do mollies eat their babies

Black mollies are a color morph, and unfortunately they tend to be badly inbred these days. Molly Fish Care. Females are larger than males and fairly easy to identify, especially because of that near-constant pregnancy. Mollies … When purchasing mollies, always carefully examine the tank in the fish store, and don’t purchase them if there is any trace of illness. While molly babies are so tiny, their parents can eat them. Breeding boxes keep the female contained while the fry slips down through the bottom. Mollies, like guppies, are capable of acclimating to full strength sea water temporarily, but it is not their natural environment by any means. i would advise you to remove her from the tank after she has given birth. So, if you want to breed balloon mollies, it is a good idea to have a lot live plants in your aquarium, where baby mollies can hide, or you can separate the pregnant balloon molly from the tank. Healthy adult mollies can give birth to as many as 100 babies at one time! They are omnivores, eating both plant and meaty foods. Here is a video of a balloon belly molly fish … They will readily eat flakes, freeze-dried, frozen, and live foods. also try and keep some plants or hidey-holes in the birthing tank so that the fry can hide. Mollies do best at a neutral to slighly alkaline pH and a water temperature of 77-83°F (25-28°C). Molly Reproduction. Mollies don’t have any parenting habits so parent molly does not protect their Fry Mollies. I have a very high survival rate. Female mollies give birth to babies or young ones that are called so “molly fry”. My babies usually hide out in the back of the tank and hide in the gravel and other plants. You should try to include some plant matter into their diet. Mollies don’t display any parental instincts, and most will attempt to eat the babies. And if you’re wondering how big do molly fish get, the answer is: up to 4.5-inches. i have not bred mollies, but from what i have read, if sufficient food is not provided, the mother molly might consume some of her fry, though she will probably be too tired to do anything after having given birth. A teaspoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water will go a long way in helping them. Updated May 14, 2020 Author: Mike - FishLore Admin Social Media: The Molly is a tropical fish that prefers some salt in their water. I do provide plants like water sprite and duckweed, groups of caboma and such so the fry have places that they can get away from the adults. As readilly as mollies breed, it isn't always a bad thing to loose a few to parental consumption. Not every fish eats their young, but some do. Because of their inbreeding, they are susceptible to illness, and aren’t as hardy as they used to be. Sometimes, even the mothers will eat their own fry. In the wild, the fry would move into very shallow water where the adult mollies (and any predatory fishes) cannot go, so the females have never evolved any 'maternal behaviour' towards their offspring; as far as the female mollies are concerned, a baby molly is just a meal. The genus Mollienesia , from which the name mollie was derived, has been re-classified as Poecilia and is considered to be in the same genus as the guppy. I had one molly deliver as many as 25 babies, but most of my mama's deliver between 1-10 babies. They eat the tiny bits of flake food that find their way to the bottom of the tank. Molly fish are livebearers and the females seem to almost always be pregnant, thanks to the voracious Molly fish breeding behavior. Even their own mother can eat babies, so they need much care in order to survive. You may also see them in saltwater tanks from time to time. I have had many mollies that did not eat their young. 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