mollys, breeding, care,

Question
i am just stating a aqurime and i have a eclipse system 12 with a heater set to
80   
and gravle two little plastic plants and two decortive shells. i have put
aqurime salt in there tank and there amoinia and nitrate nitrite levels are
perfect.  3 dalmation mollys. 1 male, 2 female. they are both pregnant and
looke ready to bust. i don't know when i should put them in the breeder trap
or what to do whith the fry. any tips about mollys, breeding, or good tank
mates would be greatly appritiated.

Answer
Hi Spencer,
I apologize for the late email.

I have found in my personal experience that mollies can coexist peacefully with their own fry in the main aquarium provided the adults are fed well. And there is plenty of plant cover on the surface and planted towards the back and corners of the tank.

It would be better if you tried letting the female mollies give birth in the main aquarium with lots of cover for the fry than moving her to a breeding trap. Those breeding traps (depending upon the individual fish) can be very stressful and even cause the mother fish to deliver too early.

Another option would be to move the pregnant molly into a spare 2.5 gal or other small aquarium as a nursery tank -- let her deliver in there and raise the babies in that aquarium.

Raising the fry is very easy. Simply change about 20% of the water everyday to help them grow and prevent pollution-related deformities and growth problems and feed them several small meals a day of powdered flake food. You can also feed them a little frozen baby brine shrimp or daphnia for supplements.

Good tankmates for mollies include small peaceful fish like tetras, danios, rasboras, rainbowfish, catfish, gouramis -- ect.


Mollies in general do best on a diet containing plenty of plant matter with some meaty foods and they do well if they are fed several times a day. Clean water is essential, although many sources claim they are hardy fish. Mollies can be sensitive and don't do well in poor water quality and high nitrates are especially hard on them.

I do hope this helps!
Karen~