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Sylver's Fish Updates

82K views 575 replies 13 participants last post by  Sylverclaws 
#1 · (Edited)
I currently have a beautiful female Creamsicle Lyretail Molly, who, until the other day, had never been interested in the boys. lol She is almost full grown, I think they get to be four inches long, she is just over three and a half inches long. To my knowledge, this will be her first brood! She took a liking to my male Black Sailfin Molly, and have been...dancing for the last few days. Now, she is about three quarters of an inch larger than the male fish, and she runs my tank. Haha, so if she gets tired of him, he'll know it. I have ten females and two males in the tank, and I haven't noticed any bullying from the boys, they seem to be rather gentle for males who usually practically attack the females while breeding...Bah. The two males are also interested in three other females at the moment, so she isn't getting too bothered, and to my knowledge only lets my black sailfin near her.

Well, in anycase, I was wondering what the estimate on the brood size is for Creamsicle Lyretail Mollies. I can't find anything on it when I googled. lol They usually add in all the molly species, and I know they can all interbreed and are basically the same species, just different sizes and colors. I also know that bigger fish can have more babies, but it is her first time, again, to my knowledge. She was pretty small when I got her. I've had her for several months now, and she's grown from about two inches to her near four inch size. She really is rather pretty, as is her male "buddy."

Also, for those curious, I have a breeding net which I will NOT be putting her in to have her babies. It has nine fry from a gold dust and silver molly in it right now. I was also afraid it'd be too small and stressful for her in that thing. I have improvised a roomey area for her. I made a large net that I have tied to a very large, two gallon picher(pitcher? I hate that word lol), that I will be putting into the tank, it's used only for my fish water changes and holding for big tank stuff the fish shouldn't be present for or if I have an issue that requires them moved, so it has nothing yucky in it they can't be near, like soap. I need a separate tank for this, really. LOL But I haven't gotten one yet, I intend to get one later this year.

Anywho, yes, makeshift net tied in there, and weighed down. The whole thing can go into the tank, only temporarily, no more than a few hours I am hoping, or the other fish might get upset with me. But this way I don't have to worry about her being in there out of the tank and risk a problem, like oxygen or tempurature, or a spill. I intend to have some plants in the bottom and some gravel for the babies. When they're born, they should fit through the net and be able to get to the plants and hide until mom is done giving birth. I've also made sure it's roomey and that the net wont move or collapse, and it wont catch on her and/or cause damage. This way I can try to minimize loss of babies to being eaten, and lessen stress to the mother and other fish, it wont really be a move, she will just get sorta scooped into it and stay in the tank. I did let a different, very expectant mother go in it last night, I thought she was in labor and I had been up almost two days, I had to sleep or be sick! She did not give birth and I removed her after I had a five hour nap, she seemed not to care. If anything, she wanted back in and tried to do so. ^^; Afterwards, I will remove the fry to the breeding net and let mom have an hour or so to rest before going back to the tank, I don't want the other fish picking at her while she is tired and smells of afterbirth. Would YOU want someone poking at your rump when you just shot out a bunch of babies? lol


SO, anyone have an estimate for me on the possible brood size, or should I ask later once she gets her size on? :3 Also, what do you guys think they will look like? Creamsicle Lyretail Molly with a Black Sailfin Molly. He's pure black except the top edge of his sail. It's bright yellow across the whole top edge! Mom is a very nice orange color with a lighter colored belly and dark eyes. The male has very odd eyes, the top half of his eyes are kinda dark brown/black, but the bottom half seems to be a bright shiny gold color, maybe copper would be a better wasy to explain it. Odd eyes. lol One of my gold dust females has a black eye and a silver eye though, I guess I am used to funny-colored eyes.
 
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#77 ·
So happy to hear that the pup is recovering well! Poor little thing. . . that's a wonderful Christmas gift - I agree!!!

As far as I know ALL Platy are born as females, but will develop their boy parts over time. I'm not sure of the ratio on Platy, but for Mollies, something like 75% of 'em STAY female, and my guess is that this is true for all of the livebearer bunch. Time will tell!!!
 
