Did they give birth?

[dhawkercp]

I have 3 female mollies, 2 of which I am almost positive were or are pregnant. I wasn't planning on separating them out for the birth cause I have plenty of plants and hiding spots in my tank. A few days ago they were so plump in the belly it looked like they were going to burst but now they are looking fairly thin. I have bred mollies before and usually have been able to tell if they have given birth or not but the ones I have now don't look as thin as I would expect them to be after giving up their fry. Is there anyway to tell? I want to vacuum my gravel but don't want to suck up any little ones.

[rkilling1]

I would say, you would be the best judge of that. If they were truely pregnant and now are thin, I would have to agree that they dropped their fry.

If you have a heavily planted tank, I like to use a flash light at night to look for the fry. In the mean time, make sure you are adding some crushed flake food or whatever you normally use, during feeding time.

Of course, my filter is also a good indication of fry. LOL. I always find some in there after birth.

And I'm sure you already know this, put there is also a chance that the mothers and/or father will eat them.

BTW, if you have a planted tank and want to clean the gravel, look into getting some MTS. They do a GREAT job. They wouldn't clean up everything, but a quick surface skim and you will be all done.

[Zagz]

Yourfish may have had some but not all of their fry if they aren't as thin as you expect them to be.