Molly birthing question

[Coyne]

There are currently 2 pregnant Mollys in my 10 gallon QT, along with a non-pregnant female molly, a Serpae Tetra and a Harlequin Rasbora. The two pregnant ones were pregnant when I purchased them, as they have had no contact with a male Molly since I got them. Ive had them for about 5 weeks now, and Im waiting to move them over to the Main Tank until after they give birth.
Last night while doing a PWC I found one fry. There isnt a lot of places for fry to hide in the QT, so either there were more that got eaten, or it was the only one. Both of the pregnant Mollys still look very much pregnant and at no time has either shown the "reclusive" behavior that Ive been told means they are about to give birth.

So I guess my questions are:
Do they always get "reclusive"?
How long does a typical birthing process take?
Are they able to start and stop the process at will?
How long after giving birth should it take before they stop looking like theyre pregnant?

They dont appear stressed in any way. They are both quite active and bright and greet me every time I walk past in hopes that Im going to feed them.

 

[FishCr8zy]

There are currently 2 pregnant Mollys in my 10 gallon QT, along with a non-pregnant female molly, a Serpae Tetra and a Harlequin Rasbora. The two pregnant ones were pregnant when I purchased them, as they have had no contact with a male Molly since I got them. Ive had them for about 5 weeks now, and Im waiting to move them over to the Main Tank until after they give birth.
Last night while doing a PWC I found one fry. There isnt a lot of places for fry to hide in the QT, so either there were more that got eaten, or it was the only one. Both of the pregnant Mollys still look very much pregnant and at no time has either shown the "reclusive" behavior that Ive been told means they are about to give birth.

So I guess my questions are:
Do they always get "reclusive"?
How long does a typical birthing process take?
Are they able to start and stop the process at will?
How long after giving birth should it take before they stop looking like theyre pregnant?

They dont appear stressed in any way. They are both quite active and bright and greet me every time I walk past in hopes that Im going to feed them.

If they still eat, they r not ready to give birth yet. When they are almost ready, they will stop eating, hide near the heater or the warmest place in the tank, and the anal black spot will be very large. If the Molly isn't black, could u post a pic of her anal area?
Also, livebearers can hold the males sperm for as long as they want so they basically can start and stop the process at will.

 

[Coyne]

They are GoldDust Mollys... mostly gold/orange in color with some black spots here and there. I'll try to get pictures, but they move around so much its difficult to get a clear shot.

The fry I found last night had to come from one of them. The third Molly is very clearly not pregnant.

 

[Coyne]

So here's a couple different angles of the same Molly. The other pregnant molly looks pretty much the same except a smidge smaller.

 

[nickhendrix007]

I just had a mollie give birth a few days ago. She was preggo for about a month and was giving birth over 2 days. She did eat during this time and acted normally. All the fry were eaten except for one which I now have in a separate tank, feeding it infusiora

 

[Coyne]

I just had a mollie give birth a few days ago. She was preggo for about a month and was giving birth over 2 days. She did eat during this time and acted normally. All the fry were eaten except for one which I now have in a separate tank, feeding it infusiora

Did your Molly go back to looking skinny/non-pregnant right away? Or did it take a few days?

 

[nickhendrix007]

Yeah she was skinny. I could see the shadow of the last fry and when it came out she was skinny within the hour. If yours is still fat then she still has fry. Mine gave birth over a little over 2 days and didn't slim down until the last was out

 

[Coyne]

Good to know... thanks.
I'll just have to keep a close eye on the situation and see what develops. ONE of them must be ready if Ive already seen a fry.

Im not looking to breed or anything... I just dont want a bunch of fry loose in my main tank. Too many places to hide and too easy to get sucked up into the filtration. Im hoping to stock some Bumblebee Catfish (SA) in the next few months. Once I have them in my tank then I'll feel more confident future fry that are birthed inside the main tank will become food for the cats.

 

[nickhendrix007]

I doubt you'll have any survive... They'll all be eaten. Mmmmm protein!

 

[FishCr8zy]

I doubt you'll have any survive... They'll all be eaten. Mmmmm protein!

Bye, bye fry. Lol. That bumble bee cat will have a feast.

 

[freshwaterashley]

You need to add some plants both. Bunched in a corner in the gravel and floating.. if you want them to survive

 

[mollymom]

When my molly gave birth, she did not get a very big stomach, to my surprise. And, when it was time she just spit out about 20 in not very long...But, then again she was very young and that was her first birth!

 

[Coyne]

It's funny you say that. I'm starting to think the 3rd Molly... The one I was positive was not pregnant... Maybe is the culprit. She's much smaller than the other two, but if I REALLY look at her she has a bit of a belly.

 

[FishCr8zy]

It's funny you say that. I'm starting to think the 3rd Molly... The one I was positive was not pregnant... Maybe is the culprit. She's much smaller than the other two, but if I REALLY look at her she has a bit of a belly.

The mollies will also eat their own fry and the filter can suck them up easily and they can starve to death. So getting bumble bee cats isn't a necessity. What other fish do u have with the mollies?

 

[Coyne]

in the main tank there is a male Molly, a school of Serpae Tetras and a school of Harlequin Rasbora. Its fairly well planted so there would be tons of places for fry to hide out.
In the QT there are 3 female Mollys, 1 Serpae Tetra and 1 Harlequin Rasbora. There are no plants and very few places to hide. If the fish in the QT eat the fry, so be it. Id rather have them where I can see them for now.

 

[FishCr8zy]

in the main tank there is a male Molly, a school of Serpae Tetras and a school of Harlequin Rasbora. Its fairly well planted so there would be tons of places for fry to hide out.
In the QT there are 3 female Mollys, 1 Serpae Tetra and 1 Harlequin Rasbora. There are no plants and very few places to hide. If the fish in the QT eat the fry, so be it. Id rather have them where I can see them for now.

So let the fry hatch in the qt tank and let the fish eat the fry.

 

[iscr7]

Molly give birth so if you want buy a breeding basket and put her their and you will see the tiny fry, you can watch as she.pops one by one when i.had.molly she gave me 20 fry first batch 5 survived in my 55 gallon.

 

[Coyne]

right.. I dont have a problem with that. This confusion set in when I saw a fry but both my pregant Mollys are still pregnant. If one of them was no longer pregnant then I wouldnt be confused.
So responses have indicated that
A) Mollys dont always stop eating and become reclusive when theyre about to give birth.
and
B) They dont always give birth all at once and sometimes will slowly release fry over the course of days or even a week.

So, with this new information, Im less confused about where the fry came from. I was never worried about whether or not they got eaten in the QT, I just dont want them in my Main tank right now. So until Im sure they are done dropping fry, they stay in the QT.

 

[iscr7]

If you put them back in your main tank when their done they will get pregnant again, if you dont want fry bedt thing to do would be removing females and goin with all male tank

 

[iscr7]

Their like rabbits lol my mollies never stopped. So i removed all females