Molly problem

Question
Hello Nathan :)

Richard is my buddy and I usually go to him, but he's away, and I kinda have a serious problem on my hands that I can't wait for him to get back, and I hope you can help me with.  It would be really amazing if you could..

It sounds kind of.. dumb..  but I have a really big problem with my molly fishes.

Lately, my balloon molly has dropped two or three litters? of fry, so I have at least twenty "big babies", and a hatchery net full of smaller fry.  I moved most of my males to a different tank, but that tank is over crowded as well, with at least twenty male mollies, as well as quite a large number of other fish.

My problems are:
1. The same mother, plus one of her daughters (who was impregnanted by a guppy) are both ready to pop any day now.  The mother usually drops between 20-50 fry each time, and this is a first pregnancy for the daughter.  I don't have any room to put any more fish, seeing as my main tank has the mother, plus three of her daughters, three loaches and a gourami, my "baby tank" has probably 50+ fish in it, and my dad's tank is packed full too.
2. I've asked the pet stores in town if they'd be willing to buy/take the babies off my hands, and they've all said no.  I even put ad's up for free fish and no one wants them (unless they're for feeder fish, and I won't allow that!).  I just don't have any room for any more babies, they don't eat the fry, and I don't know what to do :(  Is there something you can suggest?  Even if it's a temporary fix so I have a place to put them?  I can't go and buy any more aquariums (No money/no space) and I just don't know what to do.  I could never kill any of them, but.. I'm at a loss.  I really need some help or advice, and I really hope you can help me.  If you can't, is there someone you know that can help? :(

Thanks for everything;
Sincerely;
Julzy

Answer
Hi Julzy,

I'm very surprised that no pet stores in your area would take them off your hands. Most pet stores would accept them (but they wouldn't pay you). See if there are any local family stores in your area, rather than the large retail chains like Petsmart. I'm sure that one of these family-owned stores would gladly accept them.

There's no way to stop Mollies from breeding, other than separate the sexes.

Since you have so many small fry, you may want to consider putting them into the main tank, in hope that your other fish will eat them. it may sound cruel, but it may be they only way to get rid of them. If you do not have fish that eat your fry, perhaps purchase an Angelfish or a small group of Tiger Barbs.

You could keep the fry in a large bucket until someone accepts them.

I know you don't wish to kill any one of them, but anyways, the most humane method would be to put the fry into a Zippy bag, and put them in the freezer. The cold temperatures will 'shock' them, and they will go into a state of dormancy, and die a pain free death.

I hope this helps, and Happy Fishkeeping!