Do male mollies release sperm in water??

lize · Apr 8, 2023

Okay so I've got a male balloon molly that looks super ready to mate. He keeps flexing his fins and the gono...sth (anal fin thingy) keeps moving forwards

it's hilarious.

There r 2 female mollies. 1 is pregnant. The male molly seems to dislike the other female molly so he's harassing the pregnant one. (Chasing n sniffing her butt)

This is the 2nd day of his 'activities'

My 16 gallon tank is now cloudy. It hasn't been cloudy for months so I'm just wondering... Maybe the male molly released some sperm in the tank?

I did a 25% water change 3 days ago. I usually do 25% changes every week.

Ok bye. Tq

Just me sharing a love story and finding the cause of the cloudiness

GaryE · Apr 8, 2023

Mollies work with sperm packets, so the water cloudiness isn't from him.

Slammin’ Aquascaping · Apr 8, 2023

Maybe it is a bacterial bloom? Like there was a big bioload, and the bacteria that helps with Ammonia has spiked in your tank to deal with it. And therefore the water is cloudy. My best solution for ANYONE with cloudy water is to let it be. Skip feeding for like 2 days, and don’t water change the tank until a whole week has past.

10 Tanks · Apr 8, 2023

Hello lize. Your tank is very small for Mollies. These fish need extremely clean water with a stable water chemistry. Small tanks can't provide this as well as a larger tank. Even in a larger tank, Mollies require large, frequent water changes of at least 50 percent every week to be their healthiest.

Livebearing fish like Molly males don't release sperm in the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

sharkweek178 · Apr 8, 2023

The thread title reminded me of the old WC Fields joke, "I never drink water because of the disgusting things fish do in it."

lize · Apr 8, 2023

Slammin’ Aquascaping said:
Maybe it is a bacterial bloom? Like there was a big bioload, and the bacteria that helps with Ammonia has spiked in your tank to deal with it. And therefore the water is cloudy. My best solution for ANYONE with cloudy water is to let it be. Skip feeding for like 2 days, and don’t water change the tank until a whole week has past.

Ah ok thx. I'll let it be then

lize · Apr 8, 2023

10 Tanks said:
Hello lize. Your tank is very small for Mollies. These fish need extremely clean water with a stable water chemistry. Small tanks can't provide this as well as a larger tank. Even in a larger tank, Mollies require large, frequent water changes of at least 50 percent every week to be their healthiest.

Livebearing fish like Molly males don't release sperm in the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

I see... Thanks for the advice

Sgooosh · Apr 8, 2023

lize said:
Okay so I've got a male balloon molly that looks super ready to mate. He keeps flexing his fins and the gono...sth (anal fin thingy) keeps moving forwards it's hilarious.

There r 2 female mollies. 1 is pregnant. The male molly seems to dislike the other female molly so he's harassing the pregnant one. (Chasing n sniffing her butt)

This is the 2nd day of his 'activities'

My 16 gallon tank is now cloudy. It hasn't been cloudy for months so I'm just wondering... Maybe the male molly released some sperm in the tank?

I did a 25% water change 3 days ago. I usually do 25% changes every week.

Ok bye. Tq

Just me sharing a love story and finding the cause of the cloudiness

yep, perhaps wash your filter or get a sponge in there

emeraldking · Apr 10, 2023