Is my Balloon Molly Pregnant or just big?

Jackss

New Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2022
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
Saskatoon
Hey everyone, I’ve had this balloon Molly since she was born, she was the fry of a previous generation of fish I had. She has siblings that are much younger than her, you can see one in one of the images. She sleeps at the bottom of the tank with her stomach fully on the ground, and quite often I can find one of the smaller male mollies chasing her and trying to nip at her butt area. There was a super tiny fry that was in my tank about a week ago but it was just one and I wasn’t sure if it was a Molly or a Guppy as I have both. Her mother also released just one fry the first time she gave birth. So I am just wondering if she is pregnant or just big.
 

Attachments

  • CAE274CC-C113-48D7-B864-D4D4E2736D53.jpeg
    CAE274CC-C113-48D7-B864-D4D4E2736D53.jpeg
    306.9 KB · Views: 97
  • F5AED7F6-82BF-4D83-8A2D-06CDD299FC25.jpeg
    F5AED7F6-82BF-4D83-8A2D-06CDD299FC25.jpeg
    254.5 KB · Views: 67
  • 31A4F443-01CA-4E48-86EC-E58799155890.jpeg
    31A4F443-01CA-4E48-86EC-E58799155890.jpeg
    301.2 KB · Views: 47
How is she acting during the day? Swimming and eating normally?

It's really hard to tell with balloon mollies when they're gravid, fat from eating a huge meal, or swollen because something is wrong, because they're a fish that are already deformed. The stunted neck and distended shape of them is already unnatural, and makes it hard to tell.
But I don't like the shape of her belly at all - it doesn't look "gravid swollen" to me, it looks painfully distended in a way I've only seen in a fish that has organ failure and is close to passing away. But, don't be too alarmed by my thinking that, I could be totally wrong, and she'll pop out (more) fry very soon.

Tagging our disease guy @Colin_T and our livebearer expert @emeraldking , because they're likely to be much more use to you! Please do update us on what happens with her though, if more fry appear and she deflates!
 
If the fish is eating well and not doing a stringy white poop, she is a fatty or up the duff.

Make sure there are lots of plants n the tank for her and the babies to hide in. Leave her alone and let her do her thing.
 
If I look at het bodyshape, she doesn't look like a pure balloon molly to me. She may have normal genes as well than just the balloon gene. Nevertheless, with balloonlike shaped livebearers, it's hard to tell wether they're pregnant or not. And don't forget with a lot of female mollies, no gravid spot will be shown.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top