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If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

Fishnet

Black Mollies won't stop breeding - HELP!!!!

15 replies

TheUterati · 21/04/2017 13:55

Just that really. How can I stop this - either the shagging to start with or the survival of the fry? I am in danger of being overrun with them....

I have a 210 litre tank stocked as follows:

4 adult mollies
4 juvenile mollies
5 molly fry
2 leopard guppies
3 neon tetras
5 pearl gouramis

Would adding more stock to the tank, to try to get to capacity help?

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Cammysmoma · 21/04/2017 19:33

I had this. I had to get rid in the end. They are a pain in the arse!

Failing that another tank because they won't stop. Trust me!

Adding more stock won't help. I've had tropical and marine tanks for years and years

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SaltySalt · 21/04/2017 19:34

tiny condoms?

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Cammysmoma · 21/04/2017 19:36

Hahha saltysalt 😂

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TheUterati · 28/04/2017 19:26

Like the idea of the tiny condoms!!!

It is a nightmare. I heartily wish I had never got them. They shag like, well, mollies, and can be aggressive to the other fish.

I called the aquarium and said I was at my wits end (not too far off the truth, TBH) and they said worst case they would take the males off my hands. Except I couldn't catch the little finny fuckers. So I pleaded with the owner and he is going to come and catch them and take them away.... I have 4 fry that are too small to be sexed, so we will have to see what happens there. And of course, one or more of my females may be knocked up again.....

NEVER GET LIVE BREEDERS.....

What the fuck was I thinking......

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TheRollingCrone · 28/04/2017 19:30

How often do they have babies?

Will they get inbreeding problems if you don't get the contraceptives/separate tanks?

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AppleAndBlackberry · 28/04/2017 19:35

My platys ate all their babies. Not a single one survived. My tank is pretty small though.

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MycatsaPirate · 28/04/2017 19:36

I'm surprised the gouramis aren't eating the babies tbh.

We have had guppies which bred like nothing on earth, at one point we had about 20 babies in the tank but they don't all survive as the other fish, including the parents, eat them.

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TheRollingCrone · 28/04/2017 19:37

Oh Apple how awful! Do they do that if their tank isn't big enough?

This thread is fascinating

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TheRollingCrone · 28/04/2017 19:39

These fish! Not like finding nemo at all

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weaselwords · 28/04/2017 19:42

Angel fish seem to eat fry. Especially if you don't want them too

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AppleAndBlackberry · 28/04/2017 19:55

I think they'll eat any they can find, but if you have a larger tank with lots of features/plants there are more places for the fry to hide until they're big enough to survive. It was fascinating and disturbing at the same time when it happened.

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TheUterati · 29/04/2017 11:34

Well I am not getting another tank! I think the way forward is for the aquarium to take the males back and to just not replace them as and when the remaining females naturally die.

I got 5 of them in September last year and one died about 6 weeks later when I intoriduced the gouramis - there was quite a lot of argy bargy in the tank and I think it was a death as a result of a fight. So, have been left with 4 adults since then. To my knowledge there have been 4 litters since then. 2 were in very close proximity around November and a total of 5 survived. Then another 1 survived from the next litter around February. And 4 have survived from the most recent litter early in April.

I got upset at first when the adults started gobbling up their own young. Now, I care not..... But I don't really want to introduce something else with the express intention of it chomping on the babies. That sounds like it could a mistake and I'll end up with another problem - like rabbits in Australia....

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TheUterati · 29/04/2017 11:35

On the plus side I guess it means my tank is very well maintained and my water conditions are good!

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Boring12 · 15/06/2017 08:24

Try and get them to take the females instead, they will still produce babies for 3 months without the males. They can have 50 fry at a time, or something like that.

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Boring12 · 15/06/2017 08:26

Oops too late, threads aren't posted as fast over here

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