Mollies Mating Or Fighting..

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AundieRae

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Okay so yesterday I got myself a second Mollie. I already had one in my tank which I thought was a girl, but it turns out not.. When I put the second Mollie in my tank, the one I already had chased the new one around clearly trying to inpregnate it. This went on for a while then I had to go, and when I came back to check on the tank today, the mounting process had stopped and my female keeps hanging out near the top of the tank, not being too mobile, and trying to hide it seems. I do have alot of places to hide in my tank though thankfully so hopefully it feels safe. The male keeps going and almost trying to sniff (if it were a dog) the females ventral hole. I'm not quite sure what this is. Also, the female will sometimes fan her tail at him and then start to fight, but I only saw this happen one. But the male does keep chasing the female, not seeming to be hostile, if anything the female is just getting pissed at him for smelling her all the time. Should I be worried? Is this behavior normal? Is she pregnant now? how love should it be to expect fry? I also ave 2 platties and a betta in the tank, do you think the babies will get eaten?
But then again she is pretty big, maybe she is already pregnant?
Could someone post pictures of a pregnant Mollie?
Help!
 
When I got new Mollies for my tank for the first day the new male kept chasing the females that I already had. The male I already had kept chasing the new females. They settled down the next day so I think perhaps they males do chase females more when they are first introduced.

As far as the female hanging out near the top of the tank, I would like to hear what people have to say on that too. I have one female that has been hanging out at the top near the filter for the last 3 days. I'm not sure if she is just trying to keep away from the one male that seems to like her the most or if it's something else. She seems fine, she eats and seems perfectly normal other than just being in the same spot all day.

There is a good chance your female is already pregnant, they often are when you get them. I believe they can have babies every 4 to 6 weeks and can store sperm or fertilized eggs for up to 6 drops. If she wasn't pregnant then there's a good chance she will be now :)

I have heard, and this is what I do, is to have a 3 female to 1 male ratio. This is because if you have just 1 female and 1 male, the male will constantly chase the female and the stress can kill her. If there are 3 females then he has 3 to chase so doesn't just harass the one girl constantly.
 
Mollies are feisty little blighters at the best of times, and once males get a sniff of lady-love, they go for it. It is recommended to have a ratio of at least 1m:2f, and preferably more females than that, so that the male spreads his, ahem, attentions. IN extreme cases, the male can cause the female sufficient stress to kill her.

Is she pregnant now? Almost certainly, and even if you remove the male, she will store sperm packets for the next 6 months. She'll have fry drops every 4-6 weeks, and the fry may well get eaten. When I kept platies, I never even saw a fry. If you have a densely planted aquarium (which I didn't), some fry may well survive, but it would be wise to figure out an exit-route for the fry, otherwise you might well get overrun with them.

If she's big now, it may well be that she's been impregnated by another male at some point in the previous 6 months.
 
Thanks so much for your replies!
I have a fry net, and I have talked to people and seem to have alot of homes for when they are ready, and hopefully the Pet shop and nature will help me with the rest, I have a friend with a 98 gallon tank so they said if I need any temporary homes they would love to help me out. I only have a 10 gallon tank and dont have any thing else other than a bowl. Would a bowl be alright for her to give birth in? I do have a fry net though too. Can the fry survive for the first week or so in a bowl so long as I do plenty of water changes with a turkey baster?
Also, how many days would you say she is along? I can't quite tell, I'm still a newbie haha :(
molli.JPG
molliekkk.JPG
 
Difficult to tell from those photos, best guess would be 7-10 days to go before dropping.
 

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