molly pooping like crazy

[shuhu]

hi

I have a pregnant silver molly she is really fatty now, so I decided to switch her to a different tank for her to give birth since the male won't leave her alone, she has been over there for like an hour and she is doing something really weird ... she has been pooping a lot during this hour , so I was wondering if that is a normal behavior before giving birth ? maybe she is getting ready or something ?

btw, the male molly has been doing laps all over the tank since I separated them, could he be looking for her ??? and is that normal??

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes this is normal behavior, keep her away from the male though as he'll eat the fry and harrass her alot- leave her in the breeding tank alone for at least 7hrs during and after giving birth and make sure she gets plenty of food.

 

[Annastasia]

Just to add on a bit to what Toxis said...

High Protein Foods are especially good. Brine Shrimp, Bloodworms, Daphnia...Frozen, Live or Freeze-dried. This will help her have lots of energy, and this is good to feed after she gives birth too.

Edited because I apparently can't spell...

 

[shuhu]

alright thanks I was getting worried

 

[shuhu]

mmmm.... no babies yet I decided to put her back in the tank with the others but then the male wouldn't leave her alone so I put him at the breeding tank instead

And i will probably switch them back tonight in order to try again, is that OK???

 

[Annastasia]

How big is the breeding tank?

You don't really want to keep moving her, as that can stress her out a lot. If the tank is big enough, you should be able to leave her in there...

 

[afireinside]

yes, the male will harrass the female, i have seen this happen to my dalmation molly, cept i did a cross breed: male silver molly, female dalmation molly, sadly, all of the babies were sick and died .

 

[paulthegreat]

Better to leave the Mommy in the breeder since any other fish will eat the fry about as fast as they come. The mom is even likely to start snacking on them a few hours after she is done birthing. Having two to three females per male is a GOOD idea so he has others to chase while she is busy busting out the fry.

 

[Ava_Banana]

In my experience, the female may well start snacking on them just after she has given birth.......

......they don't tend to wait very long for a snack..


If you are fairly sure she is ready to pop (she should look huge, almost squared off) then put her in the breeding trap..........mollys who are stressed may begin to abort......

 

[shuhu]

NOTHING has happened yet, she is still huge I waited a couple of days after my last post to put her back on the "breeding" tank again so that she wouldn't get stress out because of being alone and moved so often. So she has been in there since yesterday afternoon.

Unfortunately a couple mins after I switched her back to the breeding tank, she jumped to the floor from a distance of about 1.20m I noticed in time but she looked a bit darker for a couple of mins, she was swimming on her side and resting at the bottom most of the time, and to make it worse I wasn't able to get to these forums for some reason so I called the vet just in case. I had to improvise a hood for this tank with a peace of glass I had so that she would get some light.

She is fine now, no abortions, but no babies either ...ohh and btw, I don't have a breeding net, I have some plants thoug, I guess I'll have to improvise something or if they are not so expensive I'll convince my mom to get one.

 

[daudy_dojo]

STOP MOVING HER!! she will have a premature birth and you will lose all the babies!! STOP IT!! leave her in the breeding tank all alone! it is best for her right now!

 

[shuhu]

I have only moved her 3 times, but yes I will stop doing that

The breeding tank is 5Gal but it has no filter nor a heater just a bunch of Egeria densa plants, I didn't put any gravel 'cause I've read several times at these forums that its better off that way.

 

[mlee0332]

a smart thing to do would be to take the heater (a reliable one!!!!) from your 10 and put it in the breeder. (Also a therm) and raise the temp to what she is used to. If she don't give birth after 24hrs, then raise the temp 2-3 o F GRADUALLY. Then see what happens. After the babies are finished being born, take her out and replace heater and therm back to the tanks they belong in. Fry (i was just told) don't need temps higher than 74-80 o F

HTH and good luck with the babies !!!

O btw: does any one know about flame tetras? I have one that killed a grown guppy!!!! are they normally this aggressive? (sorry to change subject like this... ) )

EDIT: meye speeling sux

 

[shuhu]

@mlee0332

I've read that Flame tetras are peacefull fish, but, I'm only guessing, that it could have been because you only have one, when they are a schooling type, you should get him some more buddies

thanks for the comment btw, you guys will kill me for this, but I don't even have a heater for my main tanks ) the room temp it's mostly what they need and the water temp does not vary much from night and day, so I haven't gotten one yet since I haven't needed one. Now I have one more thing to convince my mom to get

 

[mlee0332]

yeah I just read the index that says they love to shoal. Well, I had it in a 1 g and you can't put 5-6 fish in a 1 g, they would have croaked .

Well yes you do need filters!!!! 50 watts per 10 gs is the rule around here. If you get a submersible, then it will run around 15-16 dollars for a 50 watt. The ones for a 5 g will run 7-8. If you buy ones that HOB, you coulb prolly find one for 8 dollars (50 watt).

btw: what is the water temp?

But then again, this is in american dollars )