Newbie With Mollys (One May Be Preggers)

[Dudfield]

Hello,

ive just purchaced some silver mollys and a day later i noticed one was larger than the rest and i was wondering if she might be preggers ive taken some pics but there are not great, not mastered the taking pics of fish in water yet lol

pics are as follows, do you guys think she is preggers??

 

[Ritingyou]

I'm not an expert on mollys but I've compared photos that I have found of other pregnant mollys and I would say yours is too.

The tank you picked them out, did they have males in there also? If they didn't then I would be a little worried that it may be something else. But as long as shes swimming ok and eating like normal congrats

 

[FishFanatic13]

yer i would say she is pregnat
well congrats if you get any fry

 

[Dudfield]

cheers guys thanks for the replies, they did come from a mixed tank but only male female silver mollys.

i chose 5 females but will confirm that next time we have the light on..

i better go out and get a trap tank and wait then, not bad for only having them two days..

 

[Harlequins]

If the females have been in a tank with males then its more than likely they're pregnant,even if you dont have a male then the females can drop fry for up to 6 months has they store sperm from the matings with the males.

TBH the traps are on the small side for mollies,and they may end up getting stressed if kept in them for too long and may abort any imminant fry...

 

[Dudfield]

ok no problem, what are my options if i dont do the trap idea?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Dudfield.
I have looked at your fish pictures and am wondering which fish you suspect may be ready to drop fry. The first picture shows a female who is far from a fry drop. The rest of your pictures may or may not even be females as I cannot tell from the pictures. Please have a look through the thread we have here on TFF to help you judge your own females. I have a link to it called My Molly's Progress in my signature area. It is a thread that I put together by simply taking pictures every few days from one drop to the next of one of my mollies over a period of 6 weeks. What I did was give a bit of commentary along the way of what I saw in each picture until she had her next drop. The idea was to make each livebearer keeper an expert on judging their own fish by seeing what actually happened from one drop to the next on an isolated female. I think that there is nothing magic about correctly judging a female's state of readiness. On the contrary, most females follow a consistent pattern that any of us can learn to interpret. I hoped to convey that with my thread.

 

[Dudfield]

hi and thanks for the welcome

all five are females no males, i no the pictures are bad and apoligise for that,
the first pic is the best pic for the second picture its the one on the left.

i have no idea if or how far she is but i will read your day to day journal and hope to find out more

thanks again

 

[Dudfield]

Just an update

fish still fat no further along

cleared the goldfish into a larger tank thus freeing up a 17ltr tank which i can get ready for the molly for when she drops

 

[OldMan47]

If you have a nicely cycled 17 litre tank, why not put your heavy female into it and add some nice cover like a clump of java moss. That way she can settle in and will drop her fry when she is good and ready. I do not like the idea of trying to move a female at the last minute. More often than not, the female will be stressed by the move and a last minute move may well induce the drop. The end result may or may not be a good one. If she drops 3 or 4 days early, the end result is premature fry that cannot survive. On the other hand, if a female lives in a tank for a couple of weeks before dropping, the fry will be full term and will thrive. As long as the female is well fed and there is some decent cover, the fry will survive in large numbers, even if you never remove the female.

 

[Dudfield]

the 17l isnt fully cycled so trying to keep a close eye on her and see how it goes for now