my mollie is pregnant and im afraid i wont be with her for the birth how do i make sure the babies arrive safely and after i dont know what to do with them
You don't really need to be with her for the birth, they're quite used to giving birth without the help of a fishy-midwife, so don't worry on that account. If you are going to put her in a breeding trap, please make sure she stays in there the minimal amount of time - being in a confined space is stressful, and can lead to complications.
If the female is in a trap, then the fry should be safe enough in the bottom compartment.
You should be aware that livebearers have no parental skill at all. It is not unheard of for a female to give birth, and literally turn straight around and eat the fry. They give birth to approximately 30 fry each drop, and can drop fry every 4-6 weeks. I appreciate that you want to save them, it's human instinct to want to do so, but there are consequences you need to consider.
Even if there is no male in the tank with her, she will still be dropping fry every 4-6 weeks until about 6 months after her last contact with a male. If there is a male in with her, then she will just continue to give birth until she dies (or 6 months after he does). That's roughly 240 baby fish per year. You need to find some way of rehoming these, else your aquarium will be more fish than water! And this may not be too easy, as mollies are very easy to obtain, so there aren't too many places that will accept home-bred mollies.
The reason they have so many fry is that, in evolutionary terms, they are expecting the majority of fry not to survive more than a few hours - it's quantity, not quality, that they go for.
Perhaps I could suggest a compromise? Save as many of the first batch of fry as you can, so you can say you've done it, then let nature take its course in the future?
thank u so much all ur info is so helpfull thx to everyone! as soon as there is any info on my mollys pregnancy and when the babies are born i will post it with all the info about the birth and babies thx again xxxxxxxx
my mollie(leia)is fine she is 10 to 20 days pregnant now i will try to get photos of her on here weekly i will post once anything happens
