Breeding Sailfin Mollies

[DemonAsh]

I have a question, hopefully someone out there may be able to give me an answer. I have been breeding Sailfins for about four months and my female just gave brith to another school of fry. I have read that anywhere between 30 and 100 fish can be expected. There were only six fish in the first brood, and so far in this one I've got eight. Any possible ideas why my numbers are so low ?

There are no stupid questions, only stupid people. -

 

[ZephAmp]

The parents could be snacking on the babies.
Otherwise, there are a few things that could be happening.
Mom might not have enough protein, bad genetics (especially if you got her from a "normal" pet store,) she's old, etc.
You'd have to know more about the mom herself to get a good idea of what's going on.

 

[DemonAsh]

I've watched the parents real carefully. The have no interest in chasing babies whatsoever. And here's the other thing, the first brood of six was from one female, the second was from my second female, both with very small broods. I wonder if the male could have some sterility issues, if this is even possible with fish. I know my male is getting up there in age, though. I never thought of that being a possible reason, but it makes perfect sense... My local pet store offers a high-protein feed usually used to feed farm-raised fish. Think a little bit of that might help?

 

[LeilaNami]

If it is the female's first time releasing fry, they often have lower numbers per batch. Stress is a contributing factor and if you keep the male in with pregnant females, he could very well be the cause as well as less-than-ideal water conditions. Have you tested your water quality? Have you put salt in your water? Is your temperature around 80F?

 

[Toirtis]

First spawn tends to be smaller. Parents may be eating fry, even if you are not seeing it. Do you know which species of molly you have (latipinna, velliffera, etc)? Salt is not necessary, and temp is great at 76ºF, but diet is very important...earthworm flakes during gravidity, then shortly before spawning, lots of veggie flakes.

 

[joshuai]

They do better with salt, and do quite well in a salt water aquarium!

 

[Toirtis]

They do better with salt, and do quite well in a salt water aquarium!

They do well with salt, not better.

 

[joshuai]

They do well with salt, not better.

mine always did better! less prone to disease!

 

[LeilaNami]

First spawn tends to be smaller. Parents may be eating fry, even if you are not seeing it. Do you know which species of molly you have (latipinna, velliffera, etc)? Salt is not necessary, and temp is great at 76ºF, but diet is very important...earthworm flakes during gravidity, then shortly before spawning, lots of veggie flakes.

I've read otherwise regarding temperature and salt. Most breeders I talk to recommend putting a small amount of salt and raising your temps closer to 80 as optimal conditions during breeding and those are the conditions in which I bred mollies. That being said, I doubt a four degree difference would really matter much to mollies

 

[Cirith Ungol]

mine always did better! less prone to disease!

It is true that some salt can be beneficial to the fish, it's very bad for any plants though. And it's important to point out that there is a huge difference between a salt water aquarium and putting a little salt into the water of a freshwater aquarium.

 

[moose35]

if acclimated well sailfin mollys can live in a saltwater setup.
and THRIVE.

so i think marine salt would be a great addition to the water.



moose

 

[DemonAsh]

Thanks for all the thoughts, folks... Salt, temp and water levels were all are well maintained in the reccomended breeding levels. ... I think those of you who touched on the "first spawning" part of it were correct because the second broods of both females were born last week and had significantly larger numbers. (btw they are p. latipinna) Really I was about to quit.. I've bred several types of L-cats, which can be tough and was gettin kinda mad that I was failing with a prolific breeder like mollies. All in the past tho, and now I get to watch wittle baby fish.... :barf: