mollies protecting babies

[Salty&Onion]

re: the male protecting the babies, that is unusual and worth following up on. I would keep the young fish and grow them up. Breed them and see if the young males protect their babies. If they do you could have a new strain of livebearer that shows brood care and that would be very interesting.

I would instantly buy them

 

[corylover5]

I agree with Essjay regarding the male wanting to breed with the female so is driving other fish away so they can't breed with her.

re: the male protecting the babies, that is unusual and worth following up on. I would keep the young fish and grow them up. Breed them and see if the young males protect their babies. If they do you could have a new strain of livebearer that shows brood care and that would be very interesting.

I don't think I have room for another tank or for any more mollies in my tank. It would be really cool though to find out if they would protect their babies too.

 

[Salty&Onion]

I really would buy them if they'd protect their fry lol

 

[Colin_T]

If you do have a strain of livebearer that looks after its young, that is front page news on Scientific America and would be world news. It would be the biggest news in fish keeping circles ever and you would be famous.

I'm with salty&onion on this, if I could buy livebearers that cared for their young like cichlids do, I would be all over them like a shot.

 

[emeraldking]

In general, livebearers don't have brood care. But it's not excluded to happen. For I've seen it happen with some of my swordtails and some goodeids.

I agree with Essjay that some males just protect a female while she's pregnant and almost due for their own good.

 

[Sarah73]

I agree with Essjay regarding the male wanting to breed with the female so is driving other fish away so they can't breed with her.

re: the male protecting the babies, that is unusual and worth following up on. I would keep the young fish and grow them up. Breed them and see if the young males protect their babies. If they do you could have a new strain of livebearer that shows brood care and that would be very interesting.

Agree, male mollies only chase off other fish especially other male mollies, so he can be the first to mate with the female after giving birth. As for protecting the fry, are you sure he is protecting the fry and not chasing them away? I have never heard of a male molly EVER protect fry. Though he could be one of those few mollies who want to protect his offspring, so they grow old like him, having his genes which will pass from molly to molly(generations).

 

[corylover5]

Agree, male mollies only chase off other fish especially other male mollies, so he can be the first to mate with the female after giving birth. As for protecting the fry, are you sure he is protecting the fry and not chasing them away? I have never heard of a male molly EVER protect fry. Though he could be one of those few mollies who want to protect his offspring, so they grow old like him, having his genes which will pass from molly to molly(generations).

The babies are now in a breeder box but before they were in the breeder box and they were swimming in my tank a few of my other mollies tried to eat them and he chased them away from the babies. Now that they are in the breeder box the male is leaving them alone.

 

[Sarah73]

Sounds like his parent instincts kicked in(which mollies don't have usually), so when you took the babies away, his instincts went back to normal. I am thinking it is like a female cat, she will not eat anything for a few hours and take in anything fuzzy, including baby raccoons, baby birds, baby squirrels, etc! So your molly has some parent instincts, i'd try to breed him more if you want more genes like that.

 

[corylover5]

I was feeding the babies and noticed 1 has a bent spine. Will this kill him?

 

[corylover5]

I noticed a few more with bent spines. Is that a birth defect?

 

[JuiceBox52]

I noticed a few more with bent spines. Is that a birth defect?

Yes. You cam keep them if you wish but dont breed them or the defect may pass on