Help with my fish wah......

[mikety34]

Hi I just got a 5 gallon rec. tank with 5 mollies and 1 orange-tail loach.I was wondering if flakes are ok for them as an everyday food and if I have to worry about feeding them frozen foods,brineshrimp,etc. My mickey mouse mollie is pregnant and I want to know when will I put her in a breeding net and is crushed flakes ok as food for the fry. *ALL*



T.y. *BOUNCINGS *SUPERSMIL *ALL* *twirlysmi *thumbsup2

 

[echoofformless]

Flakes are good, as long as they're high quality. I feed mainly flakes to my fish and they've been happy for several years.

I don't know much about young livebearer babies, but when I was a kid we had some swords and mollies that gave birth. The fry were perfectly happy with crushed flake. But, I would recommend doing a little research and finding something a little more optimal for them than plain old crushed flakes.

The breeding net is for when you can see she's about to bust. That's about all I can tell you.

 

[Platy_breeder]

Finely crushed flakes are fine for baby livebearers. That's what I feed my swordtail fry and they seem to be doing well(finally starting to get their colors now).

 

[Seleya]

Crushed flakes are fine for molly fry. I prefer Omega One's Veggie flakes for my mollies.

I wouldn't worry about breeder nets, imo they are more trouble than they're worth. Plants and hidey holes work just as well for the typical casual hobbiest. I'd worry more about your tank itself -- none of your fish are suitable for a 5 gallon tank alone, nevermind all together. I'd recommend at least a 20 for the fish you currently have.

 

[Big Vine]

There are also products out there designed specifically for feeding fry. Something along the lines of "Fry Bites," for example, would work quite well. It's already in a finely-crushed format, and it is packed full of nutrients...aimed specifically at fry growth and development.

I've fed this stuff to my platy fry with a great deal of success---just push it below the surface of the water so that it sinks in and amongst the thickest plants (so that the fry can get to it and the adults don't eat it all).

Big Vine

 

[Fishckabibble]

there is one from hikari called "first bites" it is specialy designed for fry of all kinds. And i agree with seleya that tank is WAY to small for all those fish if you really want to breed them or just keep them healthy you need a bigger tank, the mollies can get up to 4 inches in length and im not to sure about the orange tail loach but most loaches get pretty big.

 

[echoofformless]

Knowing Hikari and their overpriced nothing special food, I wouldn't be surprised if their "First Bites" aren't just plain old crunched up flake food.

Now that I have looked it up, I'm certain that it is. And it has MSG. Because that's what I want to feed my babies. MSG. Yummy! (Not!)

Fish meal, wheat flour, krill meal, brewers dried yeast, gluten meal, dried seaweed meal, spirulina, enzyme, garlic, monosodium glutamate, DL-methionine, vitamin A oil, vitamin D3, vitamin E, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, chloine chloride, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphsphate, inositol, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, biotin, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt sulfate, calcium iodate, aluminum hydroxi

Yep, just plain old fish food made a little smaller. What a waste of money. Hikari is the biggest scam to hit the market since Betta Water.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I just give baby guppies and platies crushed up flakes. Are you sure that they are mollies and not platies? I've never heard of a mickey mouse molly, the only mickey mouse pattern I've heard of are on platies. I would also forgo the breeder trap, unless you want to sell the babies back to the store or something.

 

[VirgoWolf]

Just a quick comment on feeding fry... I feed mine crushed flakes that I grind with the back of a spoon into the finest powder, I couldn't seem to get them small enough just grinding them with my fingers and it caused alot of waste, so I crushed a bunch and put it in a small zipper baggie so I didn't have to do it every time. I also used hard boiled egg yolk, just break off a little piece and smash it up with a few drops of tank water untill it becomes a paste, they go CRAZY for it and the big fishies love it too... AND it's good for them. I also have 2 different types of food made for fry. They get a good varied diet and seem to do well, but I think one or two is ok, no need for the 4 different kinds I use LOL.

 

[FroggyFox]

fry also love newly hatched baby brine shrimp...as will all of your other fish.

 

[plattygirl]

I agree with capslock that u may have plattys if they are mickey mouse fish as i've never seen mickey mouse mollys either. For my fry i used to use a specific fry powder which they did really well on until they stopped making it! Typical. Anyway i just got a really good quality small pellet and ground that up in a mortar and pestle (i'm not sure of the spelling of those sorry). It is a bit of work but you can get a much better and much finer fry food than with just trying to ground any flake food up with your fingers. Regardless of what fish you have it will be much better for them if you could get them a bigger tank as if lots of babies survive you are going to run out of room very quickly. Good luck with it all hope it goes well for u.

 

[mikety34]

my mistake it's a platy sorry. thanks for the correction.