Will mollies (fish) eat their young?

Question

I have 4 mollies, and 1 of them is pregnant. My question is will she eat her young? I'm worried about her eating them if they come out, and I don't have her in the breeding tank. Are they vegitarians?

Answer 1

We once had a black lyre-tailed mollie---yep  she had three babies and ate them all, we think.  Although she had them in a community tank so it could have been another fish.

Answer 2

Not all fish eat their young, but most live-bearers are notorious for this.  As long as there are plenty of plants/hiding places for the babies, and you feed the fish a couple times a day, you should be able to save enough to keep your population going.  If none get eaten, some will die anyway, but what will you do with them all.

Mollies are primarily carnivores, preying on mosquito larva and similar small foods in the wild.

Answer 3

Hi,

Yeh all fish will eat their young, but to try and save some place lots of plants in the tank whether they are real or fake, just to give the fry some where to hide.

Answer 4

yes, they will eat their young. you can buy a small insertion tank to hang on the side of your tank to seperate the babies, after they are born.

Answer 5

It is quite possible.  Not every fish eats their young, but some do.  I have had many mollies that did not eat their young.  I do provide plants like water sprite and duckweed, groups of caboma and such so the fry have places that they can get away from the adults.  As readilly as mollies breed, it isn't always a bad thing to loose a few to parental consumption.  ;)

Answer 6

yes they will

Answer 7

Not all Livebearers eat there young but unfortunatley most of them does.  You can buy a cheap breeding tank made of plastic and you can put it in your aquarium, it is quite small.  This is one - http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_imag...

I give mollies Tetra flake food and once or twice a week i give them dried bloodworms.