I'm a Mummy! Help.

[SlatternismyMiddlename]

I got my first fish tank about 6 weeks ago. After setting it up (getting the water right) I introduced some guppies, unfortunately I went from 9 to 4 very quickly. I decided not to get anymore fish until they stopped dying in case it was something I was doing wrong.

Luckily the 4 (now named the Hardy boys) survived for 3 weeks with no more fatalities, so I added 4 Mollies. They have been here for 5 days. I noticed yesterday 1 teeny tiny baby fish, there are now 4 more teeny tiny little uns. Presumably one of the Mollies was 'with fish'.

My question is - do I need to do anything for the little ones to ensure their survival? I can't see how they are going to be able to feed as the bigger fish will eat it all. But I don't want to put extra food in incase I poison the water.

So far the bigger fish are ignoring the babies, I was worried they might eat them. I've no idea if this still might happen or not.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

[AndWhenYouGetThere]

They might eat the babies (fish babies are called fry), yes. You can go the "Darwin" route and leave them to it - see which survive, or you can set up a nursery, feed baby food etc to maximise thier chances. You can buy a nursery net - (google it) to keep the fry in - a little sectioned off area of the main tank. This will stop them being eaten or caught in your filter etc.

You can buy food specifically for baby fish - for livebearers like Mollies you can also feed them with egg. They won't be able to chomp on flake food - and feeding extra will muck up your water parameters, yes.

[SlatternismyMiddlename]

Thank you

[EauRouge]

Congrats on being a fish mother

They can eat flake food if you crumble it up really, really small so it's more like a fine powder, or you can just buy powdered food.

If you've got a mix of male and female livebearers then you're going to end up with hundreds of babies. That's OK if you've got new homes lined up, but if not then you might want to think about a single-sex tank. Females can store sperm for a limited time so if you've already got females-only then that's probably what has happened. With any luck there won't be many more babies.

If you don't know whether you've got male or female mollies then it's pretty easy to tell, once you know what you're looking for. This photo shows the difference very clearly.

[SlatternismyMiddlename]

Thanks EauRouge. I must admit I had not thought to check the Mollies sex.

As much as I'm pleased about the new brood to be honest I don't want anymore.

[Marne]

I keep my fry in my main tank, I lose a few (they get eaten), I have around 12 left from my last lot which is quite a few but only 5 from the time before, you can put them in a breeding net but I find they don't grow as fast as they do in the main tank. Mollies are often not sexed in the shops so its quite likely to get both sexes unless you can sex them yourself before buying, they are quite easy to sex (its all to do with the shape of the fun under their belly, also females in the shop are often already pregnant so will be fat). I get guppy fry every 2 weeks in my tank but the survival rate is not huge and they are easy to sell or rehome to friends tanks so we never get over run.

[Marne]

I keep my fry in my main tank, I lose a few (they get eaten), I have around 12 left from my last lot which is quite a few but only 5 from the time before, you can put them in a breeding net but I find they don't grow as fast as they do in the main tank. Mollies are often not sexed in the shops so its quite likely to get both sexes unless you can sex them yourself before buying, they are quite easy to sex (its all to do with the shape of the fun under their belly, also females in the shop are often already pregnant so will be fat). I get guppy fry every 2 weeks in my tank but the survival rate is not huge and they are easy to sell or rehome to friends tanks so we never get over run.