Uh, some questions about breeding

[Fishy-Suzy]

I'm a beginner! I need to ask questions!
FYI: my tank is 10 gallons

How do I sex my Dalmation Molly and my Balloon Belly Molly? I'd love to see the colour variants of the fry. The thing is, I don't know how to tell the genders apart and I don't know the mating habits. The Dalmation Molly will chase the smaller Balloon Molly around a bit, but I think it might just be them playing.

The first guppy I bought was pregnant and gave birth the night I got her. First it was 7 fry, then 3 got eaten. The surviving guppies are a little over a month old and someone did it. Now I'm a grandma. I had an original school of fry at 20 babies. One of them died naturally the day after he/she/it was born and 2 were eaten. Most of them have homes when they're old enough. How do I get them to stop!?

[Dave66]

I'm a beginner! I need to ask questions!
FYI: my tank is 10 gallons

How do I sex my Dalmation Molly and my Balloon Belly Molly? I'd love to see the colour variants of the fry. The thing is, I don't know how to tell the genders apart and I don't know the mating habits. The Dalmation Molly will chase the smaller Balloon Molly around a bit, but I think it might just be them playing.

The first guppy I bought was pregnant and gave birth the night I got her. First it was 7 fry, then 3 got eaten. The surviving guppies are a little over a month old and someone did it. Now I'm a grandma. I had an original school of fry at 20 babies. One of them died naturally the day after he/she/it was born and 2 were eaten. Most of them have homes when they're old enough. How do I get them to stop!?

First, you can't stop livebearers from breeding; they do it all the time and the females are ALWAYS pregnant. A female can store the male's milt, and can give birth for months, even if you remove the males.
To sex them, the males have a modified anal fin that looks like a little spear. Females are usually larger and bulkier, and have a dark spot called a gravid spot (indicating they are pregnant) and all the fins look normal.
You're running into one of the foibles of keeping common livebearers; you're getting up to your nose in fry. That, in a rub, is why I don't keep common livebearers anymore.
You're options are clear. Either start buying lots and lots of tanks for all those fry, or give them all back to the shop, and do research on something else. Not a whole lot you can keep in a 10 (too small), so whatever you get, make sure its maximum length is less than 1.5 inches. If you can catch Fishalicious here, she has a whole list of fish with links suitable for a tank your size.

Dave

[Fishy-Suzy]

They Need To Make Birth Controll For Live Bearers!!!!
>.<

[jbeining75]

they do its called seperate tanks lol

[Fishy-Suzy]

I'm broke right now too. I'm looking for a bigger tank though! I wanna get a BIG tank.

Also, would it be good if I put small bits of veggies in the tank?

[Dave66]

I'm broke right now too. I'm looking for a bigger tank though! I wanna get a BIG tank.

Also, would it be good if I put small bits of veggies in the tank?

Right on the money, Suzanne. Your mollies need at least 50 percent vegetation (algae is perfect) in their diet for optimum health and longer life. Just make sure the food is eaten within 10 minutes, then remove any uneaten.

Dave

[jbeining75]

they'll eat deshelled peas and maybe really small veggies but don't leave it in the tank longer than 20 minutes because live food can decompose very fast and cause ammonia spikes or bacterial blooms. I hand feed my Oscars veggies and never let the food outta my hands......... nls pellets are a very good balanced diet also.....

[snapdragon9]

Another good way to feed greens: rubber band a sprig of romane lettuce to a rock, I've found they don't eat very well when the lettuce is floating.

[robnepper]

My 10 gallon tank has lots of algae. I don't know if it's because she's pregnant or just a pig, but my guppy behaves more like a cow and less like a fish. She grazes constantly and I know she's eating a lot of algae because of the poop. She is otherwise very well fed so I think she just likes it. So that's her veggie supplement.

As for the breeding, unless you are going to give them all back all the time, you're hopelessly short on gallons. But then, aren't we all?