When should i move to breeder area?

[GIMojo]

I have 3 female mollies and one male molly(that pimp!)

anyways, how do i know when a molly is pregnant and when to move it to one of those breeding areas?

[GIMojo]

one more thing

mollies lay....eggs or just *plump* babies

[FawnN]

Mollies, guppies, swordtails & platies are all livebearers. Which means they give birth to live fry.

Livebearers will get very plump and depending on what color your molly is, you can see the gravid spot get darker and bigger.

When she is ready to drop her fry, you will notice that she will try to find a place to hide. Mine usually hid in the corner at the top. Swordtail fry are bigger then most livebearer fry, in my opinion and usually don't eat their own fry. It's those darn guppies that will give birth and turn right around and eat their own fry.

I personally hate those breeder boxes. It stresses out your fish and can be dangerous to the mom. Try using one of those breeder nets that hang over the tank and throw a plant in for the fry to hide. Gestation for livebearers is usually 28-30 days.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

[gheitman]

In my experience mollies are a lot like the tribbles in Star Trek - they are practically born pregnant. Mollies are livebearers and you don't need one of those breeding nets or boxes because they don't eat their own young the way some other species do.

[GIMojo]

my male molly is abusing the females. such as chasing them around and nudging them. is this some kind of sexual ritual or is it abuse/ should i remove that male molly?

[FawnN]

Livebearers are persistant and want to mate all the time, even when one is already pregnant.