my mollie

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I have been keeping fish for quite some time now, and this is not my first experience with livebearers. To add to my collection of two male guppies and two sucker fish, I recently purchased the following:

0ne male guppy        
3 pregnant female guppies
One male sailfin dalmatian mollie
One pregnant female (sailfin?) dalmatian mollie

I have been doing a lot of research on livebearers, but cannot find exactly what I need.  The three guppies have all had their babies succesfully, but my mollie simply stays fat. I can note no apparent change in "belly size", and she is not shy.  I am a little confused. Could you give me some advise as to why? I would also like to know exactly how long a female mollie stays pregnant.

All these fish, besides the 35+ baby guppies, are in a 10 gallon tank.  I also have a 29 gallon tank and plan to move these fish to it next weekend. then I shall use the 10 gallon for a "nursery".  I do not know of any disease in my tank. Can you help?

ANSWER: Hi Lea.  I read your concerns and might be able to help.  First off, the thing that concerns me is the fact that you have 3 male guppies and 3 females, and one male molly and one female.  Normally with livebearers, you really want to have 3 females for every male at least.  Reason being is that males are ALWAYS ALWAYS in mating mode.  They never stop and never give the female(s) a break. Sometimes it can get so bad that the males actually stress the females so badly that they die. And after they give birth, if you don't give them an adequate rest (at least 24 hours), they can die also from the stress of having the fry AND the male not leaving her alone.  So please take this in to consideration.

As far as gestation time, you're looking at about 30-35 days so long as tank conditions are right (meaning all water parameters are in the safe zone).  You can have your water tested at your fish store if you don't have a test kit.  Remember too, females are naturally more round then males, so will look big to begin with.  When my dalmation molly was pregnant, she literally looked like a ball that was about to explode, and she had 65 fry.  I have 2 now that I'm going through the same thing not knowing if they are pregnant or not. But time will tell.  I would suggest you just keep a close eye out as you are doing.

A couple of little tricks.  Try raising the temperature a couple of degrees, and do a couple of water changes of about 10-15% every day.  Mollies like salt in their water, so if you do not have aquarium salt in your tank, I would add it according to the directions on the box.  If you have tetras by chance, use a little less.

I have 135 fry in a 10 gallon, sides are about to burst!  So yes, I would definately use the 10 gallon as a nursery tank and use a sponge filter so that the fry don't get hurt.  Please keep in mind that in any tank with fry, you really should have something floating at the top that the fry can hide under.  Sometimes tank lights are too much for them.  I bought a plastic floating one and it works great.

If I can help you out along the way, please write me back.  Good luck!!!   ;o)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you,
I will try to get some salt for my tank. Is it ok for guppies to have salt in their tank?

At present I have a third tank, it is a ten gallon. I am not using it at all, because I have no equipment for it. Should I set it up as the nursery and then use the other ten gallon for female guppies? (I am going to have a lot of them) I have no tetras in my tank, but my sister has two in hers. I am beginning to think one of them is pregnant. However, she is not interested in babies so their fry will have a rough time of it.  

Thanks for all the advice, Lea

ANSWER: Hi again Lea!  Just wanted to make sure you got my other follow-up to these questions.....I did a follow up on my own when I saw your question on the ratings section, so I sent another e-mail.  Let me know if you didn't get it and I'll send it again.

Hope to hear from you about how you make out with all your fry and fixing up your other tanks!!

;o)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,
Yes I received two e-mails with answer links to the 1st question. The second Questions?
My mollie just gave birth and I am in the process of finding and fishing out fry. Also, just wanted to let you know that I do have another female mollie in the tank, she is my little sisters Laser tattooed mollie. She is white with a red heart and dots. Thanks, Lea

Answer
Hi again Lea.  Ok, now I'm a little confused where we are with the questions....did I miss one??  "The second Questions?" part threw me, let me know if I missed something.

"My Mollie just gave birth and I am in the process of finding and fishing out fry."

<CONGRATS!!  And good luck finding them.  But they are bigger then a lot of fry, so it's not as hard. There are other types of fry that are barely visible when born.  Please if you are able, give the mom a rest away from the rest of the tankmates so the male doesn't badger her until she's fully recuperated (this of course is totally up to you).  She may not be done having fry either, so keep watch, she may hold on to a few for even a day or 2.  Also, did we speak about purchasing a Breeder Net or a Breeding Trap?  If not, if you're interested in knowing, let me know and I'll explain them, or you can look them up online.  I prefer these as opposed to letting them have them in an open tank (although having them in an open tank is a natural form of population control if you start getting overloaded).  It saves you from fishing the fry out, and also keeps them safe as well as gives mom a rest.  Once you get the nursery set up, you could use the breeder net to let mom have a rest before you put her back in with the others.>

"Also, just wanted to let you know that I do have another female mollie in the tank, she is my little sisters Laser tattooed Mollie. She is white with a red heart and dots."

<That's fine. Have to ask you though, do you really know how bad it is for fish to be tattooed?  It's a very controversial subject.  I myself would not buy a tattooed fish because of what I know about it, and also because I would not tattoo any of my pets.....and my fish are my pets too.  I'm NOT judging you or your sister, it's totally up to you guys if you want to purchase these types of fish, but here are some facts about it that I think you should know, because most people do not know:

First, they strip the fishes' slime coats with acid;
Second, then they INJECT the dye with NEEDLES NOT LASERS;
Third, they put them in a vat with thousands of other weakened fish where they attempt to synthesize the slime coat.

This entire process stresses the fish, leading to only about a 40% survival rate, if that.  And if they DO survive, it's at a much lower lifespan (i.e. if the fish normally lives 5 years, it MAY live for 2 if it's lucky).  As I said, it's your decision, and I don't pass judgment on people, but I just wanted to let you know how they do it and how extremely cruel it is (in my opinion and in the opinion of many many others)  When I first saw one I was like WHOA, that's so cool!!  Then I found out how they did it and now my heart breaks for these poor fish.  But again, that's my opinion>.

Thanks, Lea

<You're very welcome  ;o)  Be sure to contact me if you need me along the way to let me know how things are working out!!>