new baby mollies

Question
Hello, purchased a small 5 gallon tank for my 2 year old with 2 mollies and a gold fish about 3 months ago.  The mollie was getting bigger, noticeably pregnant.  We were gone over Memorial Day and now have babies upon our return.  I bought a 4"x4"x4" holder that I'm trying to put the babies in.  I've captured 40 of them--trying to not get the little guys from being eaten.  I will upsize from the 5 gallon this week--didn't plan on this addition to the family.  But, are there any other things I need to consider?  The pet store asked me why I wanted to keep them.  "food or flush."  But, it's kind of exciting, so I need some helpful tips!

Answer
Hi Steve;

Babies! Congratulations! You will have to upgrade to a much larger tank to keep those little fellas alive. Each molly needs one to two gallons of water per fish. Otherwise, the babies will not grow to their full potential. Make lots of water changes, at least a 25% every week, and they will grow fast. You might want to sell a few back to the fish store once they get to a marketable size. Your current fish will have more and your babies will have babies eventually too.

You will need to get a separate and larger tank of at least 10 gallons for your goldfish too. Goldfish are coldwater fish and mollies are warm-water tropicals. They really shouldn't be in the same tank. The goldfish will end up eating some of your others too. Goldfish just get big and are messy so they need lots of room. Here is a good page about them;

http://www.firsttankguide.net/goldfish.php

I really must say something about what the fish store told you..."food or flush"?....That's HORRIBLE! The little ones might not be valuable to them, but those are your little baby fish. Fish as food for others is a natural and a pretty fast death, but flushing is not. It is a horrible, long, suffocating death that a "flushed" fish goes through. Just because it swirls down the commode doesn't mean it's dead when you can't see it anymore. I'm sorry, but that's just ignorant of them and cruel to even mention it to you. They should be ashamed. Stepping off the soapbox now...

Anyway, I hope your babies all grow and thrive and bring you many long years of enjoyment. Have fun!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins