[motoracergabe]

i have a bunch of babies in my tank.

my tank is only a 10 gallon. I have 3 dalmatian mollies, 3 fancy guppies, a cory, and a albino bristlenose pleco. about 2 weeks ago I found about 18-20 fry in my tank! as of now i see about 10-12 have survived so far. right now they are about 1/4 inch long. I have been doing a 20-30% water change every 2 or 3 days to keep the water clean for the little guys.

all three of the mollies were fry a friend gave to me. 2 of the guppies i bought at a local petstore, and the other guppy i was given from a friend that had some fry.

a friend of mine said he'd take some. and I guess i'd give the rest away, posting them on craigslist or something...

I want to know what they are... is there anyway to see what they are? mollies or guppies? pics would be helpful.

 

[susankat]

Congrats on the fry. Its always fun to get babies in a tank.

 

[Stellaluna]

Guppy babies will tend to be a clear silver-ish color - not much color at all in the early days. Mollies and platys will generally be born with the coloration of their parents, plus they have much deeper bodies. Guppy fry are longer and thinner.

You are going to have to keep on top of these babies - I have seen 10 gallon tanks go downhill quickly with livebearers. The babies are going to keep coming and coming, and it will tax the biological filter, plus there just won't be room, lol! You might want to consider a grow-out tank for the babies to get some size on them before selling to your LFS or giving to friends, or whatever.

Congrats - fry are so exciting!

 

[motoracergabe]

looks like they are guppies then. the three guppies in there are pretty nice looking. I have one gold/yellow/orange one with a short but wide tail, a turquoise/blue with two long tail fins, and a small one that's red/silver with some black spots. hopefully i get some good offspring.

I think i am going to look for a bigger tank, a 30 or 50 gal, and keep the 10 for the babies.

I have been do water changes every couple days, and filtering a bit of the gravel every time. I have also been rinsing the filter media with water (about the same temp as the aquarium water), cleaning off the algae and the junk that gathers on it. It seems to be working good, is this a good idea? My water is staying clear and no fish are dying...

 

[Stellaluna]

Sounds like you have it perfect! Your routine is an excellent way to stay on top of the excess nutrients that will definitely build up, especially as the fry mature.

It is an overstocked tank, though, especially with the cory and the pleco. I think your idea about a bigger tank is great, and your fish will thank you.

 

[motoracergabe]

I was given a 2 gallon (yes a TWO gallon) aquarium from a nieghbor today. I grabbed gravel from my existing tank, and filled it up with water from my existing tank also. i put a couple of the babies in it for now.

My dad told me he would give me his 50gal if he gets a bigger tank... I hope he gets one so i could get his.

 

[Stellaluna]

Excellent. The 2-gallon will be a great place to grow out fry and keep your other tank from being overburdened.

Just explain to your dad about how much bigger and better fish he can have if he gets that 90 he's got his eye on - Work it!

 

[motoracergabe]

i also gave my mollies away to someone. my tank looks nearly empty from far away.... but when you get close you see a bunch of the little guys swimming around.

 

[Stellaluna]

It is SO cool to watch fry grow. I have a 40 gallon that I recently tore down and completely redid from scratch, with new substrate, rocks, driftwood, etc. I cleaned out and sterilized the filters, even. I bought a bunch of plants from the LFS and have been waiting for the plants to get established before I cycle the tank or otherwise add fish, and the other day I noticed 6 tiny fry in there!

There must have been eggs on the plants, is all that I can think, and they managed to hatch. It is going to be interesting to watch them mature to find out what the heck they are, lol.