Pregnant Molly

sandygirl · #1 ,

How do you tell if a Molly is about to have fry. I have one Molly that I only got about 2 weeks ago along with another male and another female. The one is getting pretty fat or is pregnant. She has a big boldge and is very wide. Also she is very nasty to all the other fish tonight. If so what should I do now.

________
marijuana test

Pwat · #2 ,

My molly is also pregnant and i think is going to have fry soon. Your molly is probably also pregnant so congrats! It will take about 4-8 weeks after her eggs are fertilized to have some fry.

Signs that she is going to give birth would be:
-heavy breathing
-near gravel or the top staying there and laying low
-be subdued from other fish
-her stomach will be square and very large
-small appetite
-gravid spot is very dark but it is really hard to see the gravid spot of a molly

Some good advice would be to NOT put her in a breeding net/trap. This will put her under stress and she might have misscarriages. Rather what i do, i wait until the fry are born and then put them in the breeding net or fry growout tank.

sandygirl · #3 ,

Thank you very much for the information. I just spent about an hour trying to catch her to put in the breeding trap. I gave up as she is now sitting on the bottom of the tank and hiding, and breathing very heavy. This is so exciting to me being that I am so new to this fish keeping and seem to have make every mistake in the book. But I keep learning thanks to all of you.

________
Ford GT90 history

sandygirl · #4 ,

She displays all the signs that you said. Does that mean that she won't give birth for 4 to 5 weeks, or is she ready now

She has come off the bottom of the tank, but is acting really funny. She is very square, but I can't see any dark spot.

________
Rambler (bicycle) picture

Pwat · #5 ,

It depends. One time i thought my molly was pregnant and about to give birth and it happened like 1-2 weeks later. I'm glad that you are excited as so was I. Give her some time and she will eventually have those fry.

Also do you plan to keep the fry in the breeder's net or the growout tank?

When I put my fry into the net, i keep them in there for about 1 week, do not feed them for 2 days after their birth, and then let them back in the main tank. Don't turn off your filter, they will not be sucked up if you are worried about that!

If you plan to put the fry in the growout tank then i am not really sure what to do, since i have never done it.

Good Luck!!

sandygirl · #6 ,

I have a cycled 1 gal tank that I could put them in I gess. But I think I will just let them go into the regular tank and let the strongest survive. I will ask my local pet store if they want any and if so I will put them into my 1 gal tank. New experience, so I gess I will play it day to day. Thanks

________
vaporite solo

Sharon · #7 ,

That might be best, Sandy. They are very prolific breeders!

Unless you have somewhere to sell or trade, you can quickly run out of space.