molly fry

[papillon0509]

Ok I woke up this morning to seeing molly fry in the tank. I have no idea how to take care of baby fish. Help. =)
Right now I took them out of the aquarium and have them in a bowl to store them until I know what to do with them.
I have a 1 gallon tank I used for my betta a while back, I was going to put them in there until I can get to the store. Do I put rock in the bottom of that tank for them or do I leave it rockless?
Thanks for everyones help.

[TheOldSalt]

Rockless, definitely!

Your baby fish will have to be fed quite a lot, and that will make a mess. Having a bare bottomed tank will make cleaning up after them a lot easier.

If you can get yourself a sponge filter or one of those little air-driven filters which sticks to the side of the tank which uses a pad inside a plastic box, then by all means get & use one. Such filters are perfect for raising baby fish.
Don't get a bigger, motorized unit.

Keep the fry ( baby fish ) at normal aquarium temperature and feed them about six times per day. You can feed them regular flake fishfood which has been ground up into powder, or even better, powdered flakes of Spirulina food, a "veggie" flake sold for herbivorous fishes like mollies.

Make 1/4 water changes at least twice per week for best results. ( best results = highest survival rate and fastest growth )

Growth will be fairly rapid, and in about a month they'll be big enough to put back into the main tank with the adults.

[bcpatti3]

My Molly had at least one fry, at least that was all I found. She also seems to still be having some problems. She might still be trying to give birth. I smashed up my flakes into a powder, like suggested. I use a wet toothpick to feed it right now and it is in a hatchery.

[bcpatti3]

Update:
My one molly fry is still doing well. Does not seem to be growing fast enough. I am a little worried I have it still in the hatchery. Do you think I should move it to something bigger? It is still to small to put in with the rest of the fish. I have a air tube going into the hatchery just to agitate the water a little.

[leafgirl115]

How big is the hatury? How old is the fry?
I keep my in a breeders net till ther are big enough.
Also what are you feeding them?

[bcpatti3]

The hatchery is about 6 inches wide by 4 inches deep by 6 inches tall. The fry is about two weeks old. I have been feeding it powdered flakes and powdered spiriuna food.

[leafgirl115]

that sounds good. Just make shur that its clean and that the water gets in and out.

[bcpatti3]

Alright everyone. It has been a month since my molly fry was born and has grown more than double its size. Everywhere I have read said that is where it at least needs to be before you can take it out of the hatchery. As soon as I released it the mama molly started chasing it. Not alot but enough for me to worry. My rams also seem interested in it but not enough to continually chase it. I am worried for the little guy but he seems to be fast enough to get out of harms way.

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by bcpatti3

Alright everyone. It has been a month since my molly fry was born and has grown more than double its size. Everywhere I have read said that is where it at least needs to be before you can take it out of the hatchery. As soon as I released it the mama molly started chasing it. Not alot but enough for me to worry. My rams also seem interested in it but not enough to continually chase it. I am worried for the little guy but he seems to be fast enough to get out of harms way.

You should provide plenty of hiding places. Live plants seem to be best as they can easily hide into there.

[darkfalz]

Some advice if you're in a pinch you can buy a cheap plastic tub that holds 20-40 litres and use it as a growout tank. They don't need a big expensive tank just for growing fry. Also easy to see the waste on the white bottom to siphon it out.