#78 · (Edited)
Ah, I've got a new kid in the tank. lol My swordtail finally gave birth and I got one before she did. Only one. x.x She's still a bit big too, I think she's still holding a few kids or another batch. I'm half tempted to put her in the net, but she's no small fish! Problem is, she hunts down her kids! I turned on the light this morning and found out why I never get any babies. She was circling around the bottom and in the plants like a shark hunting for seals! x.x I only managed to get a baby because he got stuck between the glass and breeding net where I raise the youngest fry. lol She is just so difficult! Not once have I seen her show signs of labor, and I watch my pregnant girls like a hawk. She never even goes off into a lonely corner, she doesn't hide, she doesn't stay in place or swim slower...and then I go to bed...wake up to skinny mom and no babies. Well, one baby in this case. x.x I'd really like some of those kiddo's to raise, I wish she'd not eat them! Such is life, I suppose, can't take the instinct out of the animal. lol
And he's a nice little baby! He's got some blotchy black coloring on his tail and lower back area, it looks like someone sprayed him with paint. You know how it comes off patchy if you use the spray paint in the apllication "Paint"?
Heh, well, I'm hoping I'll find some more! And as much as I'd like a nice looking male, I only have the one female. A daughter would be nice for when I get the bigger tank. I did have my eye on some really beautiful painted swordtails, and they had a good looking male. It's actually kinda hard to find the males these days, at least it is here...and I'da gotten them, IF I had a place for them. LOL I'll still have to buy a few more girls regardless. I may get another smaller tank for the swordtails. :3 I ended up with the female not knowing what she was in the first place, but since I found out, I've been doing all kinds of digging and looking into swordtails. I've decided I like them. HAHA you say? Yeah, I like just about all of the live-bearers...and most other fish to boot. =p
 
#80 ·
Yeah. Today I'm getting a trip to the shop for the first time in over a month! I've gotta get some new plants for both tanks, some more frozen foods(that stuff doesn't last very long, I got too much last time and it went bad, not going to MY fishies!), some cleaning supplies and water purifier, and I'm going to be taking in some youngins and adults. I'll also be getting my swordtail a girlfriend and a mate to replace two of the fish I'm giving away, but I'll have some space open because I intend to take back three or four adults and two older kids. Chelsea(My cousin named the swordtail), seems to be lonely and maybe a bit stressed. She's absolutely full of eggs, and still dropping a couple kids here and there. I've only found the one. But I can see her tummy isn't full of kids, but eggs. And she looks uncomfortable.
Do they let out the eggs if they don't mate, or what happens there? Do they just keep growing and make them uncomfortable? I was worried if she didn't mate, they might cause her problems. I know some are obviously fertilized, but she has nobody to breed with. She flirts with my boys, they literally just run her off and then go about their business. She seems desperate to mate, and I've only seen that once with my creamsicle female. lol But she had boys. Am I worrying too much, or could this actually make a problem if something isn't done about the eggs?
And you know me, I'm always happy with more kids to raise. It's my favorite thing to do. So that's not only a worry, but a want. lol I have only had two youngins born the last month, and not many are showing signs they're close, though some may pop in a week or two. I THINK I have two pregnant mollies. The males have absolutely no interest in any of the smaller type mollies, just the creamsicle and dalmations. The other three girls are kinda left to dry out alone. xD Poor things, that's ok, they've had enough this year in my opinion, so they don't need it. But I am still considering buying a smaller type male molly. Not sure I will, especially if I'm going to get a small swordtail group going. They don't need as many in a group like mollies do. Like platies, the males are super aggressive at breeding...well, not compared to male mollies anyways. My red tiger is interested, but he visibly seems unable to figure it out, if you know what I mean. ^^; He tries to court, the girls let him, he goes in for baby making and falls short...and then he looks like he feels silly. lol It's kinda funny, I'd like to film that, but I'm not sure others would be as amused. =p
 
#81 ·
Woah, over a MONTH!!! You must be going through some serious fish shop withdraw ;)

I could be wrong, but I thought that swordtails and platy would breed together, no problem? Never kept the swords, though - so I could be wrong. I've read that they do tend to be a smidge more aggressive than the Platy - but again, never kept them.

I don't know about her 'eggs' I'd think that they're either fertilized and growing from a previous mating, but she isn't ready or comfortable enough to drop them yet, or perhaps she's decided to terminate the batch. I don't know if it would be harmful for her, though? From your PM your tank has experienced some flux that *might* make her a bit uncomfortable, so perhaps she's just waiting for the right time?

Hope you figure it out, though - good luck with them all!!!
 
#82 ·
She was in the tank that didn't have the flux. lol And no, the platy male showed no interest in her either. However, they can indeed interbreed. I've even seen some white mickey mouse swordtails and other mickey mouse swordtails thay looked a little of the mix.

Anywho, I took in some fish, they gave me two dollars per fish. I thought that was awesome. And I was telling grandma about it and said "If I had a bigger tank, I could raise more than two babies at a time and become rich. LOL She said, and I quote: "Shut up!! Christmas is almost here, so just shut up." This is what she says when she has a plan to get someone something they've been talking about, or already has. xD She should be a little more...what's the word...she gives it away by telling people not to talk about something she already has, or is going to get for them. Heh. Lucky for me too. When I went to the shop I was telling her I was looking into a male swordtail, but they didn't have any. I ended up with a female so Chelsea could have a buddy. She's darn happy about her too, they instantly buddied up. I wasn't expecting that. ^^; She's a painted swordtail to Chelsea's Red Neon, they look nothing alike and instantly just partied. Problem is, on our way out some girl came in with some absolutely gorgeous swordtails, two of which were males. I told the lady I already had my purchase, and didn't want a fish, no matter how pretty, without watching it for a while and making sure it didn't LOOK sick. I musta told her no three times. When we got home, that big male was in the bag. I was kinda miffed because I had gotten some newbies already, and now I had one too many fish! >/ Not only that, but my betta, who has been so good and sweet I actually forgot he was a betta...he decided he hated the big bright red male. @-@; I gave him a rather large pitcher with a few plants and heater. He's stuck, he almost killed him in about a second. ^^; Thankfully he just got a nick out of one fin and was knocked down. This swordtail is about twice, maybe even three times, the sizze of the betta though, and he got knocked down like a bowling pin. He's fine though, I was worried. I can't believe I forgot! He's never had a problem with my mollies or my platies, or anyone for that matter. Nothing serious, he did slap Chelsea, the Glutton as I call her, for stealing food from his mouth. He didn't do any damage, he just got mad. lol

Well, anyways, I wanted to give him to my mother, but her husband doesn't want him, and grandma got mad at me when she found out. x.x She said I'm not allowed to give him away, keep him in the pitcher(it's a big glass one that hold about a gallon and a half, not anywhere near good enough, but better than a cup or bowl), and SHE is getting him a five gallon tank herself, and then he's going to be hers so I don't give him away for killing fish. xD

Well, now that that is all settled and everyone is happy and currently sleeping...I can't wait until Christmas for the first time in years. Usually I just like to hang with family and enjoy myself, don't really care much about presents. I don't ask, they give if they feel like it(I can rarely afford gifts and so do not ask! I enjoy family time more anyways), but this time I know what I'm getting, even if it may be late, and I'm just about drooling over thoughts of awesomeness and big third tank I get to plant up and make pretty and raise babies in their own tank again. :3 Yeah, I'm excited. lol
 
#83 ·
What IS it with people giving you fish?! You must have some kind of magical powers that hypnotize everyone into giving you aquatic creatures or something ;) Glad to hear that your little Sword is happier now, though. She must have been lonely, you wouldn't think she'd be, with all of those Platy around, but. . . fish are very interesting creatures, neh?

I think it's FANTASTIC that your G-mom is going to get a tank to properly keep that Betta. Poor thing has been through so much, and deserves his own space. Of course I'm sure you'll be in charge of tank maintenance, lol, but still - you'd have gotten him his own tank too, if you could afford to! YAY!

And. . . OOOOH!!! I just KNEW she was plotting something tank-related for Christmas. I'm SUPER excited to see just what she comes up with! *crosses fingers for a 125g* HEY! We can dream, neh???
 
#84 · (Edited)
Gahaha, I would give just about anything for a 125 gallon tank. But no, I've been asking for a 50-55 gallon forever and constantly explaining why I need the bigger type of tank, not a smaller one to mix and match again. lol I think I got through, but I doubt anything bigger will ever happen because of space and floor strength. lol
I wanted to move to the basement because of this, and because it's cooler in the summer and I hate heat, but it's noisey down there with all the appliances and pipes, my uncle lives down there and he's not anywhere near quiet, and the hardwood floors above, it's a bit cramped feeling as well, there's also spiders...>>; I don't mind spiders, but my room has never had an issue with it on the top floor, the occasional one pops in and my cat kills it, or I catch and release. Haha, I would love a giant tank over a hundred gallons though, I really would. I could have a full group of all the livebearers I like. xD And proper groups of them, and even one of those common plecos that get huge...I fell inlove with a..I'm not sure if I remember the name properly, but it was something like a bushy something pleco. It looked like a butterfly, or like it had feathery wings. He was so neat. It was bushy something. xD I dunno how big they get, I just like how he looked and was content to stand and admire, but it didn't cross my mind that someday I may be able to get one. Research first though!

As for people that keep giving me fish, I think I need to stop being so vocal about them. It's just so hard not to talk about my fish, or other fish, and share knowledge. But people hear that and think "Oh hey, she's a good caretaker, let's dump 'em on her" I even do this at petshops. I felt bad yesterday because I finally had enough seeing bettas in cruddy conditions and kinda sandblasted this guy...one whom I see often and like to talk with. I told him I was sorry and HE has no say, I just couldn't not say anything anymore. There was a gorgeous betta there that was pale blue with white fins...what was left of his fins. They were just about rotted off. And another that was eating his tail, I let the guy have it. He said he was understanding and agrees with me it should be considered illegal to sell them if they can't keep them properly. ^^; Poor guy though. I just blew a fuse. I didn't yell, I just went on a mad rant. Bah. Someone needs to do this, several someones need to, at the proper people.

And my betta actually seems happy in his giant glass picher(Pitcher?). lol Comes to eat and everything, swims about all happily as normal. Good for him. I have a feeling he misses being in the community tank though. He actually grouped together with everyone and hung out, he'd swim over to the group just to be with them and hang out there. That was surprising, but he really did seem to enjoy it, and when he's in a place alone, he just seems kinda bummed...still eats and investigates his new place, but he still seems lonely. lol It was that giant red swordtail that set him off, and not just on him. He started going for everyone, I had to move him. =(
 
#85 ·
You might be talking about a Bristlenose Pleco - I've also heard them called Bushynoses? If so, you CAN keep those in your 30 gallon tank, they only get to be about 4-5 inches if I'm remembering correctly :) Either way, I know you've been after a 55 for ages, I REALLY hope you get it!

Poor betta! I hope he gets used to being on his own. . . :cry: Speaking of Bettas, I like your new avatar, but I KNOW your fish isn't purple. . .did you get a new Betta?
 
#86 · (Edited)
Nope, I making a move for betta and other fish, and I liked that purple one. I have no idea who it belongs to, I found it on google when I heard someone else talking about their purple betta. lol I don't have a place hardly for my current rescued betta, so getting another one would be a disaster. If anyone gives me one, I will hunt them down and stomp on their face and then sell their teeth to the toothfairy for a betta tank. =)

The move I am making, I have made posts in several places on yahoo, facebook and even sent a few to the news tips line. I am TIRED of seeing fish treated like trash, betta in cups, sick animals being sold, and all around poor care for fish in general for a profit. I think betta get it the worst. I am hoping many people will join in on it, and I am really hoping that the news will air my tip. It's high time this was taken care of. Animal cruelty is illegal here. A dog kept in his own filth and a tiny space would get the owner in deeeep kimshi. I think fish should be treated the same, so I am trying to make my voice heard for them. I hope many will join, it's a huge deal. =) It's got to be heard, I hope it gets big instead of being ignored. If you have a facebook, post it out there and see if it gets shared and heard! =) Or anywhere else that it may be heard, passed on, and possibly make a difference for the animals we love.

As for the pleco, it wasn't a bristlenose. I think it was a long-finned bushy nose pleco. Maybe the difference is the fins? lol

This here is what I saw, except the one I looked at wasn't albino: http://www.free-pet-wallpapers.com/free-pet-wallpapers/free-pet-desktop-backgrounds/857139298.jpg

Yeah, I sure have a big enough tank, but I don't have the room. I am over-stocked and feel like a dip myself for allowing it. I should have spoken up sooner, and been more FOOT IS DOWN on the subject. I do not want my fish to suffer. That's why I was giving away some of my favorites that I love, they deserve better homes. =) When I get my bigger tank, it'll be just them, and maybe a new pleco or two. The smaller ones of course. ^_^ I intend to raise happy, healthy fish for people who want to give them good homes. If I profit from it, yay. If I don't, oh well, they got a good home, and I KNOW I raised a happy fish and that is my payment. =)
 
#87 ·
Well, if I don't have anymore unbelievably stupid setbacks that are far too coincidental for my tastes...I'll have my 55 gallon tank by this afternoon. :3 So long as my dog doesn't break his other leg, and my ferret doesn't get shut in another door, and my cat doesn't fall off the house, and my something doesn't something again. x.x LOL That's kinda been my month. xD Except the cat one.
Ever have those days where everything that could possibly go wrong and thensome does? Well, that seemed to happen to me all month. I went to purchase a bigger tank a while back and somewhow my dog busts up his leg and needs a $3500 surgury soon as I seal the deal. Then the other night I found a nice tank and went for it, was literally in the middle of making the call when my uncle slammed the back door on my ferret. He didn't see her of course, but yeah. Another setback. Thankfully she's ok. x.x But we decided to pocket and drop everything incase she wasn't. It's one of those moments I just want to make sailors blush with my very talented vocabulary.

Ah well, I do indeed have baby news, which is better than the yuck I've gotten lately. LOL I am starting to think it's funny. =p I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, but I got a baby swordtail. The other one I got from my sick tank unfortunately died, along with most of my mystery babies, I have only one left. =( I ended up missing a tank change for the week because I had the flu, and we had an ammonia spike. v.v; Well, I got that taken care of, and I do have three healthy babies. Well, two are babies, the other is a month-month and a half old dalmation lyretail baby. It's so cute. Got a little black candleflame for a tail. That's what it reminds me of anyways, I assume since he's already covered in spots, he will probably continue to get darker and darker, maybe he'll end up like my other Dalmation male, the one I called The Resident Peacock. He also unfortunatly died and I miss him. I also lost a creamsicle lyretail and a long-finned bushy-nose pleco at the same time due to a filter malfunction Lucky month, eh? I get a little bit of good luck for one single day, and then I seem to get absolutely slammed with bad luck for the month. xD

Well, maybe things will happy up once I have my 55 gallon set up and running. And then with my luck, the thing will shatter on it's own for no reason. =p Yeah, I'm morbid today. I'll put up a happier update later on, I am sure. ^_~
 
