at least 9 Molly fry today! Yay!

[PintoHawk]

My new Dalmatian female dropped this morning.... I managed to get 9 out of the community tank into the fry tank where the Platys are. The week old Platys are the same size as the newborn Mollies! I know there are a few other Molly fry still in the community tank but I have to go to work now (running late as it is) so I will search again when I get home tonight. I saw 2 more, there are probably alot more than that even, but they were hiding way down in the plants and rocks and it's difficult to get at the without them shooting across the tank straight into an adult's mouth, LOL.
I have my new Betta in there, too, and apparently that's not going to be a problem because there were at least 10 babies who made it into the hiding places. :D

I am sooo happy! They are all brown but different shades so some will be lighter colored, I am sure. No idea who Daddy is because the Mommy just came home yesterday. She must have been happy with her new environment to drop her fry right away like that. I figured she would drop next week.

They are SOOO awesome! :D
*hugs them all*

[Melody]

Mollies often drop prematurely if they're moved late in gestation, so it's great that they were developed enough to do well. Congrat's!

[CACAdmin]

Congrats on the wee ones!

[jusdeb]

Well done.

[Namor]

:Applaud: :thumbup:

[PintoHawk]

Thanks everyone! My fiance just called from home and he says they look great, he fed them for me this afternoon. He is excited too, but not as much as I am. LOL

I can't wait to get off work and go home and see them; I will try and get some pictures of them to show you guys. I am so excited! I want to show everyone how amazing they are, how tiny... :D

[amaruq]

wtg pinto!!!!!!!!!

pictures :)

[PintoHawk]

PICTURES!

My first baby Mollies! Mommies are half-black Marble & true Dalmatian. Born May 10 and May 11 (yes, Mother's Day births!). Finally got a few decent pictures. My camera totally sucks. There are 4 Platy fry (orange, from May 2) and about 15-20 Molly fry in total (some are still hiding in the community tank, but I found/saved another 4 today). I swear I can see tiny spots on some of the Molly fry already, most are brownish grey, some lighter than others, none are solid black. They are awesome, I love to sit and watch them swim around and find food. Too cute! What color do you think they will be?

Molly Fry:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies_may.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies2_may.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies3_may.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies4_may.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies5_may.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/first_mollies6_may.jpg

One of the Mommies, the Dalmatian:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/kallahawk/fish/dal_girlie1.jpg

[amaruq]

WOW cool!

Mine are over a week old and I don't think they have grown much. I have white to black and everything in between.

I have to look and see when you can sex them. Fins are way to tiny now.

[PintoHawk]

Yes, the fins are SOOO small it's impossible to tell anything. I think it takes several weeks before we can sex them, anyways.

[GaryofMontreal]

You know you're doing things right when your livebearers look around, and decide you've given them a nice place to drop some babies, eat a few of their young, and then swim off and leave the toddlers to fend for themselves.:err:
Okay, so it's not like they're picking a place to raise their families, but the increasing number of fish breeding at your place means you've set up a good environment for them. Platies, mollies and maybe Bettas. You're on a roll.

[Melody]

Very cute!

[PintoHawk]

LOL Gary, I like how you write, very nice. It's like I can hear you talking, and I like chatting with people that way. So blunt. :)

I figured I must be doing something right -finally- for my Molies to be dropping babies left-right-and-center, because at first, I lost a couple of batches. Now, they can't stop having babies. It's great! I only have the Platy fry remaining because I decided to opt out of the Platys I had and raise their babies; when they are old enough they will go to the LFS too and I will focus completely on my Mollies. Sort of like a practice round, if you will. I lost one of my Platy fry to the filter the other day, so I stoppered the end a little better. I am just babbling now. (and I don't think I will be breeding the Bettas, if ever it would be in the VERY distant future when I had more room for them).

Anyways, I have watched the Mollies at length, and I have seen them swim right up to one of the lose fry in the community tank, stare at it for a second, and then swim past, going along their business. No inclination to eat the fry whatsoever, it seems. I am feeding the same as before, it's not that they are all overstuffed little piggies, I really think they view the fry as another fish in a sense. Obviously it IS another fish, but I mean, aside from the first 30 minutes when she is dropping, they don't really seem to notice the babies, they don't see them as food. That's how it seems to me, anyhow. I was really under the impression that they'd snatch up any fry they saw at any possible moment. Doesn't seem to be the case. *shrug*

[Melody]

Oh they eat them, but after the birthing frenzy they pretty much ignore the fry in my tanks. If they make it through the birth, they're usually ok for the most part. Other Livebearer species will hunt them for days until every last one is gone, but most domestics seem to leave them alone after the initial feeding frenzy. Bettas love fry though, and they can lay very still in plants waiting for them.

[CACAdmin]

Cute little ones. I find that after the initial feeding frenzy the interest seems to die down but they will still munch little ones in the first while if the opportunity presents itself. As the fry get older they seem to be ignored pretty much.