told goldfish eat them but that never worked. I tried to vaccum them up when I did water changes which worked for a while.. but now they just sink back down and my tank is being over run by them!

I'll have to do some research on that spider plant.. sounds pretty cool. And since my stock in my 60 has been cut down maybe it'll grow? (after i get rid of the snails somehow........) But for the lighting I have it on all day and most of the night.. probably just as much as you :\ Do you have special lighting maybe?

And I have been corrected about the plants in my tank.. One grew and died down and I thought it offically died all the way but my friend just pointed out that it is coming back. Dont know the name of the plant though it's one of thoes small seeds you buy at walmart. The only one that grew.

 

[Althamon]

If you are looking at getting rid of the snails I would suggest an assassin snail as they eat the other snails and from what I have heard don't eat the plants. I haven't tried growing from seed as I haven't found that as an option in the UK. I have a 5w energy saving bulb in my tank so it's really basic and use a basic plug timer instead of the switch on the top.I would be interested to hear what seeds those are so I could see if they are available here.

I also caught pregnant Molly hiding in the ship shortly before feeding and went back in and out then started feeding so she is nearly there fingers crossed

 

[Lyra0727]

I just searched the plant online its called Aponogeton Bulbs. They usually come in a pack of 4 here. I'll have to look up thoes assassian snails, my lfs only has mystery snails. But if I can find them I'll get one or two hopefully they can get rid of this pest problem of mine!

Very excited about your molly hopefully tonight will be the night!

 

[Althamon]

Well put it this way she is still being stubborn so she is making me think it will be a few more days yet currently day 38 i have had her so she must be close.
The assassin snails will reproduce in your tank but slow enough to scoop them out.

 

[OldMan47]

The plant that most often falls back to nothing but roots before recovering would be one of the cryptocorynes Lyra. The so called Crypt melt is a commonly encountered phenomenon.
I find that my java moss requires almost no artificial light and simply thrives in my tanks. It is also a very good cover plant for newborn fry. The most extreme case in my personal experience was when I got some new fish and had to set up a new tank for them. I placed it in the middle of a room that got only a bit of light from a North facing window, it was a room formerly used as my daughter's bedroom. A few months later I was ready to move the fish to their permanent home and noticed that the sample of java moss I had placed in their tank to provide a bit of cover had actually grown and spread in tat tank. It had the further quality of not having any algae growing on it, something that seemed strange compared to my well lit tanks having java moss. It seems the light in that tank was not enough to allow algae to survive but was enough to grow my java moss.

 

[Lyra0727]

Dont you hate it when the fish are stubborn.. lol My guppy is too. On wednesday we will be going on week 5 I believe. Oh well it'll happen when it happens. I just went ahead and moved my to the fry tank so when she finally drops I'll move her back to the community tank. your using a trap right?

Oldman47, your ich site is still not working. It is still saying that it is under maintance (just wanted you to know) but I did get the ich under control. Also I have been thinking about using java moss for my fry tank but havent officaly decided to give it a try since I have been having such rotten luck with aquarium plants.

 

[Lyra0727]

Any new updates on your molly?

 

[Althamon]

Nothing new to report apart from I have added a moss ball for them to play with which the molly's do, she is still chancing fate now and then and getting more square and if she hasn't dropped fri I will post another pic but as far as I can tell that would possibly make her overdue if Pregnant before I got her as she is now up to 40 days (since I bought her)

 

[Lyra0727]

Wow! I figured she would have had them by now.. she must be having a lot then 0_0

 

[OldMan47]

Lyra, there is nothing to decide when it comes to java moss. Even if you can kill plastic plants you can succeed with it. If you can find some locally, it is about the easiest plant I have ever had. Every tank where I have some, whether or not it supports other plants, has had great success with java moss. The only down side is that if you give it too much light it will also show signs of algae.

 

[Althamon]

My thoughts exactly, but the other thought is she is not wanting to give birth till they force their way out lol,

As of today she is still refusing to drop, she must be still a few days away as she is now in her 5th week of me owning her and she was almost displaying pre birth activity earlier

 

[Lyra0727]

Mine will show it every 3 days, shes back to being normal today! I think our fish are trying to drop on the same night lol.

The only reason I have to think about rather or not I will be using java moss is because every time I add something to the tank everything goes sour rather its a fish or the water. And right now due to the power being out and me having to replace all the spoiled food I have no money to fix anything right now. So I cant tank the risk right now.

 

[Althamon]

That really sucks, I hope nothing goes wrong with your tank in the meantime!

I have a feeling she is in the last day or so now as she is spending time on her own at the surface of the tank (nothing to do with water quality as did 50% change earlier) also she seems to have an opening between her backside and anal fin starting to show (I spend hours just watching them) but I am still going to wait and see before subjecting her to the stress of the breeding trap.

 

[Lyra0727]

It sounds like your molly is getting really close! I'm very excited for you. I decided to put my guppy back with the main tank now that the males had more females.. although all their attention went back to her as soon as I put her in. But every time they stop she follows them so I guess she likes them doing that.. who knows.

Let me know when your molly drops!