Molly?

[B-Chrono]

Short story short, I was setting up a tank and let my girlfriend choose some of the stock. She fell in love with the "balloon belly" molly and had to have some. We originally got 2 females and one male to try and distribute some of the males aggression but one of them died soon after purchase. Water parameters were perfect so I'm chalking the loss up to poor health from the lfs. Anyways a few weeks later the other female has gotten pretty big and I'm pretty sure she will be having baby's soon, I'm just not sure when. I bought one of those livebearer breeding traps but I just don't know when I should move her in there. Here is a picture, I would just like to know if anyone could tell how long until she drops from the picture.

[livefishguy124]

she looks prity big shouldn't be to long. but, i don't know a bout the balloon belly's. her gravid spot is big. how big is your breeding trap?

[FWFishTanks]

I'm with the above post. The molly is very fat with a gravid spot. I would put her in ASAP.

[QuakingAspen]

I think that she will be dropping relatively soon, whether that is a few days or a few hours I am not sure, as I am not experienced with balloon bellies.

[B-Chrono]

Still hasn't dropped but I've got her moved into the trap

[FWFishTanks]

Originally Posted by B-Chrono

Still hasn't dropped but I've got her moved into the trap

It may take em a while because a trap can be a little stressful. Give her some cover in there, like a plant or two. It seems to make em drop fry quick IME

[B-Chrono]

Originally Posted by FWFishTanks

It may take em a while because a trap can be a little stressful. Give her some cover in there, like a plant or two. It seems to make em drop fry quick IME

Ok, I will move cover in there for her later when I get home from class and work. Hoping I can get some little ones fairly soon.

[B-Chrono]

Another question about these, what sort of fry am I expecting? More balloon belly or will they be normal molly? I know the ballon belly is a mutation but does the dominant recessive scenario still allow chance to have both normal and mutated fry?

[livefishguy124]

how big is your trap?

[B-Chrono]

Originally Posted by livefishguy124

how big is your trap?

It's fairly large for a breeder trap I think, she's a decent size fish and has quite a bit of room for being in it. Here is a picture of her in it for size reference

[livefishguy124]

looks good don't keep her in for to long you could put some plants in there with her to make her happier, rember if she starts acting weird watch and if she isn't giving birth release he small spaces will stress her and stress leads to disease. and post what happens if she gets sick we can and will help

[B-Chrono]

Originally Posted by livefishguy124

looks good don't keep her in for to long you could put some plants in there with her to make her happier, rember if she starts acting weird watch and if she isn't giving birth release he small spaces will stress her and stress leads to disease. and post what happens if she gets sick we can and will help

I've kept fish for a while so I know all the signs of a stressed and/or diseased fish, I've just never had any livebearers before so I have no clue what to expect. Thanks for all of the help and I'll keep you all updated with what happens here.

[livefishguy124]

yea i've had a lot of experience to, and with live bearers, youll get the hang of it soon enoughf

[FreshSaltGirl]

I guess no one really answered your dominant vs. recessive trait question, huh? I've never kept balloon mollies, so I can't give you a definitive answer as to whether the fry will have balloon bellies, too. My best guess would be that it's recessive. I read that balloon mollies were created by breeding certain fish with spinal deformities. Anyway, I know for sure that guppies have 22 autosomal chromosomes, therefore being a close relative, mollies must have 22 as well. This can be an interesting experiment, these baby fish of yours.

More toward the practical side of things...sometimes, female balloon mollies will have a bit of birthing trouble due to their shape, so keep an eye on her for sure. I'd guess she'll drop them in about 1-3 days, but it's hard to tell at this point. Her first batch will most likely be 10-60 fry, and in about another 4 weeks she could have another batch. Female mollies can hold enough milt (fish sperm) for up to 5 subsequent fertilizations.

I've found that Molly fry appreciate floating plants to hide in, and nibble algae off of. Be sure to crush up your flake food very finely, and feed the mother well after her delivery. After about 3-4 weeks, the fry like to browse around for food on the bottom. Break off a piece of an algae wafer and let it sink. They'll just go to town. I know mine do

Let us know how the birth goes! Good luck, and have fun

[livefishguy124]

yes, mollies need a good amount of veggie mater in their diet, if you put in some live plants (green Cambodia (illegal to ship into California and some other states) java moss, anacaris and like plants) they will also help keep you fish healthier, i have tons of them in my tanks and i haven got a disease science i put a live plant in. but its good to have an algae wafer now and then.