Are My Two Mollies Breeding?

[chigwellhammer]

My female gave birth yesterday around lunch time and since then the male will not leave her alone??

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Males always want to mate with females as soon as they've given birth, so they can make sure their own genes are first, rather than some other males. Just make sure he isn't harassing her too much; if he is you might need to separate them for a while.

 

[the_lock_man]

I would ahve thought that the male wouldn't leave her alone before giving birth as well - male livebearers just don't leave the females alone, ever.

 

[panda_cory]

The male will just constantly try to mate with her

 

[OldMan47]

You are likely seeing breeding activity. No female is as likely to pass on the genetics of a male in her fry as one that has just dropped fry. The whole point to breeding activity is to pass along the genetics of the parent. If you keep that basic principle in mind you will seldom fail to see the real world of breeding activities. Anything that increases breeding success will add to more intense breeding pressure. Chigwell, your fish is acting exactly as I would expect. He wants to pass along his genetics to the next generation.

 

[FishBlast]

You are likely seeing breeding activity. No female is as likely to pass on the genetics of a male in her fry as one that has just dropped fry. The whole point to breeding activity is to pass along the genetics of the parent. If you keep that basic principle in mind you will seldom fail to see the real world of breeding activities. Anything that increases breeding success will add to more intense breeding pressure. Chigwell, your fish is acting exactly as I would expect. He wants to pass along his genetics to the next generation.

My male's a bit whacked in the head though.
My female longfin gave birth like a week ago. He doesn't care. In fact, the only female that he hangs out with, is my blood-red female that he's known ever since I've bought them.
There was a very long time when he didn't even bother to mate or court any of them, but now he's back to courting the blood-red female.
Is it possible that swordtails just pick a mate and then stay with them for the rest of their lives like that? Because this male is always seen next to her and doesn't see the lyretail and the longfin as females at all.
Here's the pair.

 

[OldMan47]

Swordtails are not known to mate for life. On the contrary, they are reputed to mate with any receptive female that they encounter.

 

[FishBlast]

Swordtails are not known to mate for life. On the contrary, they are reputed to mate with any receptive female that they encounter.

Then why is my male not going for the other 2? They do look awkward compared to the red one, but they are females... and i'm pretty sure they are swords...

 

[OldMan47]

Your fish is a far better judge than you are about their gender. Swordtails often include a fair number of "sneaker" males. A "true" male will sniff them out and ignore them as potential mates. That word sniff is quite literal. All freshwater fish urinate constantly to control their water uptake, is is a thing that they must do to survive. A male common livebearer, like a platy, will investigate potential mates for not only gender but species by smelling that urine, if smell is the right word for sensing chemical signals under water. If they find a fish with the right odor, they will attempt to mate with it by going into their display mode. If not, they will ignore it. Have you noticed how often they are bumping up against the waste area of other tank mates? That is when they are "sniffing".

 

[FishBlast]

Your fish is a far better judge than you are about their gender. Swordtails often include a fair number of "sneaker" males. A "true" male will sniff them out and ignore them as potential mates. That word sniff is quite literal. All freshwater fish urinate constantly to control their water uptake, is is a thing that they must do to survive. A male common livebearer, like a platy, will investigate potential mates for not only gender but species by smelling that urine, if smell is the right word for sensing chemical signals under water. If they find a fish with the right odor, they will attempt to mate with it by going into their display mode. If not, they will ignore it. Have you noticed how often they are bumping up against the waste area of other tank mates? That is when they are "sniffing".

Both are female, as i have obtained fry from them. Saw them giving birth too.
Also, this male never bumps those two females. He now rarely does this to the red one and only that one.

I just took this pic right now. They are sleeping next to each other too, while the other two females prefer to sit near the fry cage.

On a side note:
This red female has given birth to 3 generations of fry. But now she hasn't been pregnant for over 2 months. Yet, the male still hangs around her and even was courting her the other day.