New Fry Question

[bcroft]

Hello, I recently got a dalmation molly and I think she was already pregnant...she is HUGE!! I think she is going to burst any day lol. Well lets say she does, could I put the molly fry in the same breeding net as the guppy fry?

Oh and that leads to another question, at what size will the guppy fry be ok with the community? They're about a month or 6 weeks old.

[twoluvcats]

ya, you can put all the fry in the same net...but you are getting enough fry that you may want to think about setting up a fry tank, instead of just keeping them in a net.

if you have a lot of plants (fake or real) in your community tank, and the fry are ~1/4-1/2" they'll survive just fine in the big tank. Just look at the fry, and then look at the fish in your community tank, and think 'can any of my fish swallow these whole'?...cause if they can, they will. But really, if you have a heavily planted tank (fake or real) you don't really need to separate the fry out...the strong ones will survive and you'll end up with the 'best of the best' and then rest will just fall prey to the circle of life.

[bcroft]

Thank you I don't have a lot of plants, just two lol. So I don't think i'll let them out just yet. They're about a half inch or so now though, so maybe in the near future. They are def. going back to school with me though, I want to see my babies grow

[bcroft]

Here she is , what do you think? Pretty big huh.

[twoluvcats]

she's big...but she's not squared off very much yet...so it could be as much as another week. Water changes will often encourage them to drop fry...so if you do one in the near future, start checking for fry a couple hours after.

[bcroft]

does anyone know what a LB will act like before she gives birth? I'm just wondering because I want to be there when she gives birth, and the rest of the gang doesn't eat them

[sawcat]

My platy had them sometime in the first day I had her, but I didn't see them. Didn't see them until I was getting ready for a water change and I saw a little dark thing near the cave that moved. Most of them were hiding in the gravel (had 13 of them).

By the way, they can easily be removed with a gravel vacumn (mine's a manual one, no power source).

[bettons]

that would stress them out and possibly kill them if removed with a gravel vacumn

[bcroft]

My guppies are easy to catch, they're very stupid and swim right into the net No syphon vacuum required

[amanichen]

Bcroft, you might want to look at getting a net breeder. Close to birth, she'll be skittish, and want to hide in a secluded spot in the aquarium.

sawcat said:

By the way, they can easily be removed with a gravel vacumn (mine's a manual one, no power source).

A brine shrimp net will be sufficient. Fish can be killed by being sucked through a gravel vacuum.

[bcroft]

amanichen said:

Bcroft, you might want to look at getting a net breeder. Close to birth, she'll be skittish, and want to hide in a secluded spot in the aquarium.

sawcat said:

By the way, they can easily be removed with a gravel vacumn (mine's a manual one, no power source).

A brine shrimp net will be sufficient. Fish can be killed by being sucked through a gravel vacuum.

I do have one, but there are guppy fry inside of it. I setup my 5 gallon underneath my 30 gallon with some salt and a heater set to 78 degrees. It has no filter but I may put the guppy fry inside of that. Would a molly be ok inside of that net? She's very big...

[bcroft]

Week after update lol....

She has gotten a little bigger, and there is a spot near her lower fin that is getting darker and darker.

Here is an updated picture: