breeding mollies?

6515 Views 24 Replies 6 Participants Last post by daisycutter, Mar 8, 2007

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · Dec 18, 2006

for christmas my friend is helping me buy a LARGE fish tank from his granma (80 gallon or so which is huge for me) so that i can transport all my fish from my 30 gallon in there, and then put my goldfish from my 10 gallon in my 30 gallon............... ANYWAYS i was wondering if i could start with 2 female mollies and 1 male mollie and if they would have a few living babies in a 10 gallon aquarium.

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

Lupin

· #2 · Dec 18, 2006

Breeding livebearers is not challenging at all.

Just allow nature to take its course. Let the fry survive in the main community. Most of the survivors will be strong enough to live long.

Livebearer fry are far stronger compared to the fry of the egg layers. They can eat almost any food you can give them. They are agile and can hide quickly to prevent being eaten by their parents and other tankmates.

On the side note, livebearers are quite prolific and can reproduce fry without the males for months. This is only if you have exposed the female to the male in a tank and then isolate her for several months.

tophat665

· #3 · Dec 18, 2006

Do bear in mind that female Mollies can get 3 to 5" long (depending on species), and, if you breed them, that can max out a 10 gallon tank in no time flat.

Other than that, mollies+water = mollies ++

jsm11482

· #4 · Dec 19, 2006

tophat665 said:
Other than that, mollies+water = mollies ++

I hope that was a programming reference! :wink:

tophat665

· #5 · Dec 19, 2006

Fortunately, Mollies can be housed in a marine aquarium, so a C++ reference is not entirely off base. 8)

Lupin

· #6 · Dec 19, 2006

tophat665 said:
Fortunately, Mollies can be housed in a marine aquarium, so a C++ reference is not entirely off base. 8)

How true.:thumbsup: I had mollies and the lionfish(marine) is supposed to eat them but they survived so well.:redmad: The lionfish was quite a sloth. I had to feed him shrimps instead.:sarcastic:

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2006

well i was reading on it and it sounded easy and i can mow some lawns when there gets to be too many fish and buy a new fish tank. does anyone know if main pet stores like petsmart and petco buy those little fry because that would be a pretty good and easy way to make money and keep the population down.

Lupin

· #8 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
does anyone know if main pet stores like petsmart and petco buy those little fry because that would be a pretty good and easy way to make money and keep the population down.

It would be a good idea if you ask them.

It depends in your area if those branches will allow. Their policies could be different from other branches. If not, try feeding the fry to a predatory fish but I still like the idea of selling them better although you'll need to grow them to adults for better income(not much though-you often get half of the price they sell).

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 19, 2006

yeah i read if they buy them theyll buy them when there about an inch. at the moment i dont have any predatorial fish :? but who cares. do you think that an oscar can live with some tetras and a few other small things in a big 100 gallon tank??

Lupin

· #10 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
do you think that an oscar can live with some tetras and a few other small things in a big 100 gallon tank??

I wouldn't even try it.:blink: Anything that fits in their mouths, they'll eat them. A very bad idea IMO. Small fish tend to become stressed when kept with very large fish.

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 19, 2006

Blue said:
blueblue48 said:

do you think that an oscar can live with some tetras and a few other small things in a big 100 gallon tank??

Click to expand...

I wouldn't even try it.:blink: Anything that fits in their mouths, they'll eat them. A very bad idea IMO. Small fish tend to become stressed when kept with very large fish.

lol ok then. but when i have that 100 gallon fish tank set up and cycled ill have waaay to much extra room and i want a few bigger fish in there. i plan on putting my mini koi in there with them since he harrases my really fat goldfish. and maybe one of those red tailed sharks. do you think that would be ok??

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 19, 2006

also i was thinking of a dwarf gourami or maybe an angel fish? i hope theyll be compatible in the large fish tank

Lupin

· #13 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
lol ok then. but when i have that 100 gallon fish tank set up and cycled ill have waaay to much extra room and i want a few bigger fish in there. i plan on putting my mini koi in there with them since he harrases my really fat goldfish. and maybe one of those red tailed sharks. do you think that would be ok??

Koi can reach more than 12 inches and with their poo along with the goldfish, you'll need very strong filtration and frequent water changes. I wouldn't.
Red-tailed sharks are often very aggressive. What other fish are you planning to put? Or I will suggest angelfish, tetras, cories and dwarf cichlids.:smoke:

Lupin

· #14 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
also i was thinking of a dwarf gourami or maybe an angel fish? i hope theyll be compatible in the large fish tank

I would never mix gouramis and angelfish even in a large tank. Both get aggressive at times with the dwarf gouramis often making bubblenests with or without the females.:sarcastic:

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 19, 2006

Blue said:
blueblue48 said:

lol ok then. but when i have that 100 gallon fish tank set up and cycled ill have waaay to much extra room and i want a few bigger fish in there. i plan on putting my mini koi in there with them since he harrases my really fat goldfish. and maybe one of those red tailed sharks. do you think that would be ok??

Click to expand...

Koi can reach more than 12 inches and with their poo along with the goldfish, you'll need very strong filtration and frequent water changes. I wouldn't.
Red-tailed sharks are often very aggressive. What other fish are you planning to put? Or I will suggest angelfish, tetras, cories and dwarf cichlids.:smoke:

no this is a mini koi breed of some kind i already have and i think it will grow to a max of about 6 inches. yeah i was thinking about some small cichlids and angelfish they look pretty good. but are bala sharks or colubian sharks a little more dosile then the red tailed shark?

Lupin

· #16 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
no this is a mini koi breed of some kind i already have and i think it will grow to a max of about 6 inches.

There's no such thing as mini variants. Your koi will still grow and I would not recommend placing koi in the tank other than the pond. You'll have water quality issues with kois in the tank.

yeah i was thinking about some small cichlids and angelfish they look pretty good. but are bala sharks or colubian sharks a little more dosile then the red tailed shark?

No bala sharks would ever be put in the 100 gallons tank. Being shoalers and reaching 12 inches or more in size, you'll need 150-200 gallons alone for 6 balas. They are skittish and should never be kept in less than six.
As for the columbian sharks, they still get pretty big and need salt to thrive well. Don't mix them with other fish as the fish you listed will not tolerate salt long-term except mollies. Still, mollies will be preyed on by these sharks leaving you to deal with only the columbian sharks in your tank.

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 19, 2006

Blue said:
blueblue48 said:

no this is a mini koi breed of some kind i already have and i think it will grow to a max of about 6 inches.

Click to expand...

There's no such thing as mini variants. Your koi will still grow and I would not recommend placing koi in the tank other than the pond. You'll have water quality issues with kois in the tank.

yeah i was thinking about some small cichlids and angelfish they look pretty good. but are bala sharks or colubian sharks a little more dosile then the red tailed shark?

Click to expand...

No bala sharks would ever be put in the 100 gallons tank. Being shoalers and reaching 12 inches or more in size, you'll need 150-200 gallons alone for 6 balas. They are skittish and should never be kept in less than six.
As for the columbian sharks, they still get pretty big and need salt to thrive well. Don't mix them with other fish as the fish you listed will not tolerate salt long-term except mollies. Still, mollies will be preyed on by these sharks leaving you to deal with only the columbian sharks in your tank.

ok then. angel fish and maybe drawf cichlids it is. and give my koi away to my friend eric with a 140 some odd gallon tank when he gets too big. i think its settled. but what about barbs? are they a good community fish?

Lupin

· #18 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
ok then. angel fish and maybe drawf cichlids it is. and give my koi away to my friend eric with a 140 some odd gallon tank when he gets too big. i think its settled. but what about barbs? are they a good community fish?

Some barbs are fine with angelfish ensuring that the angelfish won't try to prey on them. Cherry barbs and pentazonas are my no. 1 recommendations.:thumbsup:
If not, go with harlequin rasboras or hengeli rasboras.

blueblue48

Discussion Starter · #19 · Dec 19, 2006

Blue said:
blueblue48 said:

ok then. angel fish and maybe drawf cichlids it is. and give my koi away to my friend eric with a 140 some odd gallon tank when he gets too big. i think its settled. but what about barbs? are they a good community fish?

Click to expand...

Some barbs are fine with angelfish ensuring that the angelfish won't try to prey on them. Cherry barbs and pentazonas are my no. 1 recommendations.:thumbsup:
If not, go with harlequin rasboras or hengeli rasboras.

ok thanks for all the help!! those do go with tetras and corydoras and stuff right?

Lupin

· #20 · Dec 19, 2006

blueblue48 said:
those do go with tetras and corydoras and stuff right?

Yes.

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