James040812
New Member
Hello, I brought these 4 beauties from my local shop but cannot remember what they are called I think they are green finned mollies could be wrong. Anyway I’m pretty sure one of the females is pregnant, can anyone advise??
What fish and is she pregnant?
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They're sailfin mollies - nice! I love this type of molly. They do grow very large and can live 5 years or more, so seriously consider investing in a large tank for them at some point. My sailfin hybrids got huge, and were really only suited for a 200L or larger.
In the first photo, the one top left is a male. Can't see the anal fin clearly on the others, but I *think* you have one male and three females, which is a good ratio for mollies.
Except that with livebearers like mollies, as long as you have a female and a male in a tank, you're gonna get fry sooner or later! Are you happy to have fry? Because it's likely that all three females (if I've sexed them correctly) will be producing large batches of fry soon!
You can leave the fry in the tank with the parents if you choose, but adult fish will eat fry, so if you want to save all the babies, we can share tips for how to raise them, reduce predation from the adults etc.
In the first photo, the one top left is a male. Can't see the anal fin clearly on the others, but I *think* you have one male and three females, which is a good ratio for mollies.
Except that with livebearers like mollies, as long as you have a female and a male in a tank, you're gonna get fry sooner or later! Are you happy to have fry? Because it's likely that all three females (if I've sexed them correctly) will be producing large batches of fry soon! You can leave the fry in the tank with the parents if you choose, but adult fish will eat fry, so if you want to save all the babies, we can share tips for how to raise them, reduce predation from the adults etc.
with livebearers, they're always pregnant. once she has a square like stomach she is very close
James040812
New Member
Thank you yes they are great Looking fish. Your right I went for one male and 3 females I have a 120l tank so quite nice size I’m pretty sure one is pregnant already can you tell from the pictures? I can try and take a better one if not, if it is then I’ll add her into the birthing tank to save the fry.They're sailfin mollies - nice! I love this type of molly. They do grow very large and can live 5 years or more, so seriously consider investing in a large tank for them at some point. My sailfin hybrids got huge, and were really only suited for a 200L or larger.
In the first photo, the one top left is a male. Can't see the anal fin clearly on the others, but I *think* you have one male and three females, which is a good ratio for mollies.
You can leave the fry in the tank with the parents if you choose, but adult fish will eat fry, so if you want to save all the babies, we can share tips for how to raise them, reduce predation from the adults etc.
James040812
New Member
James040812
New Member
Sorry man, it's hard to tell just yet! I'd say she likely is - since she's with a male, and they don't hesitate, if you know what I mean! lol. She does look pretty round, so she could be gravid, or she could be chunky after a good feed! Sometimes they look pretty round after a good meal, and mollies are greedy little guys! (you can also hand feed them! Get some frozen bloodworms as an occasional treat, and you can literally have them eating out of the palm of your hand
If she is gravid, and I'd bet that she is, then it's still early days. Best not to move her at all to be honest. If you really want to save every fry (and most of us do, for our first few batches of fry!) then I'd recommend setting up a 10-15gallon birthing/nursery tank. Those breeder boxes/nets can be useful for isolating a fish in an emergency, or for placing newborn fry in once they've been born. But putting an adult female in there will stress her out, and stress is a really bad thing during labour and birth, for any creature! Puts the female at risk as well as the fry. Some people chose to use breeder boxes/nets by putting the female in there once they think she's going into labour or very close. No judging here, it works for some people! Just personally, I try to minimise stress for the fish, and create as natural an environment as I can.
She might not have the fry for a month, so it would suck for her to be confined to the breeder box for all that time. So don't move her just yet.
My method with livebearers was to let the female give birth in the main tank. I add lots of plant matter, especially floating plant and dense, fast growing stem plants floating at the surface, which the fry instinctively head to and hide among to stay safe from predators/mom and dad! The thick plant makes it tough for the adults to navigate and gives lots of hiding space for the fry, while also allowing you to feed them some crushed, tiny food right in that plant "nursery", so they don't need to venture out for food and risk being eaten.
Doesn't have to be elaborate or fancy, see the bushy light green plant on the left that reaches towards the surface? That's limnophilia sessiliflora. Super easy to grow, fast growing (which helps water conditions too) and my livebearer fry and shrimp loved it for hiding in! Elodea, water wisteria, hornwort, guppy grass - any of those plants can just be chucked into the tank and left to float, and they'll grow and make a great hiding space for fry!