#88 · (Edited)
Yeah, it was a bad day at the Claws house yesterday. lol But today is looking up. I got my tank this morning. It's a really beautiful tank! Needs a wipe-down and then I can set it up. The guy selling it had me on the phone for about two hours talking about our awesome fish we had or have. lol He ended up losing his gumption to have fish when his Bumblebee Cichlid decided to kill all his other cichlids, so he sold his tank. He was actually very unhappy about it, but he was glad to know I know at least some about what I'm doing, love my fish like he did and that I'll take good care of it. The only thing wrong with it is the stand has half the door missing, but that's not a big concern, the rest is in great condition. ;D I can't wait to get it set up and going. Even though I intend to move most of my water over there instead of doing a full cycle, I'm thinking I'll do a bit of a cycle anyways. lol Got that proper testing kit, so this will make things a lot less hairy. :3 I can't wait to get photos of it up for you either! My fish are going to love that thing. And it came none too soon either. My Dalmation Molly is getting ready to pop, and I'd love to have her in her own little place for it. Whenever she has those labor pains, my other fish kinda group around her and she doesn't like it.
Well, even if I add in my platy and swordtails, I think it'll be considered a bit under-stocked. Which is fine with me. xD I have a place to raise the kids safely, and room if I decide to keep one or two of them. :3 I'm so happy, one of the best presents I've ever gotten that I didn't buy for myself. lol

Honestly, I don't know which I am more excited to see. This tank set up and going, or those babies. xD Mom sure is a pretty fish. Sure, I like the ones that have so many spots you can't even see them all, but I also like those that barely have any. She's got quite a few, but she's mostly a pretty snow white color. On one side she has only a couple spots, on her other side she has about a dozen. She's a nice little fish. x)
Now that I've gotten some good luck, pray it doesn't come back to bite me. Haha. -knocks on wood-
 
#89 ·
Ah, I was hoping for soem Holiday Babies, but I guess she's just not ready to pop yet! Honestly it worries me when they get so big but don't drop any babies. This usually means they're re-absorbing them and I never get any. x.x Well, whatever is best for ma, I always say. It'd be a real bummer if that happened though, so I'm hoping she'll have some nice healthy kids still. She isn't really getting much bigger, just staying about the same size. lol But then again...she did get bigger since I got her, it's just been the last week or so that she hasn't changed much, if any.

Heh, once the holidays are done, I'll be setting up my new 55 gallon tank. We're kinda having arguements and disagreements about where to put it. x.x I absolutely do NOT want to move to the basement..it'd only be slightly more comfortable in the summer, but complete mysery at all other times. Honestly I think it'll be fine on the second floor considering the amount of heavy things they have in their room with no problem. GIANT cabinets, several of them, giant TV, giant BED, giant everything really, and two of those cabinets weigh no less than 200 pounds, maybe even more than that. And one of the clothing dressers has a five by six foot mirror on it that can't be light. All of these basically in the same area of the room as well...would this be a good arguing point? I don't wanna be in the moldy old basement where there are billions of spiders and other bugs. ;_; It'd be equivalent to sleeping on the ground in the rain forest! Orkin just makes you feel better by laying traps and whatnot, but I keep seeing spiders here and there, I know they exist, and they're none too small either...I've found spiders down there that would make tarantulas soil themselves.

Well anyways, now that I got THAT out of my system...lol xD Made myself laugh. I'm sure we'll get that taken care of. I had hoped to have it all done by now! But we had a White Christmas and a lot of cold since we bought the tank, my uncle just left it in the garage to be cold. I'm actually afraid it might crack or weaken because of that, not to mention going from freezing tempuratures, sub-zero at one point, to the 72 degree house. lol I'll be sure to get photos up for you guys once everything is done though, I'm sure it'll be fine if we let it get used to the house before actually doing anything with it.
 
#90 · (Edited)
Finally, after a little more than four months I can honestly say....SHE FINALLY HAD KIDS! My Creamsicle Lyretail molly finally decided to fertilize her eggs and have some gorgeous babies. I THOUGHT she was tricking me again, she has this tendoncy to over-eat every chance she gets. She steals everyone else's food if she can, and when I drop in stuff for my cories, even in the dark with a covered tank, she gets it. And she's no small fish as is! She's about three and a half, maybe four inches long, and she's always had some good girth. lol The last few weeks I had noticed a dark spot in her, but again, blew it off as my little bossy girl eating too much.
Well I got a heck of a shock this morning! I turn on the lights and they were -everywhere- I didn't know what to do. x.x I musta fumbled around my room for five minutes before I realized I couldn't move all the adults out, so finding the net was only going to help me a little...and got my trusty turkey baster. :3 Well, in my defence, I did just wake up and it was two am. lol It's 3:23am now, and I still haven't caught them all! I don't think I will either. There's a lot more hiding places now, and they're pretty darn good at it. Unfortunately I know that many of them were eaten...I'd say she musta had between fifty and eighty kids! I think I only managed to catch about thirty though, I can see dozens more in there that I can't get to without mushing them. ^^;

