# Help with my balloon molly fry!



## PinchHarmonic (Mar 30, 2007)

My balloon molly gave birth to about 12 babies a few weeks ago. She did it in the main tank so i had to net up all the babies and put them in a breeder net.

*First week:*
They were all happily swimming in the breeder net while I fed them crushed up flakes (as finely crushed as I could manage in a ziplock bag).

*End of first week:*
four of them died, I have no idea why. Total left 8

*second week:*
every baby is now much bigger, probably 3/4 of a cm long. everyone's is eating happily and swimming around

*end of second week: *
none of them died

*third week:*
babies are same size, and all are eating like CRAZY. They all have poo hanging out from behind them (typical gluttonous balloon molly thing). So i assume they are very healthy

*end of third week:*
4 more die. Total left 4

*4th week:*
same thing, they eat a lot, and the poo is hanging from behind them as they swim around. I threw some anacharis in there to give them a place to rest or hide in.

*end of 4th week:*
2 more die. Total left 2

Now i'm worried, I have two more babies and I don't know what killed the rest of them. However, after they died, I did notice that their heads and tails were gone. Perhaps the other babies ate them up? Can babies get aggressive and kill each other?

water:
i Changed the water by 10-20% everyday, and I still do. The parent balloon mollys are extremely healthy, and most of my neon / cardinals are healthy too, so i assume the water is good enough for the parent fish. Water changes are always done with filtered water ( i have filter installed under my sink which filters chlorine and heavy metals). Temperature is around 79-81 degrees..

any thoughts?


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

You may not get sufficient circulation across the breeding net. The fry should be safe from the parents at 3/4 cm. Remove the net and see if the condition of the last two fish improve. 

It appears that you may have poor water quality, at least in the breeder net. Young fish are less tolerant than larger fish. I normally change 50% of the water 3x a week when I have baby fish in the tank. DO NOT overfeed. Uneaten food in the tank can quickly pollute the water.

If you see stringy poo from the fish, then they may be infected with internal bacteria. Feed them Medi-Gold or Jungle's antibiotic food. Soak the food in water and cut them to size to feed the baby fish.


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## PinchHarmonic (Mar 30, 2007)

furballi said:


> You may not get sufficient circulation across the breeding net. The fry should be safe from the parents at 3/4 cm. Remove the net and see if the condition of the last two fish improve.
> 
> It appears that you may have poor water quality, at least in the breeder net. Young fish are less tolerant than larger fish. I normally change 50% of the water 3x a week when I have baby fish in the tank. DO NOT overfeed. Uneaten food in the tank can quickly pollute the water.
> 
> If you see stringy poo from the fish, then they may be infected with internal bacteria. Feed them Medi-Gold or Jungle's antibiotic food. Soak the food in water and cut them to size to feed the baby fish.


that's strange. I didn't know stringy poo was abnormal. ALl the mollies i've had over the past few years have always had that. So you're saying it could be a intestinal bug they have to cuase that?


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Yes, long poo is okay (commond with otos), milky/stringy poo is a sign of internal bacterial infection. Fin rot is a common symptom of internal infection.


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## PinchHarmonic (Mar 30, 2007)

furballi said:


> Yes, long poo is okay (commond with otos), milky/stringy poo is a sign of internal bacterial infection. Fin rot is a common symptom of internal infection.


ok thx again.

I used a cup and simply took water out of the breeder and poured it down the drain. Then i added new water ensuring that the breeder net is sufficiently cycled as far as water.

i hope this works.


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## pnchowdary (Jul 27, 2006)

Why dont you try leaving them in the main tank?. As long as they dont fit into the mouths of the adult mollys, they should be ok. If there are some plants like java moss or other dense plants, then the babys would hide in the plants. If your filter inlet has big holes, please make sure you cover it with a sponge or a net cloth, so that the baby dont get sucked into the filter. I wish that your remaining molly fry make it.


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