Thought Molly Was Preggo, But She Had Big Poo. Help!

[jessithebuckeye]

Hello!
 
I just got a Molly at the end of July, and on August 1st she gave birth to 14 Molly Fry! They are all happy and healthy in their breeder and eating well.
 
 
I had heard Mollies can have multiple sets of Fry from one fertilization, and so on day 26, I was expecting to be close to some more fry. Her belly was getting big like it was before she had the fry. But today I saw a HUGE string of poo hanging from her. Yes, I even took a picture. 
 

 
She has been acting normal, and she even had more poo after that! What is going on?!
 
Help! I feel like I am being paranoid but I want to make sure she is okay.

 

[tmoney7]

As i posted before in your question as to whether or not she was pregnant was the fact that you are over feeding her which causes her to have these large poops.  Do not get really worried about this because thus is not something huge and major but it is a change that you need to make in your style of fish keeping .  I myself have mad this same mistake and i was able to change this but unluckily my molly ended up dying from what i am sure was a prolapsed uterus (i don't even know if this can happen but that's as good as i could find out about how she died).  Try feeding her much less food than you are feeding her and see if that works, which i am almost 95%  sure that this is your problem.  

 

[jessithebuckeye]

Oh man, I am so embarrassed! It's just she NEVER eats right when  I feed her. She always waits until it's sunken to the bottom and sucks them up like a sucker fish! It's like she waits for it to swell a bit. Her lips even expand and lengthen to look like she is sucking up the food. I keep thinking I under feed her!
 
So is she pregnant? Is it likely she is? Ever since I've changed the water with the Prime formula she has seemed so much better. Should I still change the water everyday with the fry in the breeder cage?
 
Also, can you feed the fry sun dried baby fresh shrimp if you crush them up? I know brine are good but I bought these and wanted to check.
 
Thank you sooooooo much. I don't have enough posts to chat yet so sorry if I haven't responded to those.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Also a frozen pea (defrosted and smooshed) every so often helps as well.
 
But, this is a sign of overfeeding.  Fast the tank for a few days and drastically cut back your feeding.  Mollys are gluttons, and will eat far more than they need.

Oh man, I am so embarrassed! It's just she NEVER eats right when  I feed her. She always waits until it's sunken to the bottom and sucks them up like a sucker fish! It's like she waits for it to swell a bit. Her lips even expand and lengthen to look like she is sucking up the food. I keep thinking I under feed her!
 
So is she pregnant? Is it likely she is? Ever since I've changed the water with the Prime formula she has seemed so much better. Should I still change the water everyday with the fry in the breeder cage?
 
Also, can you feed the fry sun dried baby fresh shrimp if you crush them up? I know brine are good but I bought these and wanted to check.
 
Thank you sooooooo much. I don't have enough posts to chat yet so sorry if I haven't responded to those.

 
At the top of the page, where your name is... click on that and select "My Content" and you can see updates to any thread that you might have posted in.  This will help you keep up on your threads.

 

[tmoney7]

Honestly its not something that you should be very ashamed of as almost all of the people who have had molly's or any other fish have over fed their fish, it just happens.  But yes definitely change that and it will help greatly.  As far as her still being pregnant i do not know.  The picture is somewhat blurry but i can see a somewhat larger stomach than usual but with how you have been  feeding her i don't know whether or not she is pregnant or just needs to lose some weight .  All you can really do is cut down her food greatly and see if there is a noticeable change in her size.  
 
Do keep us updated!

 

[jessithebuckeye]

Thank you. I do feel horrible about it still, but I guess it might be better than under feeding, as they can always lose weight! (Myself as a recovering anorexic, I know how dangerous being under weight is!) 
 

 
I JUST took this picture of her next to her fry. She loves to look at her fry and they love her, despite if Buzz is a "hungry" molly! I thought she was going to give birth last night because all her fry were just STILL looking at her, as in this picture:
 

 

 

[ncguppy830]

actually underfeeding is better for fish, they can go for a week or so without eating to.

 

[tmoney7]

From what i can see in the picture buzzes stomach does not look big enough for her to be pregnant so i do not think she will have more fry without another male.

This is what a molly looks like when she is getting close to having her fry, its called squaring off

 

[jessithebuckeye]

As for the latest post about her belly size: I took this picture the day I got Buzz and the next day she had 14 fry!
 

 
This is her today:

 
 
 

As for the over feeding and such allegations against me:
 
I will definitely go without feeding her for a day or two so she can get back to a healthy weight. Again I feel terrible about "over-loving" my molly, but that is why I joined these forums.
 
As for the 14 fry, they seem to be pooping at a normal rate, so should I go with feeding them as per schedule? Also can I crush these up and feed them to the frys? Would they like these? Or should I go out and get the brine shrimp?
 

 

[tmoney7]

interesting! i myself have never had a molly that had a stomach that was so small but then again i guess they are all different just like how women can not show large signs of being pregnant.  With this i must say i can only go so far with my knowledge then because i have never breed these type of molly's.  Comparing the two pictures though i would have to say that if it works the way it did last time she had her fry then she should be getting very near to having more fry especially at how long ago she had her last batch, so i would keep my eyes out for any strange behavior like sitting at the bottom of the tank or breathing heavily.

 

[ncguppy830]

brine shrimp work better, also see hikari first bites, excellent fry food.

 

[jessithebuckeye]

Thank goodness I am not the only one who thought her belly was so tiny! I have been watching her every hour on the hour and more! Every time I think it looks like she is about to have fry it is just poo! But yes, that first picture was her at her most pregnant the first time around! 
 
 
It is blurry but this is her with her babies at 8 days old:
 

 
and the same picture for reference:
 
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As for baby food I have been feeding them finely crushed flakes and hikari micro pellets.