They really are a nice mix of babies too. Most of them are black and gold, this tells me she did indeed still have some sperm saved from either my black sailfin, who I had hoped she would have kids with at the start of this waiting game, or from my dalmation lyretail male with the blue tail I called Comet, who recently passed away. Either way, they are and probably will stay gorgeous. And best news yet: I got my 55 gallon tank, so I have room to raise at least several of these babies. =) I do see some white on a couple of them, but most are solid black and gold. Most likely she had a thing with all the boys I've had in there over the last five months or so. ^^; I also had a silver lyretail in there five months ago, and another black molly, but she hated everyone but my black sailfin and Comet the Dalmation. But who knows! I'm just so happy about this, what pretty babies and sooo many! And here I was just complaining that I had only gotten six or seven babies in the last month or so. =O I was so used to having babies all over the place I was getting lonely. ^_^
 
#91 ·
Here's a video of my adult molly tank and the babies currently in the net. lol They're a bit hard to see, but I got a few good shots. As of this moment all of them are swimming around normally now instead of hanging around, so I'll get some more footage later on. =) I also intend to move a few to the other breeding net, it's smaller and plastic. Otherwise I just wont have enough room for them all, even in the giant net! But I'm gonna wait a day or two to allow them time to settle down.

 
#92 · (Edited)
Well, my Dalmation Molly gave birth last night or this morning, not sure when. She did so in the 55 gallon tank...I only found one. And only because one of my juvenile platies was chasing it. It was so tiny! I got it into the breeding net with the other molly fry that are a couple days older now. lol I hope I find more, she was absolutely huge before, and the baby was so tiny, there must be a lot of them. I hope they didn't all get eaten, I couldn't find anymore. =( I was so looking forward to this. I was going to set up an area for her later today so she could give birth in peace. I wanted her to get over any stress she may have had from the move before I did any tinkering. I was just going to block her off in an area, not move her, but I didn't want to chance it. It seems she had other ideas. Darn. lol Well, maybe that little tiny will grow up into a nice female like her mother, and I may keep it. I do intend to keep at least two or three of the current fry I have. There are some nice colored ones in there. But we'll have to see later on. =)

Well, wish me luck that I find more kids. Mom is rail thin now, she was absolutely huge. I didn't expect her to thin up quite that much! She's like a skeleton. Well, I gave them a little food and then it was lights out again, she came to snarf up the food so I think she'll be fine. They all love their new home. Of course, every single male in there is chasing after every single female I have. lol I'll be getting more babies eventually. My Gold Dust molly was mating with my Silver molly who hasn't given me any babies in several months, so I'm hopeful. Hers always turn out pretty too! Ah, I just love raising babies. I can't complain right now since I have 50-80+ babies right now, but I still hate to lose them. Well, you win some you lose some. I wanted some kids from my creamsilce and dalmation, I got one from the dalmation so far, and many, many from my creamsicle. :3 I hope a few end up with good sailfins like my black sailfin had. There is one, maybe two, black ones in the mix.

Meh, I've been up over thirty hours with only a piece of pumpkin pie for yesterdays breakfast and a few cheetos, and I re-did my current two tanks and set up the 55 gallon. All that cleaning and heavy lifting was a real pain. I'm beat. The 55 gallon is huge, I remain hopeful more babies are hiding out well in there. Lights out too. So maybe when I wake up my eyes will be refreshed and I'll spot some more. =p
 
#94 · (Edited)
Nope. Didn't find anymore.
I got some good sleep, just so you guys know. Went to bed at about four-five pm and got up at a quarter to seven am. Boy did I ramble on yesterday. xD I think I repeated myself eight or nine times. Haha.

I decided to move my other cories into the big tank too. I had moved my two girls into the betta tank about...I dunno, a week and a half ago or so now. They loved it in there, acted happy as could be. But it's too small for them, it's only a five gallon. And being in a group of two isn't good for cories, as many know. I also had two males in my twenty gallon. I -thought- I had three, but I miscounted! Darn. I just moved the girls into the 55 gallon with the boys, four is better but not enough. =( Well, I may buy a couple more today, which will set me back, but they'll be happy. I was thinking about getting some of those white ones if they have them. Problem is, every time I go look at the cories, interested in them or no, they usually have something wrong with them, especially the white ones! But it's been a while since I actually went to look. Few months. I'm hoping they'll all be good by now and messed up shipments have settled. Those white ones look like Emeralds like I have, except their white. Well, regardless, I hear they all get along the same, those white ones get the same size too. I'll get four of them. =) This way I can put them in my twenty gallon for QT for a while so I can be sure nothing is wrong with them. I was gonna put my fry in there today since that giant net is just not big enough, I thought it'd last longer. Haha, I guess I'll take some to the other net for a while. After that, they're big enough to be with my cories.
I also have to grab a temperature sticker while I am out. My 55 gallon had one, but it doesn't work, and it kinda fell apart. x.x Thankfully the heater has a dial on it, and I can test it with my hands for now against the other tank which is set at the same temp, but I don't like risky things. xD

Ah, I also need to get two more female swordtails and another female platy. I think I am good after that. But I may get another female molly and another male too, I did lose my dalmation male, and I want another one. lol We'll see, I may do all that stuff later on, unless some catch my eye. I'll be sure to let you all know.

