A Question Of Molly Fry

I brought a female black molly into my tank about three or four days ago. I bought her because she didn't look like she was ready to pop (I didn't want any aborted pregnancies with the stress of moving tanks) or like she was in the very beginning of her pregnancy -- I didn't want to wait too long. She wasn't even squared up, I was estimating it would be a week and a half before her belly was finally squared. But, last night, my siblings and I found -- oh wait, a tiny little molly fry! I immediately began searching for more, but when I glanced at my female again, it didn't look like she had changed at all. Her stomach wasn't any less large, and she was chowing down on fish food I had put in the tank to distract the other fish from finding delicious fry. After about half an hour of searching the tank for more fry, I gave up and turned off the lights. I set an alarm for 6.30 this morning because I was certain I'd find more, but I didn't have any luck. I really have no I idea what's going on; I don't think any got sucked into the filter, but the suction is a little strong the closer you get to the intake. Possibly some got eaten, but I'd assume there'd be more fry because I have plenty of plants and rocks for them to hide behind, but not to the point where you wouldn't be able to spot them after a little while of screening the tank.

Also, I'd really like to rescue this one fry, but I don't have any other tanks set up right now to do so. Honestly, all I really have is a ziploc container. ^-^ I really want to rescue this little guy though, if he does happen to be the only one left. I could easily change out the water twice a day from the ziploc bowl, but I'd worry about the water not having enough oxygen. I could always clip off some of my anacharis, if that would help at all.
Any explanation to this problem will be appreciated! Thanks



--Here's a picture of her before she had the fry; she is actually larger now. This is a part that really confuses me.

I would suggest getting a netted isolation tank (net breeder) that you can float inside your tank for your little baby molly. Often a Female Molly will still look very round, after she has released her entire batch of babies, because she may still be full of fertilized eggs, that will soon begin to develop into more babies.

The problem is I don't know if I can hit the store before that one tiny fry gets eaten. He seems to be pretty smart though, and the other fish don't really notice him when he does come out of hiding. I also think it's pretty safe to say that maybe that isn't even my black molly's fry. The tank she was in had quite a few little babies in there (maybe 10?) and the fish store guy could've accidentally scooped him up with her, though I'm pretty sure I would've noticed. There was a plant in the same bag she was in, however, so maybe he hid out in there? That's the only logical explanation I can come up with now.

I have a few pictures here. I had to downsize the files so they would publish but it distorted them a little. Her belly is actually quite a bit bigger.

You might be right about the little one sneaking in the bag! When I worked in a pet store, selling livebearers every now and then a little baby fish would get in the bags . She does look heavily pregnant and hopefully you will have babies soon. What other fish do you have in the tank apart from mollies? If you only have mollies, I think the baby might be safe enough not to worry about. My experience with mollies is that they tend not to eat their young however you might get the odd one who does!

Edit; I've just notices you have plecos, they will only eat babies if they get to close when they are feeding but the babies are quick enough to get out the way.

Oh okay, so at least we know where the little guy came from! I had a yikes moment the other day when my fry was actually nibbling the tail of one of my plecos, but it didn't seem to care that the fry was taking a little taste. It probably won't be so close the next time though! Let's just hope that was a one-time thing.

Anyway, thanks a mil for your help! I'll be on the lookout for my molly to have her fry soon

Your welcome good luck and keep us posted on the new arrivals