Pregnant Black Molly... Help?

[TheSims3Dude]

I have 3 female mollies and 1 male, (1 black male, 1 black female, 1 white female, and 1 dalmation female) I noticed that my black female is pregnant, she looks really big but I can't tell when she is going to have her babies, I want to put her in the breeder net (or box) but I can't tell when she's going to have them, I don't want to stress her to much if I put her in to early, you know? Her stomach kinda looks square still and she has this white thing near her anal fin, the males and some of the other fish keep bothering her and she seems to be more seclusive, (she's hiding near the heater for the last day or so) I still have to go today and buy the breeder box for her, do you think I should put her in right away? Or should I wait? Any help would be greatly appreciated

P.S. She a black molly so I cannot see a gravid spot.
Sorry, can anyone help me? I really don't know what to do, and I'm not sure if putting her in the breeding box is a very good idea,

 

[Kanester]

Bit of a pro with the mollies so my advice is dont use the floating contraption as its useless and distresses the mollie mother deffo use the net box. The Black females show signs of becoming square. there back slightley angles and it looks as tho her bottom (anal) becomes white. Its not so easy to tell with Black mollies when there due to drop so i advise you to put her in the net and see what she does in 24 hours. she will either drop or she will not. The only way to speed the process up is to do a 10 % water change as that also helps trigger them off. She may have between 15 and 30 if its her 1st but if she becomes a regular breeder she can have 100s in a batch and that can be quoted on other fishkeeping sites. Mollies dont need males for 6 months after being preggers as they store the sperm and can be pregant twice in one hit as in just about to drop and in 1st stages of the new preggers. I advise u keep an eye on her and she will more than likley drop early hours of the morning when the temp drops in the tank. if shes in the net she may eat all or some of the babies however its a better chance than the full tank having a chance. its better the tank is full of plants so they have places to hide. maybe a good shout put some plants in the net with her so they have places to hide ine there from the mother. Light off aswel when shes having them so she cannot see them.

 

[OldMan47]

This is a molly the day she last gave birth. She is heavy in appearance but is not pregnant. At the time of the picture her fry were only a few hours old.

This is the same molly at 38 days after giving birth and close to giving birth again.

As with a black molly, there is no gravid spot to judge by and mere size can be misleading. (Look again at the size right after birth.) The shape is the give away to me. The very pregnant female is definitely squared off and is dragging around a flat bottomed belly that is very unlike the rounded shape that comes from overfeeding.

Just thought this might help. If I was a person who used traps and nets, I would be thinking about putting the female into one about now. Instead she is in a separate birthing tank with lots of plant cover and I will accept whatever losses there may be. Last time about 35 survived and are still in the tank with her.

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Hey! Thanks soo much! Ya, she looks more like the first picture, her stomach is definatley not that squared.... so I'm guessing maybe another week or so.. And I'm still not sure about the breeding box, I feel bad about putting her in there but I really want the babies to live... I'm kinda at a loss of what to do, my tank has some plants but not tons, and oh, how long does it take between the time they get pregnant and the time they give birth? My only fish that have had babies are my guppies and swordtails...

P.S. She still has that little white thing near her anal fin and hides alot near the heater, does that mean she's going to give birth soon? It's just wierd cuz she's not squared off yet...

 

[OldMan47]

Mine has been hiding for almost 10 days now. It is a sign that she is getting closer but not much closer. My female is 39 days since her last drop as of today and as you can tell she is definitely squared off. I expect her to deliver within the next 3 days but can't really be sure because I have never kept a good set of notes on this girl. Each fish is an individual when it comes to the time between drops but 6 weeks is typical.

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Okay, Umm, I just checked on her cuz I haven't checked since earlier this morning, she seems pretty squared now and all the fish are always near her, espessially the males... Well, Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it and hopefully she has her babies soon! lol

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Hi, I just woke up this morning and no sign of babies yet, she's still big (not exactly squared though but to a certain extent) she keeps hiding up in the corner near the heater but the male molly keeps bugging her, kinda like pecking at her stomach, she seems pretty annoyed. I do have plants and stuff but she's not hiding in them so I don't know what to do for her...

 

[OldMan47]

The best thing you could do for her would be to give her a hassle-free environment in a tank of her own. Mine just relaxed and acted right when I put her into her own tank. It was a week later that mine gave birth but I'm sure the reduced stress helped her do things right and thrive after the birth.