I imagine I'll be adding to the baby talk again within the month, or less. LOL I do have a couple girls I am thinking may be a couple weeks along already, not sure though. But every male in my tank has been after all the girls. They must really like their new home and have deemed it...too big. So they're fixing it. LOL I don't intend to have many more living in there though! I may even get a place for my platies to have to themselves in the near future. ^_^

Well, off to clean my ADF and betta tank. =p They're sure happy to have no other fish in there, it was rather tight and I felt bad, hence the rush to get my 55 gallon this year. My 20 gallon was also over-stocked, so I couldn't move 'em. ^^; Glad everyone is happy now, less work and a lot less worries for me for a while.
 
#95 ·
Well now, New Years Eve babies. =) My White Calico platy is giving birth. So far I have counted 29 live babies, and four unfortunately never moved. That makes 33 babies. Wow, what a mom. She's still going too, I assume there wont be too many more babies though, maybe between one and five more.

Because she had her babies on New Years Eve, I have decided to name her Eve. lol She's a pretty thing too. ^_^ She's pretty stressed out though, and I've never seen a fish look so sick during delivery. I'm pretty worried for her. I've decided to let her have the rest in peace and cover the tank with the lights out. I hope she'll be alright. She's new, along with three others who are also very pregnant, so she's giving birth in the QT tank, the others aren't bothering her or the kids, so I think the ones born after now will be alright until tomorrow.

So, add thirty some to the 852781234 I already have and I have....more. LOL That's alright, I love raising babies. I just may have to give some away before they're ready to go and raise the rest longer. Even with four tanks in the house I don't have enough to raise them all long enough to sell them. lol

Here's a photo of some of the babies. x) I think I took this when she was at twenty-three or so. Not sure.

 
#96 ·
Awwww! That last one is a great shot! Congratulations to you, and to Eve! I hope she's feeling better now, poor gal! ONE baby was hard enough, can't imagine delivering a brood that big ;)

Just looking back through your posts, I've been away from the computer a lot - playing with MY babies and all of their new toys - but I'm so happy that you finally got some babies (A TON OF BABIES!) from that creamsicle you've been waiting on for ages and ages! Sounds like they're healthy and doing well!

I know how much you love your little Dalmations. Hopefully the little one that make it through from that momma look like their dad - even if its only one, he was a stunner - very sad to see him go. . .

Sounds like you've been having tons of fun over there - as usual - and. . . have you ALREADY managed to overstock the 55?!!! *giggle* It's only been, like, 3 days!!! ^.^
 
#97 · (Edited)
Nooo...at least I don't think I over-stocked it....maybe. x.x Well, I only added in four extra fish! Those four cories. It was that or give up my four babies I kept. Unfortunately they were so not happy...well, the two girls were just fine and dandy, my two big boys were visibly depressed though. Not moving much, hangy down fins, jumpy too. I got four cories to go with those four and EVERYONE is happy, I haven't seen such happy babies before it makes me happy.
I am using the twenty gallon as a nursery too...well, at the moment it is my quarentine tank for those four girls. I got them because my swordtail males and platy male were fighting with everyone over breeding right. I told you I got that extra boy I didn't want, yeah? lol I debated taking him back, but he looked so happy I didn't want to take him on another 30-40 minute car ride. x.x But no, I don't think it's over-stocked. Maybe a little or right at. I don't intend to get anymore. I just intend to raise up the kids to big enough, some not all as I have too many to do that with, and sell them.

I may actually give the twenty gallon to my platies later on. lol I think I have five, so they'd be alright.

Oh yes...snail problem of the not pondsnail kind....I found what I first thought was some kind of nerite snail, never seen one, guessed it. LOL Well, that one snail turned into many snails...and I took one in to the shop...they are assassin snails. @_@ I have no other snails, what are they eating?! No fry to eat in there, no other snails except themselves...doubtful there's much left-over food, but there could be...but they don't eat that I thought, just meaty things like other snails they can get at and fry or dead fish they can snag.


Ahhh, oh well. I am so tired. xD I pulled another all-nighter, been up over 24 hours again. ^_~ I am having nachos for my new years breakfast and then I'm gonna sleep! I hope you're having fun.

My New Years Resolution(s): Lose weight, make some money all year selling healthy baby fishies and other odd jobs...buy myself either a dog or a third ferret for next christmas. xD Maybe another tank.....>___>; Ma would rip off my hide and sell it.
 
