Mollies not breeding!

GooGirl

GooGirl

Large Fish
#1
Nov 20, 2012
222
0
0
Walla Walla Washington
#1
I have 2 gold dust mollies (both males), and 3 silver mollies (2 females, 1 male). They are all in the same tank and have been for a long time. I want them to breed, as I have 4 available tanks to keep the babies now, but the only problem is that they aren't breeding! I have been watching them closely, but they aren't mating and neither of the females are pregnant (I had a gold dust female too, but she recently died.). Could there be something wrong with the water, light, or amount of feeding? I have plenty of decorations, so they can't be eating the babies very well as soon as they are born, so what's going on? Why aren't they breeding?
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#6
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#6
I do not believe shallow water has anything to do with it. Mollies need a lot of room and unless you have a bigger tank than the 10 gallon you had before, lowering the water would be a disaster - especially with the number of mollies you have in one tank. You haven't said yet how your water has tested. That could be a big part of it. The other thing I wonder about are these all mollies that you have bred yourself? You have mentioned before that the reason you can keep them in a 10 gallon tank was they were small so maybe they are too immature to to breed.
 

GooGirl

GooGirl

Large Fish
#7
Nov 20, 2012
222
0
0
Walla Walla Washington
#7
The gold dust mollies are about a year and a half old, and yes, they are ones that I bred myself. Because they weren't breeding, I bought a male and two female silver mollies (all about an inch long) to see if they could breed with the gold dust ones or each other.

I will test the water tomorrow afternoon (I just got all-in-one test strips, yay! They test for nitrate, nitrite, hardness, chlorine, alkalinity, and pH.).

One random question, can test strips be reused, and they just say to throw them away because they want you to buy more of their product, or are they really one time use things?
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#8
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#8
They are one use things definitely and the important one to test for is ammonia which it sounds like these strips don't do. In the long run strips are much more expensive than the liquid test kit we have been recommending. How big are the gold dust mollies? If all your mollies are about an inch long they really don't sound like breeding material to me.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#10
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#10
It's hard to keep mollies from breeding. What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? What sized aquarium are they housed in? You said some are a year and a half old. How large are they?
 

GooGirl

GooGirl

Large Fish
#11
Nov 20, 2012
222
0
0
Walla Walla Washington
#11
The only reason I have test strips is because I just got a free tank with tons of equipment, including the test strips.

I'm not going to tell you the size of the tank because it will just start an argument about having not enough space in the tank for them. I have three unused tanks that I will put the babies in when they are born. I will not speak of this further, as it will just result in a big argument.

One of the gold dust mollies is about 2 inches long, the other, maybe 2 1/2 inches. I will test for nitrate and nitrite, but I can't test for ammonia. I think I have some ammonia clear tablets, should I use that?
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#12
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#12
Without knowing the size of the tanks no one can help you and I don't believe anyone has ever argued with you, it seems you just want to change the facts and so you try to argue your position, but that doesn't change anything. We need to know the tank size, the temp you keep it at, the number and type of fish, and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings. If you went to a doctor and just said. "Fix me." he would also have to ask you a lot of questions.

Okay, I do know that a lot of creatures will not breed if they are in the wrong environment. Nature is evidently taking care of its own because it knows the off spring don't have a good chance of survival. That is why zoos try so hard to simulate each species natural environment, but naturally space is always a problem and some species won't breed in a confined area. I have read that with some fish temperature is a factor and also the quality of the water.

There is no point in using ammonia clear tablets if you can't test for ammonia. You can buy a separate liquid test for ammonia and probably test strips too, if you insist on going the more expensive route. You will have to test daily if you have that many fish in a 10 gallon or smaller tank. If you are reading other posts you will have noticed that cycling a smaller tank is very difficult and requires a lot more maintenance than a larger tank. When I first started with a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank keeping the tank clean was a nightmare.
 

GooGirl

GooGirl

Large Fish
#13
Nov 20, 2012
222
0
0
Walla Walla Washington
#13
Fine, i'll tell you the tank size and number of fish, but just don't lecture me on overstocking because they have survived a long time in there and they are perfectly fine.

I have 5 mollies, 2 danios, and a betta all in a 10g. I'm planning on moving the betta and danios to the 10g, that I got for free, this afternoon so that the mollies will have more room.

The tank is usually the same temp as my room which is about 73, but with the light on, it goes up to 78.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#14
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#14
Actually, they aren't fine - if they are not breeding and you want them to breed, but I guess that is okay too if you really don't have room for more. The fact that your temp varies so much could also have something to do with the fact they are not breeding. Does this mean you don't have a heater? I assume summer is coming sometime (although it is still in the 40s here today) so maybe they will breed when the temp is more consistent.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#16
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#16
That is good! Someplace between 76 and 78 should be about right. When you put it in do it on a day you will be around in the AM so you can check it every hour just in case. I had a heater fail once and it literally cooked the fish. By the end of the day if the temp has been stable for a couple of hours you shouldn't have any problem.
 

aryle85

aryle85

Small Fish
#19
May 15, 2013
38
0
0
Illinois
#19
It is a "rule of thumb" that you should have atleast 2 females per male. I prefer 3, but that's just me. OrangeCones knows much more about the water conditions than I do, but once you get that figured out and they do begin to mate, your males will actually exhaust your females to death. I would recommend getting atleast 4 more females.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.