Pregnant Black Molly?

[njnauticalnut]

I just read through many posts on breeding and birthing, but am still unsure about my molly. I have a black molly that I think may be pregnant, but cannot see her gravid spot as she is black. Her belly seems big and she has been chasing fish who come around her which sounds like pregnant molly behavior from what I have read. Should I be able to see a gravid spot on a black molly? How big do they get before they actually give birth? Any other advice?

Thanks!

 

[balloon molly]

if she is close to birth u will be able to see a small tube like thing around her anal fin,shell hide more and shell look like she wants to blow up
do u have a pic and good luck

 

[Tindy]

look like she wants to blow up

Yeah that is the advice i had and it works great. the fishes stomach area will become so big it will look abnormal and the fish will stick out from the others. that will be the prgnant one. i did onse look for the tube but i could not see it.

 

[shadow]

She will look more square like underneath.

 

[njnauticalnut]

Thanks, I think that she is definitely preganant as she is much larger in the belly than she was a week ago and is much larger in the belly than her mate. I do not see a tube around her anal fin, but I did take notice of her anal fin area before I read that I should, it is whitish and very noticeable especially on a black molly. She is not hiding, but is bullying any fish that are anywhere in her space even if she swims into their space.

How long after I see these signs should she actually give birth? If she doesn't have them tonight, I hope she holds off until Saturday night as we are going away overnight tomorrow.

I got a fry net, well actually it is a small floating container so I am ready when she is. It has a V-shaped thing in it for the mother if you want to isolate her. I do not want to upset her by isolating her, so I will let her give birth in the main tank. Hopefully I will catch some of the fry before they become meals to her and the other fish. They have places to hide so it should be okay till I get to them.

Do I just net them to get them into the breeding net/container? I do not want to hurt the little fellows.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[fruity]

I caught 5 babies in my tank on Tuesday morning, (they tend to birth in early hrs apparently!) by netting and popping straight into the breeder tank. Mine, like yours I guess floats in the main tank. I didnt want to stress my molly mum out either (silver molly) infact, having studied the main culprit this morning I think I am rubbish at spotting which is about to birth. The molly I 'thought' had given birth still has the gravid spot (easy cos she is silver) and the babies would appear to be a little darker than expected...... I guess the sneaky black molly is the mum and we have more to come from the silver one!!

Be aware that the fry are mucky little fish and the breeder tank floor in mine was quite grubby within a few days.... I just used a sponge and cleaned it up.... the filter of the main tank must still work on the water circulating round the tank and I only keep them in the breeder tank for about 4 wks and then let them out in the main tank..... I reared my first babies successfully earlier last month and they are fine, and getting bigger every day.

Fx