This means that some fry might get eaten by adults. But generally, if there are enough hiding spots/adults aren't super hungry, most of the fry will make it, and the adults will tend to pick off the slow, weak, sickly, runty ones. So you end up producing healthier stock in the long term, and less likely to become rapidly overstocked so fast!
Alternatives
Catch fry after mom births in the main tank.
Leave mom to give birth in main tank. When she's huge and looks ready to pop, look for signs she's about to give birth. Check the tank often for fry, they usually head to the surface, especially if you've added some plant for them to hide in. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, don't turn the room light on, but go in with a torch/flashlight, and check for fry before the adult fish are awake and hungry. Then can easily net the fry and move them to the breeder box/net/another tank, and save the majority of the babies. By the time they're around three weeks old, they'll usually be big enough not to be food for the adults anymore, and can join the parents. But remember that they mature pretty fast, and you don't want to end up with a batch of 20 young females that are now gravid, and they start popping out fry! and you're overstocked in no time. So, many people separate the fry by sex as soon as it's possible to sex them. (young fry always look like females at first, takes a while for the male gonopodium to develop.
Set up a nursery tank.
Or, set up another smallish tank to raise the fry in. But you'd need to cycle that tank first before adding any fish. It's easy to jumpstart a seeded cycle using your current tank though, if it's been running for a while. If you make the nursery homey, with plants/decor/substrate, you can move a gravid female to that tank to give birth with minimal stress if you chose, then move her back to the main tank once she's had her fry, and raise the fry in the nursery tank.
All of these methods do mean a lot of 'fish juggling', with catching and moving and separating fry etc, but that's the nature of livebearer breeding! Makes it very easy to slip into Multiple Tank Syndrome. I only wanted one tank for a few guppies to colony breed, but within a year I had four tanks and was constantly giving bags of young fish to my local fish store! It can be a lot of work, but it's fun, and mollies might be my favourite livebearer.
I hope you can pop in and update us on how they're doing and when one of the girls gives birth! I do think it'll be a few weeks before you see fry, but that gives you time to plan out how you want to do this, and research how to raise healthy, fast growing fry.
James040812
New Member
Wow I appreciate your time in writing all that info a lot to think about I’ve always struggled to find the right plants that the fish don’t pull apart. I’ve currently got 8 guppy fry in my breeding tank. But I think I might get some more plants and give them more places to hide.Sorry man, it's hard to tell just yet! I'd say she likely is - since she's with a male, and they don't hesitate, if you know what I mean! lol. She does look pretty round, so she could be gravid, or she could be chunky after a good feed! Sometimes they look pretty round after a good meal, and mollies are greedy little guys! (you can also hand feed them! Get some frozen bloodworms as an occasional treat, and you can literally have them eating out of the palm of your hand
If she is gravid, and I'd bet that she is, then it's still early days. Best not to move her at all to be honest. If you really want to save every fry (and most of us do, for our first few batches of fry!) then I'd recommend setting up a 10-15gallon birthing/nursery tank. Those breeder boxes/nets can be useful for isolating a fish in an emergency, or for placing newborn fry in once they've been born. But putting an adult female in there will stress her out, and stress is a really bad thing during labour and birth, for any creature! Puts the female at risk as well as the fry. Some people chose to use breeder boxes/nets by putting the female in there once they think she's going into labour or very close. No judging here, it works for some people! Just personally, I try to minimise stress for the fish, and create as natural an environment as I can.
She might not have the fry for a month, so it would suck for her to be confined to the breeder box for all that time. So don't move her just yet.
My method with livebearers was to let the female give birth in the main tank. I add lots of plant matter, especially floating plant and dense, fast growing stem plants floating at the surface, which the fry instinctively head to and hide among to stay safe from predators/mom and dad! The thick plant makes it tough for the adults to navigate and gives lots of hiding space for the fry, while also allowing you to feed them some crushed, tiny food right in that plant "nursery", so they don't need to venture out for food and risk being eaten. View attachment 159508
Doesn't have to be elaborate or fancy, see the bushy light green plant on the left that reaches towards the surface? That's limnophilia sessiliflora. Super easy to grow, fast growing (which helps water conditions too) and my livebearer fry and shrimp loved it for hiding in! Elodea, water wisteria, hornwort, guppy grass - any of those plants can just be chucked into the tank and left to float, and they'll grow and make a great hiding space for fry!
