When will Molly have her babies?

Good afternoon All

I have a Molly mommy that seems unusually and uncomfortably fat - considering she is in the tank with 3 males, the likely conclusion to draw is that she is pregnant

Any idea on what signs to look for - I'd like to move her to a breeding unit before she eats the fry? I took photos yesterday, but need to resize them first - she has been looking like this for the last week or so

Thanks!

 

I also had a couple of mollies breeding. They generally take about 26 to 28 days to breed and will breed from there on every 26 to 28 days and can breed up to 50 babies at a time. As for when to move her to a breeding tank, I can't answer that, as I left mine in my tank and then the ones that survived I raised.

 

@CJ Fish

I was advised to put my fish in a breeding net / tank once the gravid spot is visible. It signals the end of the pregnancy and she usually drops shortly after the spot becomes visible. Trick is to keep an eye on her and remove her once she has dropped the fry.

hth

 

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5571

Interesting page you can have a look at.

 

I am not pro breeding traps..... esp. not Mollies.....(stress has them delivering prematurely and even dead fry)..... please reconsider.... rather get lots of floating plants like Hornwort..... And yes!.... amongst 3 males, she will most certainly be "pregnant"...... consider to get at least 4 more females for a reasonable ratio...... With floating plants in there.... you WILL lose some of the fry, but..... at least the mother has a better chance of survival than in a breeding trap......Mollies are less prone toe eat their own fry than Guppies, Platies or swords.......

 

@Cheetah I agree with you. I had about 4 males and 10 females and all was happy. And also leaving them in your tanks to breed and that nature take its course with some of the fry, because after a couple of months you will be sitting with a tank full of mollies.

 

I am not sure what the gravid spot is

 

Thanks, sounds like very good advice

 

@CJ Fish Here is a sample of a gravid spot

 

Hi
The gravid spot
This is the name of the black mark visible on the bellies of pregnant females. It's most visible on olive-coloured, wild-type fish, though it may even show on bright red or orange ones too.

Only females have the gravid spot and it becomes most visible late in the pregnancy when large with growing eggs and fry.

(from the article Dinky linked to).

A trick I used as a little 7 year old boy: I made a large breeding net out of plastic-coated hanger wire and netting, because the shop-sold breeding nets are too small. In the net I placed lots of hornwort, so much, that the introduced pregnant could not swim around easily. Finally I would put in more mosquito larvae than she could eat, and my babies were safe!

 

The gravid spot is basically visible throughout pregnancy.... so do not use that method to determine the level of pregnancy.... I find.... the best telltale that she is close to delivering.... is when an approximately 90 degrees angle is formed below the gills to the stomach area..... Only then.... the female is close to ..... Uhm.... releasing the fry..... I say Uhm!, .... as livebearers do not give birth..... the eggs merely develops within the female..... and... when she is ready..... she releases the fry..... (approximately 26 to 29 day intervals at 28 deg C).......

 

One of my Mollies dropped fry abour 2 weeks ago. She only dropped 16 though but I think the amount of fry also has something to do with the size of the fish. I could be wrong? I Just moniter my Mollies and Guppies closely and when they drop their fry I scoop them up and put them in my rearing tank. Great fun and extremely interesting interesting hobby. You can expect to have new fry on a monthly basis providing your water conditions are right. Let us know when she drops.

 

Random question. Why do fry enjoy floating plants? Is it just because floating plants are generally more fine or do the fry just enjoy being near the surface?

 

@ATV

My guess would be because it provides them with a place to hide, the finer and denser the better to hide in. They avoid becoming snacks and they are close to the surface to get any food coming their way without being spotted by other fish looking for food on the bottom.

 

The fry also snack on bits of algae between the plants.

 

So Mommy dropped her fry on Monday evening - when I got home, I noticed the fry swimming all over the tank. I managed to scoop 17 into a breeding tank (not sure if there were more that might have been eaten, although the other fish in the tank seemed oblivious to them being there). The breeding tank is floating in my main tank, so water conditions are the same

I crushed some Tetra flakes and fed them last night - I am concerned about over-feeding though; how do I know whether I am feeding them sufficiently? How long can I keep them in the breeding tank (I was thinking 3 weeks?)

I also noticed last night that 2 of them had turned white (from being translucent) - this morning almost all of them are white. I am assuming this is normal, that they are "growing"?


Apologies for all the questions, but a real newbie (and proud daddy) and just want to know what's best

 

Congratulations!

You're really lucky to have rescued so many fry. I get to save one once in a blue moon!

Yes, they will change colour. Mine also start out clear with only eyes visible and then start to change colour. What colour is the mommy / parents?

What I have learned about feeding, is when in doubt at all, feed less and keep an eye on them.

As for how long to keep them in the breeding tank, as soon as they are big enough not to fit in another fish's mouth, they are good to go. With my platy that is usually around 2 months. It will also largely depend on the size of the other fish you keep them with. My tetra are merciless so I prefer to err on the cautious side.