So I Bought A Pregnant Fish.....

[rachcake]

I bought 4 mollys from my LFS just under 2 weeks ago.... i figured the black one was pregnant about week after i got her (it was quite obvious, but i suppose i was just hoping she was fat) and today i've found 4 or 5 little black babies swimming/hiding in the plants.
 
So my first thought really is, s***t.... 1. What do i need to do to make sure they survive?? (i've found 2 dead ones at the bottom of the tank

) they're not being bothered at all by the other fish at the moment.
 
2. I was due to do a water change tomorrow, should i still do that?
 
3. What if she has more babies and i get overloaded?
 
I feel like a panicky new mother! any advice would be really appreciated!!! Never had this happen before in any of my tanks in the past.

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

Most people who have bought female livebearers at a pet store went through the same thing! 

1. You will probably need to catch them, and put them in a fry tank or breeder box/net if you really want to keep them.  A lot of times if you just leave them in the tank they'll get eaten, that's what happened with all my platy fry.  Though if there are enough hiding places for them quite a few will survive.
 
2. Yes, you should still do the water change.  
 
3. She probably will have more babies, especially if you have any males.  Livebearers can store sperm for up to 6 months, so 6 more batches from each female is likely, if you don't have any males.  Unless you know for sure you can get rid of them you shouldn't try to keep them all, you'll get anywhere from 10-100, I've heard, a month, depending on the fish.
 
Congratulations on babies! 

 

[fatheadminnow]

I agree.  Move the babies to a seperate tank so no harm will come to them.  And still do the water chagne. 

 

[rachcake]

Most people who have bought female livebearers at a pet store went through the same thing! 

1. You will probably need to catch them, and put them in a fry tank or breeder box/net if you really want to keep them.  A lot of times if you just leave them in the tank they'll get eaten, that's what happened with all my platy fry.  Though if there are enough hiding places for them quite a few will survive.
 
2. Yes, you should still do the water change.  
 
3. She probably will have more babies, especially if you have any males.  Livebearers can store sperm for up to 6 months, so 6 more batches from each female is likely, if you don't have any males.  Unless you know for sure you can get rid of them you shouldn't try to keep them all, you'll get anywhere from 10-100, I've heard, a month, depending on the fish.
 
Congratulations on babies! 

 
thank you! i'm a bit in shock really, this has never happened before ha ha

so if i was to get get a breeder box thing, how long do i need to keep the fry in there for before letting them out?

 

[Betta_Shark5678]

You're welcome! 
 
haha, well you'll get used to it
 
If you use a breeder box/seperate tank you'd have to leave them until they're big enough to not get eaten.  I'd recommend putting them in a separate tank if you can, but if not a breeder box will work for a few.  When I was raising a (single) guppy fry I kept her in the box until she was about 1/2-3/4" long, and then I let her into the tank with my 5" golden gourami and she's still here! It'll be a few months, probably.  Mine was in the box for a month, but she was probably a month or so old before that. 
 
Good luck!

 

[cpsdad]

same thing happened to me, i manged to find a couple of survivors hiding.
after advice from these forums i got them into a breeding box and just kept them separated until they were big enough to not fit into the others mouths.
theyre doing great now and getting quite big! hope you manage to save some