Molly pregnant or not?

[Shellylynn]

I bought a molly from the store recently and she looked pregnant, even the store clerk told me she was pregnant and about to pop. I took her home and put her in my tank but put her in a breeder tank to be sure that the fry did not get eaten by my other fish ( I had this problem before when my platy gave birth). I left her in the breeder tank for 4 days and nothing. Now, she's not even big like she was anymore. What does this mean? I finally let her out of the breeder tank today. I didn't figure there was any reason to keep her in there if she wasn't going to have the fry. Can anyone tell me what could have happened?


Also, I have a guppy who looks pregnant, big, with a gravid spot. How long before guppies ususally have fry. I want to catch her before she delivers so they do not get eaten.

Please help me. This is my first experience with livebearing fish.


10 gallon tank
3 mollies 2 females 1 male
3 platies 2 females 1 male
2 guppies 1 male 1 female

3 small tanks with betas
1 gallon tank with 3 gold fish

 

[ruffmeister]

exactly the same as i the bloke said yes she is defo pregnat, but now 6 -7 weeks later no fry, she was just fat, and still is, if you can try to see if she is swollen in the same place as guppies do, she will pop just when she becomes square, also the stress of being moved from pet shop, to breeding tank to normal tank can be very stressful, meaning shell keep hold of them a little longer, basically be patient. if you read my thread about guppies, i thought they would be eaten if i left them, but now about 20 fry are swimming around my tank thinking they rule the place so not all fry will be eaten,
hope this helps

 

[MAM]

about the molly, was her belly squared off when you put her in the net? did her belly look strained, like an overfilled balloon about to pop? also, mollies stress out VERY easily in small confined spaces. most likely, by keeping her in there four days, she aborted the fry, which they do when stressed (or quite possibly actually had some but did so at night and ate them all before you ever knew what happened). next time, wait til she looks like she's going to burst and her behavior has changed quite a bit from her normal,then move her in and keep and eye on her, don't leave her in there more than a day or two. if she has babies in the tank, most of them will hide provided you have enough plants and other coverage (theyre pretty fast little swimmers too), so then when she looks like she might be done, start looking under plant leaves, aroudn teh edges of decorative pieces, then suck them up using a turkey baster and transfer them to the breeder net (using a net to catch them will quite likely end up in you smashing more than you catch......)
if the guppy's gravid spot is really noticable, more so than normal, you might want to move her soon. in the livebearer section theres a pinned post by william with pictures (theyre platies, but all livebearers tend to display the saem signs), check this out for more info.

 

[Shellylynn]

She was really balloned and square when i got her. I don't know that she could of ate the fry because the type of breeder tank that I have have a v part a the bottom that has a slit in the bottom that the fry or suppose to fall to and the mother cannot get to. She is no longer square or balloned now. Just normal looking like the other female molly. As far as the guppy, her gravid spot has changed because it's darker and she's really swollen but she's still eating. I read that the pregnant fish sometimes stop eating 12 hours before having there fry. I do have lots of plants and two caves but did so the last time my play had fry and they still all got eaten.