Balloon Molly Help!!

Hello and welcome to EFF To answer your question of if it is possible for your balloon Molly and lyre-tail molly to mate, yes it is. There are several types of molly species in the genus Poecilia that are able to interbreed. The appearance of the balloon molly is caused by a deformity in the spine.

When keeping livebearers it is suggested to keep at least a ratio of 2 or 3 females to one male. This helps to distribute the males attentions among several fish and will keep on female from being harassed to death. Also it is possible to get a pregnant female from the store even if she isn't showing. The sperm from the male can be stored up for several months in a female.

If you are wanting to try and raise any of the fry there are a few things that you can do. The first is to have a seperate tank that you can place the fry into and raise. When I had Platys I had a 10 gallon tank that I would move a female into when she was getting close to dropping her fry. Afterwards I would place her back into the main tank. I would keep the fry in the 10 gallon until they got a bit larger and I moved them into a 20 gallon for growing out in while I would have a new batch in the 10. For filtration I used sponge filters so that fry would not be sucked up into the power filter. Another option is allowing the female to drop her fry in the main tank. Depending on how your main tank is set up some of the fry may survive if they have adequate hiding places and if they can find food. How well they will survive depends if they can find hiding places from the other fish in the tank. In my community tank fry did not survive especially with my Angels that would hunt them down.

If you do decide to try raising some of the fry you are going to need to have something to feed them, Hiarki first bites worked well for me. I would also suggest that if you set up a tank for the fry I would suggest daily water changes of about 10%, to get any of the waste out of the bottom.

 

Hi Joey & welcome to the forum.
I agree with Barb.

 

Hi Joey,

For when she is about to drop her fry, as you have found already online she will start looking boxy. When I had my Platys I would also watch the female to see if she started finding quiet places in the tank to hide and started not showing an interest in food. Usually in a few days some times a week she would drop her fry. My first fry that had been dropped in the community tank I didn't even know about until I saw one of the fry taking cover among some rocks that I had in the tank.

For now her being the only female in the tank should not be too much of an issue. As long as your tank parameters are stable it would be a good idea to add another molly or two so that she doesn't get overly harassed by the male. Being the only female for the past two weeks with the male should not be causing any issues, I just would not keep them like this for long term.

For Hornwort you could try checking any local fish stores in the area. I have bought plants from Petsmart in the past with no issues. The only word of caution I would give when buying plants from Petsmart, not sure how Petco is like on this, is to make sure that it is truly an aquatic plant. I know that Petsmart does sell some plants that are not truly aquatic and eventually will die off. Also there is always the option of buying plants online. Depending on the place if they do flat rate shipping it may be some what expensive if you are looking to only get a couple of plants.

This is someone who I have seen who is highly recommended, have not dealt with him myself but may be worth getting in contact with him
Mark Huffman
https://m.facebook.com/AquariumPlantsCheap?id=263943177074067&_rdr

 

Not a problem If you have anymore questions please let us know. Also would love to see pictures of your tank if you get a chance.