Preggo Molly?

[joegti]

Not bad for a first post.

I used to be into oscars in large tanks and what not years ago, recently thought id get a simple 35 gallon tank going for my 4 year old daughter so she can learn about and appreciate an aquarium. Anyhow, we have a handful of fish including 4 mollies, one of which appears preggo. I really have no experience with fish giving birth, first off...can i confirm from the pictures that she is holding babies? If so, what do i need to do next? And once/if babies come out what am i supposed to do with them? Surely my tank is too small for all these additions. Will my pet store buy them from me?

 

[ewooten78]

I would definitely say she is pregnant. You still have some time before she "squares off". If you look at the pinned threads in the common livebearer section the one by livebearer master would show you what I'm talking about when I say squared off. I would say maybe another 2 to 3 weeks before she gives birth. I have had my black molly give birth twice since I've had her. After she squares off you will want to look for a white spot near her back anal fin. That is the birthing tube. That will mean she should deliver within 24 to 48 hours. I would recommend seperating her before she gives birth because other fish in the tank including the mother will eat their young. Usually I use a birthing trap that has a seperater in it that when the babies are born they fall through to the bottom and keeps mom from eating them. My molly usually didnt go after her young right away, they usually release a hormone before birth that suppresses their appetite. My molly usually took about 3-4 hours to give birth dropping about 60 babies. When she is done I put her back in the regular tank but I have a 5 gallon aquarium I use for my babies. In the baby tank I have a sponge around the intake of the filter so that the babies dont get sucked up into the filter. I also have a heater and I have floating grass because it makes them have a safe place to hide ( natural instinct is to hide from predators). I have no gravel in the bottom of the tank because I found out the hard way they like to hide in the gravel and sometimes cant get back out. As far as food I have been giving them crushed up fish flakes and they do just fine. Good luck and we would love to see some photos of you babies.

 

[joegti]

I would definitely say she is pregnant. You still have some time before she "squares off". If you look at the pinned threads in the common livebearer section the one by livebearer master would show you what I'm talking about when I say squared off. I would say maybe another 2 to 3 weeks before she gives birth. I have had my black molly give birth twice since I've had her. After she squares off you will want to look for a white spot near her back anal fin. That is the birthing tube. That will mean she should deliver within 24 to 48 hours. I would recommend seperating her before she gives birth because other fish in the tank including the mother will eat their young. Usually I use a birthing trap that has a seperater in it that when the babies are born they fall through to the bottom and keeps mom from eating them. My molly usually didnt go after her young right away, they usually release a hormone before birth that suppresses their appetite. My molly usually took about 3-4 hours to give birth dropping about 60 babies. When she is done I put her back in the regular tank but I have a 5 gallon aquarium I use for my babies. In the baby tank I have a sponge around the intake of the filter so that the babies dont get sucked up into the filter. I also have a heater and I have floating grass because it makes them have a safe place to hide ( natural instinct is to hide from predators). I have no gravel in the bottom of the tank because I found out the hard way they like to hide in the gravel and sometimes cant get back out. As far as food I have been giving them crushed up fish flakes and they do just fine. Good luck and we would love to see some photos of you babies.

Yea, ive been reading this forum pretty hard for the last hour...i definitely have some good info on what to expect now.

I see a method of not using any nets or breeding tanks and just 'letting nature take its course'. Obviously this seems like the easiest way of doing things. I have a 35 gal aquarium with a lot of fake plants and hiding spots. Say for instance she has 30 fry, how many of these would you expect to survive to the point of not getting eaten? DO these fry grow quickly? I would like to keep one or two as permanent residents of the community.

I cant say i really have the time right now to setup other tanks and filters for them. If you guys think that all the fry will get eaten ill have no choice to put some of them in another tank. What i have in there right now are the 4 mollies (2 female 2 male), 4 other small fish i cant remember the names of (2 male and 2 female) and 3 very small baby catfish. This tank was setup about 2 weeks ago so everybody is still pretty small in size (except this one preggo molly).

 

[joegti]

While were chatting about ms. preggo might as well share pictures of the others...

2 of these little fellas (1 male/1 female) I need identification of them.

2 of these (2 females) I need identification of them.

2 black/white mollies (1 male/ 1 female).

3 curious catfish (genders unknown).

2 orange/white mollies (1 male/1 female).

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Joegti.
The picture you have posted does not look ready to drop fry as much as she looks well fed.
A few IDs for you:
First one is a male platy
Next is a gold barb, like this one.

After that you have correctly identified the species of the remaining fish in the pictures. The corydoras are possibly the hardest to sex. To sex corydoras, you look at their shape from above. A cory that more or less tapers straight back from near its gills is a male, while a female will show some bulging / rounded shape from her gills toward her tail and then take on a taper much like the male. If you can look at all of your fish at once and study them for a bit, they will suddenly fall into swelling / rounded and unrounded shapes. The rounded ones are the females. I have a hard time describing it but telling them apart in large groups is a breeze. The two shapes are distinctly different.

 

[ewooten78]

I would definitely say that if you want them to survive that you might want to seperate them. I have seen them eat their young and if you have males in your tank they will eat the fry to they can impregnant the female to ensure that their fry will survive. (Get rid of the competetion) Its harsh but it happens. My fry are about 6 months old and are about an inch in a half long. Once they got big enough where they couldnt fit into the bigger fishes mouth thats when I put them in my regular tank. They do take a while to get big I just put them in my regular tank (a 35 gal) about a month ago but you really just have to put them in and see if the other fish attack them if they dont they will do just fine if they do I put them back in the baby tank a while longer. If you have any more questions just ask.

 

[joegti]

I would definitely say that if you want them to survive that you might want to seperate them. I have seen them eat their young and if you have males in your tank they will eat the fry to they can impregnant the female to ensure that their fry will survive. (Get rid of the competetion) Its harsh but it happens. My fry are about 6 months old and are about an inch in a half long. Once they got big enough where they couldnt fit into the bigger fishes mouth thats when I put them in my regular tank. They do take a while to get big I just put them in my regular tank (a 35 gal) about a month ago but you really just have to put them in and see if the other fish attack them if they dont they will do just fine if they do I put them back in the baby tank a while longer. If you have any more questions just ask.

Well, poster above said she just looks well fed instead of pregnant. The fish eats just as much as the other ones and they dont have a belly like this one which seems to be getting bigger by the day.

Do i need to provide better pictures?

 

[joegti]

Heres a few shots from today...

 

[OldMan47]

My own impression, viewing your pictures, is that your female is well fed and will be ready to drop fry in a week or less. She does not have the shape of a molly that is ready to drop fry.

 

[joegti]

heres a short video from today...

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT5wDz4JfVg

 

[ewooten78]

Yeah I would say she is ready to drop in 1 to 2 weeks.

 

[joegti]

I think it might be time, she has been hanging out at the bottom of the tank all day and isnt interested in eating and isnt her usual lively, active self.

Ill be on the lookout.

 

[OldMan47]

Keep an eye on her but don't be too disappointed if she is several days from her drop even now.

 

[joegti]

Eh, i guess i jumped the gun. No fry yet. And shes back to her normal self.

Heres some pics from today, shes definitely still getting bigger.

 

[joegti]

still nothing...maybe she is just fat.