#98 ·
*giggle* I was really imagining how overstocked you'd be if ALL of those new babies grew up and lived with you - not being serious.

Speaking of babies - this is random, but didn't you say that you have a HUMAN little one at some point, or did I imagine that? I hope she had a great holiday

:) Nachos sounds like a GREAT NYD breakfast...I want some! Sleep sweet!!
 
#99 ·
No, not I. I almost had a daughter six years ago, but unfortunately I just wasn't physically strong enough to become a mother at the time.
However....I get enough of the kids I have in my life, for one cousin in particular...pretty much daily and nightly, she may as well be a sister. LOL I have a one year old nephew who I absolutely adore beyond...anything I ever thought I could adore. He lived with us for his first seven months or so and visits a few times per week. A...I always forget their ages, but I believe the two girls I speak of often, them being my cousins(the younger is here all the time, her dad lives here so she does half the time as well, the older one lives far away so I only see her every so often), are six and eight. I might be a year off on the eight either way....I ALWAYS get them mixed up, especially since the older one was born about three weeks before my birthday...messes up my year counting every time. xD I dunno why I'm so bad with that! Maybe it's because I had the flu the day she was born and I didn't get to see her until she was about a week old and her mother FORCED me to come see the adorable new baby, I was terrified. xDWasn't allowed to hold, but she made me come see her. lol But terrified, yes. Both of the kid and the fact I was sick(no longer contageous, but I dun care, kept my face in my shirt for about two hours). ^^;
 
#101 · (Edited)
I got some sleep. lol I seem to sleep better when I stay up for 24+ hours every other day. xD
Anywho, woke up and my red painted swordtail had given birth. I think I got 11-12 babies from her. She's looking good. The other white calico platy gave birth as well, so I no longer know who is whose! Some of the white calico's came out a bit redish, they do have some red on them afterall, the swordtails all came out a nice orange, red or yellow color. But when all those little things are in there squirming about, it's hard to know who belongs to who. I moved all the first babies to the other net in the other tank because I was running out of room, they needed to eat, and newborns don't need food for the first half a day or so. I noticed they get very, very hungry after about twelve hours or so.
Well, soon as I am sure all the other females are ok, I'm gonna put them in the big tank and then release all the babies in the twenty gallon after I do a little cleaning. I thought one of my platies had fin-rot or something, I've added in the usual, pimafix, melafix and a little salt. lol However, it seems the bigger of the platies was a bully, she was ripping the tail off of Eve. =( I removed her and left Eve in the medicated tank. This way I know she at least wont get an infection in the damaged areas, or at least have less of a chance. Aside from a few injuries from a bully, those fish look bright and healthy, but again, time will tell. Ich is the only thing I am really worried about, but I haven't seen any, even in a nice warm tank. Usually it blooms out by now...I do have salt in there though, so if any did, hopefully it's dead. =p
It's pretty rare I get more than 20-30 babies at a time. Only once before I did get half as many as I have...I'm happy. xD Just wasn't expecting that many! Means I have to step things up with room. They will be too big for that net in a few days. I ended up losing some of the 29 I had. Which is the reason I moved them. Said bully platy was waiting around the breeding net for baby tails to come through and then she'd pull them out and eat them. Poor things. >< They can't fit on their own, aside from tails. That's one mean little platy, but she's going to learn her place in the big tank, all but four are much bigger than her, and they know their places already. =p She's already learned not to bite my creamsicle and one of my red and black platy/variatus. She tried that and got slapped with a tail and chased. At least my current fish aren't much for damaging others, but they will knock you flat if you bite them. xD If she continues to be a problem, she's going back to the store though. And that'd suck, she's a nice looking fish.

Ah, so many cute little babies. I must have 110-120+ babies. :3 One of my male and female cories are being extra cuddly too. lol I dunno if I'd get any in there yet, some of the plants are new and haven't grown enough for good egg hiding...though I know they use more than plants to stick them too. x.x That'd be nice though!

Ah yes, almost forgot. Some people have been asking about photos of my long-finned pleco. She's looking real good and most of her torn fins are already going back together nicely. She's also fairly active and eats. Many have asked for photos, but unfortunately I don't have any good ones yet, I don't think...I may have an -okish- one somewhere...-checks- Yeah, it's dark and a bit smeary, but I'll put it up anyways. LOL I'll see about better ones later, it's hard to get her, she's a bit skiddish when I come over still, and other times she's under or behind something. x.x She's....or he's, rather pretty indeed. It's already about three inches long or so. =) It was also the -only- one left at the shop, I bet it was lonely. =( They may not be schoolers, but they seem to enjoy being in a small, or large, group. There were about fifty of them last I went to the shop about two/three weeks ago(in several tanks not just one with all of them piled in I was happy to see), I'm surprised fish that expensive go that fast. And the guy that works at that shop knows a great deal about fish, he was telling me stuff about every fish I looked at! And a few care tips for my newbie. ^_^

 
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