# Random Molly Birth



## GuppyNGoldfish (Mar 28, 2011)

So today I picked up 2 Silver Mollies, 1 male, 1 female. They've been in the tank for about 6 hours, and I went over to feed them and I saw 3 babies swimming around. To me she didn't look pregnant at all!!! All my guppies are pregnant and they have giant round bellies. This molly is about 2 inches long and her belly was just a little big (To me she looked maybe a week pregnant) I counted atleast 9 fry so far.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

She may have already had some in the tank at the store. Pregnant fish giving birth a day or two from the store is very common. I used to do it on purpose because I knew it would happen. Stress causes them to do it. Since I started doing drip acclimation that has stopped.


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## GuppyNGoldfish (Mar 28, 2011)

yeah, I figured the stress of being in a new tank made her pop. I've counted 14 fry as of this morning.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello Guppy. A little standard aquarium salt will calm your new Mollies and helps maintain the "slime coat" that keeps the fish free of disease causing bacteria. It also provides the minerals that are present in the fishes' natural habitat. 

If you keep live plants, the salt can be a bit of a problem. But, just a teaspoon per five gallons of your aquarium replacement water should keep your livebearers disease free and not affect your plants.

B


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## GuppyNGoldfish (Mar 28, 2011)

2 of my 3 anacharis plants are covered in "red algae" looking hairs.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

GuppyNGoldfish said:


> 2 of my 3 anacharis plants are covered in "red algae" looking hairs.


Hello again. Algae can be a problem if the tank is cycled but not established. That just means the tank hasn't been running but a few months.
Routine tank maintenance including fairly large and frequent water changes will help. I have several large tanks and haven't had an algae problem in years. When I started noticing it, I planted more plants every couple of weeks. Eventually, the algae was starved out by the more complex aquatic plants. I did break down at one point and dosed Seachem's Flourish Excel for a while, but it's toxic to ferns, some Vallisneria, mosses, etc. So, I stopped using it when I found that out.

More plants did the trick.

B


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