Recued a "peacful" community of fish today!

[aquaticinvisions]

My friend and I were moving out of apartment today and going seperate ways. He had a five gallon hex which two three inch sword tails, one female, and four nice looking one inch mollies at an inch. Ive placed them in a cycled 27 Quart rubbermaid around 14 inches long, 12 inches wide and 11 inches deep or so.. Will this last them two weeks until i move into my next place? I plan on doing daily water changes. I added sand, stones and plans. Ideal temp? Also what size aquarium do i need to get this gand in two weeks that will last them for life?

I was told they were walmart swords and molliee, one male sword is a very dark red and the other is a beautiful three inch natural color with one smaller light red female sword. The molllies are stunning, i have for one inchers called random mollies at walmart. One is white with black sports, another is orange with black find and the other two are white and pink. I am in love with these guys after years of keepig monster fish.

Quick questions:

Will the mollies and sword tails mix breed?

Average adult size of both?

IS IT TRUE THEY CAN BREATH AIR LIKE BETTAS?

Thanks!!!

 

[aquaticinvisions]

I forgot to mention we also have one three very young bettas, one male and two females. Were keeping an eye on them?

 

[Aquaman_95]

Honestly, I feel as though if you continue to do weekly water changes, and check the water parameters often, they should be fine for the next two weeks. The ideal temperature for these fish, is somewhere around 76-80F. An ideal aquarium that will last them for life, is probably a 20 gallon high, or long. I think that's your best bet.

The mollies and the swordtails will most likely not breed; there have been very very few documented cases of this happening, and in every case, the offspring die, if I'm not mistaken.
The average adult size is 3" for both. And, they aren't equipped to breathe air.

As for the bettas, the females can go into the community aquarium. The male will have to remain by himself.

 

[aquaticinvisions]

Thanks, i ill remove the male betta. when should these guys start breeding? How often do they breed? And last question; your saying im not overcrowded at this point?

 

[Bderick67]

20g would be fine for them, I would even include the male betta in the mix. What exactly do you mean by "cycled 27 Quart rubbermaid" are you saying you have a filter on the rubbermaid?

 

[aquaticinvisions]

Im using cycled sand and flter media. I have one aquaclear 70.. I just found out the four "molles" are actully platys what abou these guys? Im going to leave the the male crowntal n the setup unless i notice trouble. Id like to upgrade to a 55 gallon heavily planted and decorated and addng more plays, sail fnds and maybe some mollies and could i add some kind of cleanup crew? I want to breed these guys into a community, will floating plants cover the fry?

 

[Bderick67]

Im using cycled sand and flter media. I have one aquaclear 70.. I just found out the four "molles" are actully platys what abou these guys? Im going to leave the the male crowntal n the setup unless i notice trouble. Id like to upgrade to a 55 gallon heavily planted and decorated and addng more plays, sail fnds and maybe some mollies and could i add some kind of cleanup crew? I want to breed these guys into a community, will floating plants cover the fry?

I see, a 55g planted would be nice. The more plants the more hiding spots, increasing the chance of survival for the fry.

 

[Shenanigans]

floating stem plants are great for breeding livebearers. Anachris, rotala, etc will all grow well and protect fry. While mollyXplaty hybrids dont typically do well, platyXswordtail hybrids will most likely do well. IME, mixing different livebearers typically dont produce many hybrids, but you will probably see a batch or two eventually. The male betta should be fine if mixed in.t

These fish dont typically have a huge bioload if cared for properly, so a clean up crew isnt out of the question. However, most clean up crews will be guilty of eating fry. I would suggest a small species of corydoras. Loaches or other sorts of bottom feeders will readily eat fry. Some species of snails will clean up fairly well and will pose no threat to fry

 

[Jamesy]

Mollies will not breed with other Livebearers, And I think it would be safer to forget about adding the male betta, I've kept them in Communities but they always end up getting bullied by Livebearers since they can be nippy on the males long fins and that the betta is too slow to chase them back