Guppy/Molly question.

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Let me start by saying I've been trying to read up all I can on them since I set the tank up.I have a newer tank, tank is a few years old but I just got it back from my mom (she somehow managed to kill all her fish after she gave her BF the boot.)

I set it up and got a few fish to cycle it, too many fish, I now know. I have a few mollies and some guppies. Had only a couple male guppies at first but added some females in. I also have a really pregnant molly and a molly male and another female that doesn't look pregnant. (so 3 very small mollies and maybe 7 or 8 guppies in a 30 gallon tank).

Miss Molly looks like she's about to POP but the male guppies will not leave her alone. She's been hanging out in the darker corner of the tank(seems almost in a trance) and the guppies are fighting eachother and mating with her. I was gonna leave her in to have the babies because the tank isn't even cycled and I'm not ready for babies yet. I dont have another tank for the molly or the boys but if they keep it up I'm going to go feed them to the ducks..

So can the guppies even fertilize the molly? Is she giving off some sort of scent that is attracting them? No other option then to take her out though huh? but I dont have another tank or another heater..

 

[Kevin565]

Yes guppies and mollies can cross breed. It sounds like there isn't enough female guppies to keep them satisfied. If she's hovering in the dark part of the tank she may be close to giving birth. Her pregnancy is probably giving off pheromones in the water which is why they won't leave her alone. Though I'm not a fan of breeder nets that maybe something you could consider.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Thanks. I have 2 males and maybe 6 female guppies. So the tank has 3 males total and 8 females. I have never even seen them fight or mate until today. BAD FISH! I'd take my coop full of cockerels over this! I guess I didn't read up on keeping them together.. just read up on both individually. I got the mollies because the place didn't have any female guppies in stock after the males were already in the bag. I knew you could keep them together though so I got the mollies as well.

 

[Kevin565]

They usually can co exist but certain males can be too aggressive for community tanks. Once your guppies start giving birth and you raise them to adults hopefully this behavior will stop.

 

[xchairity_casex]

i dont think thats too many for your tank though i woulndt consider anymore but many many guppy breeders will keep a few hundred in a a 10 gallon and they do just fine thrive in fact just so long as you keep up with frequent water changes i suggest adding a few live plants to help with the wastes and also to help with the guppies constant pestering. i wouldnt worry about the make guppies its jsut what they do i bred guppies for a while and kept my "mutts" for sale in a 20 gallon close to 50 total i however am a firm believer in large water changes frquently while some others argue against it. the pros i noticed from doing large water changes as oppose to smaller ones were

hardier fish(my guppies did not get deises or sick often nor ick unlike other breeders who i heard had young guppies getting ick with every partial water change i also never had a fish with fin rot even after they would get torn fins and i did not treat them)

longer lifespan it seemed my bf has one of the guppies from my very first batch which is going on 4 years old i did not give this guppy much chance as as a juvy i went to move him out of the fry tank into the juvy tank he fell onto the floor and was so tiny when i picked him up i accedentally torn his tail fin completly off hes still alive and kicking.

faster and larger growth.

but this is just what i personally noticed doesnt mean the large water changes were what did it.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I disagree, mollies and guppies are different species and do not produce offspring. I kept fish for 40+ years and never had those two cross breed, even though they were kept together. It would be like trying to breed chickens with ducks. Doesn't work.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Mollies and Guppies are both Poecilia. I'm assuming the above posters know nothing about the subject or otherwise would have refrained from making those comments. Yes, you can cross the two species. If you cross a male molly with a female guppy you will kill your guppy. If you cross a female molly with a male guppy you MIGHT get fry and some MIGHT survive and they MIGHT not have the genetic defects common in such a cross but you won't EVER be able to produce viable offspring from the crosses themselves as they are essentially mules, and those that have been successfully bred have never survived to produce a viable breeding population which is why you don't see Gollies in the stores everywhere. They come out deformed and have a lot of genetic problems.

If you care about your fish not harassing each other do yourself a favor and either start a separate tank for the Mollies, or just get rid of them and concentrate on Guppies, (or vice versa).

If you can't do that, at the very least get a breeding net/ tank which floats in the main tank and keeps the mom fish separate from the rest of the fish.

Either way DON'T add any more fish until your tank is cycled!

Here is a picture of a Gollie.

 

[Kevin565]

Quote:
I disagree. Mollies and guppies can breed but it is rare. As previously stated they are both members of Poecilia. Unlike ducks and chickens which are much farther apart.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Quote:
xchairity_casex: This is why I said I got to many, because the tank isn't cycled yet.

I've been doing maybe 25% water changes weekly. I have real and a couple fake plants, and some rocks. I think I'm gonna add some bigger rocks for hidey spaces too. Everything was going smooth until miss molly decieded to want to pop, I didn't even realize how big she looked til I got home. Now the male guppies are in full force. Maybe they're just now comfortable with my tank.. I think I will choose one or the other, I had read you could keep them together fine though. I cant deal with the fighting because it stresses ME out.. I was getting so mad at the stinkin fish yesterday..

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

So I couldn't take it anymore and took Molly out. Put her in a 1 gallon 'tank'. Okay it's a 1+ gallon jar that I'm using until I can go buy something else. I had molly babies within an hour!!! Now I havta go get a fry tank dont I? Goodness gracious I wasn't expecting this so soon. Now I have another question..

My female guppies that were in their own tank are still probably pregnant huh? One looks pretty big and the rest look medium.. This is my first time going to tropical fish. I've always had a coldwater tank of messy goldfish! Growing up my babysitter had a guppy tank! I loved seeing the babies so thats why I wanted guppies.