Hi I have 4 baby lyretail mollies. They are about 2 months old. I was wondering when do their tails get long? So far they look like regular mollies. I'm not sure what their dad was but the mom is a dalmatian lyretail. Just curious this is the first batch of babies I've had. Also how long before they start to breed? Can fish inbreed what happens if they do? I'm kinda new to this if you can't tell. Any info is much appreciated.

Welcome to the fishbox. Yes most breeders breed brother and sister fish for show quality. They should be showing some points between 2 and 3 months. Lyretails mature just like reg mollies and will breed at 1" to 1.5" usually. some females do not get the tail if the fish are poorly bred fish.Sort of luck of the draw (most likely poorly breed) if you bought them at a chain store. The size of the tank they are growing in also effects the lyretails from my experience grow better and faster in like a 20L.

Thanks fishvixen

I do have them in a 29gal tank. I'm guessing since they are all about 1.5" they are already breeding. I did buy the parents in a chain store. So who knows what all they are mixed with. How many mollies should I keep in the 29 gal tank? I have 3 adults and a sucker fish. plus the four babies. the momma fish are about to pop again any day and they are huge so I'm sure I will have about 50 babies. Not sure I want that many fish in one tank.

What's your location?

I'm in the Orlando Florida area

The parents/bigger fish will eat most of the fry if you live them in the tank. A 29 can hold about 15 fish. Just a very basic rule is 1" of fish for every gallon of water. So if your fish are 2" you can have 14 or 15 fish. But be sure you know what the size of the fish will be when fully grown. Do you have a pleco or algae eater type of sucker fish? If you're not sure can you post a pic?

Oh sweet. I use to live in Oviedo. Very nice area.

I lived in Dunedin near Clearwater

I do have a sucker fish. Its small but he's growing nicely. These 4 made it in the tank on their own I have some live plants they hid in. There were 6 others that I took out of the tank and put in a 1.5 gal tank I was going to use as a nursery but they all died in that tank. They were sucked into the filter. I decided to just leave the others and they all did great. I was soooo excited that they lived and grew. I had this tank set up before I had about 10 fish total and had all kinds of problems. My fish started dying no matter what I did in about 3 days I lost all but one fish. I did some research and figured out they had tail and fin rot. it was bad and the tank smelled I was changing water and trying everything. Finally I bought the small tank put my big black male molly in and treated him and threw out everything in the big tank. I can't believe he lived. It was bad. I set up the new tank with an under gravel filter and a regular whisper filter. Its been 3 months now and I haven't lost one fish. I honestly thought it would be easy to keep a fish tank but really its a lot to keep up with. My family makes fun of me because I'm so excited about the babies growing. I love my fish though. They make me happy. I also have a betta fish who makes me little bubble nests. He is fun.

Sorry that was a lot of extra info. I guess I just like to talk to other people who like fish like I do.

I was from Austin Tx, but I moved here about 2 years ago, Its ok.. I miss TX though

Wow so your learning that's great. when you lost your others was the tank cycled?

to the box!!, do yo have any pics of those??