This means that some fry might get eaten by adults. But generally, if there are enough hiding spots/adults aren't super hungry, most of the fry will make it, and the adults will tend to pick off the slow, weak, sickly, runty ones. So you end up producing healthier stock in the long term, and less likely to become rapidly overstocked so fast!
Alternatives
Catch fry after mom births in the main tank.
Leave mom to give birth in main tank. When she's huge and looks ready to pop, look for signs she's about to give birth. Check the tank often for fry, they usually head to the surface, especially if you've added some plant for them to hide in. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, don't turn the room light on, but go in with a torch/flashlight, and check for fry before the adult fish are awake and hungry. Then can easily net the fry and move them to the breeder box/net/another tank, and save the majority of the babies. By the time they're around three weeks old, they'll usually be big enough not to be food for the adults anymore, and can join the parents. But remember that they mature pretty fast, and you don't want to end up with a batch of 20 young females that are now gravid, and they start popping out fry! and you're overstocked in no time. So, many people separate the fry by sex as soon as it's possible to sex them. (young fry always look like females at first, takes a while for the male gonopodium to develop.
Set up a nursery tank.
Or, set up another smallish tank to raise the fry in. But you'd need to cycle that tank first before adding any fish. It's easy to jumpstart a seeded cycle using your current tank though, if it's been running for a while. If you make the nursery homey, with plants/decor/substrate, you can move a gravid female to that tank to give birth with minimal stress if you chose, then move her back to the main tank once she's had her fry, and raise the fry in the nursery tank.
All of these methods do mean a lot of 'fish juggling', with catching and moving and separating fry etc, but that's the nature of livebearer breeding! Makes it very easy to slip into Multiple Tank Syndrome. I only wanted one tank for a few guppies to colony breed, but within a year I had four tanks and was constantly giving bags of young fish to my local fish store! It can be a lot of work, but it's fun, and mollies might be my favourite livebearer.
I hope you can pop in and update us on how they're doing and when one of the girls gives birth! I do think it'll be a few weeks before you see fry, but that gives you time to plan out how you want to do this, and research how to raise healthy, fast growing fry.
My tank is below looks no where near what you have. Looking at my tank what plants would you recommend on your list?
I love this tank! I need a flamingo... where did you get it??
The pleco only adds to the charm!What plants - depends on what appeals to you, what you want the tank to look like, how experienced with aquatic plants you are, and if you want it simple and just chuck some loose floating stems in there like elodea, where you don't have to do anything for it, it'll just grow and grow, and you thin it out and remove some when it starts to take over!
You can also stick some of the stems in the gravel and it'll grow that way too. Not the prettiest plant, but a very useful starter or fry plant that you can always remove later if you decide to change it to something prettier. I suggest any of the plants I listed above, or do a search for "easy beginners aquatic plants, and let me know what ones you like, and I can give tips about care and stuff. Some plants are difficult, not cheap, and need a high tech tank to survive, so would be a waste of money to buy them. But any of the ones I named plus a few others are cheap, super easy, grow fast - which means they suck up a lot of ammonia and help with your water quality, especially when you have a lot of fast growing fry!
Some easy beginner plants are slow growing though, so not much help with water quality or providing hiding spots for fry. So for now I'd avoid things like java fern, mosses, anubius etc. You can always add stuff like that later if you like it and want to go plant crazy, the way a lot of us do.
Plants - There are so many to choose from! I'd suggest to choose what you like, check on the Tropica site whether it's an easy or difficult plant to keep, and go for easy ones if you're new to having live plants. I'm gonna convert you to loving live plants, mixed with your fun decos!
Have seen some really beautiful and charming tanks that mix the real/fake - ignore any plant purity snobs who only want natural things in a tank. Themed and deco tanks can be great, especially with some live plants setting things off. Like a nice wall of a rich green plant, like vallis behind the flamingo would really frame it and make it stand out! Tropica: https://tropica.com/en/plants/
Yes, as already been stated, these are sailfin mollies. In the commercial trade these are listed as Poecilia velifera. But actually, most aren't pure Poecilia velifera but already mixed with Poecilia latipinna. For the pattern on the body (and finnage) of both molly species are to be found with those commercial sailfins.
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