Why wont my mollies have babies?

[Lindsey577]

I have 8 mollies (3 males 5 females) and they just won't have any babies. They are always mating but the girls never get pregnant. I don't know what the problem is. Any ideas?

 

[CcJ23]

Could be stress, could be getting used to the tank, could be too young. Got any pictures? Those may help.

 

[Lindsey577]

Not sure about stress, but they have been in the same tank for quite a while now. And they are full grown. Here are some pictures. They are all about the same size. The silver Molly is the smallest.

 

[cjbarton1992]

The silver Molly appears to be very pregnant. It could also be water parameters, or, like was said above stress. Molly fish are known to abort pregnancies all the way up to full term if under stress.

 

[pcdebb]

water parameters can play a big part as well

 

[Lindsey577]

Here are the water parameters:

 

[CcJ23]

It's hard to say with the hold and the black one. Front views don't do very much unfortunately. The silver does look pregnant though.

 

[Lindsey577]

Here are some more pictures. I really don't think the silver Molly is pregnant. She looks exactly the same as when I got her. The last 2 pictures are of my balloon mollies.

 

[Lindsey577]

And by the way, sorry for the bad pictures. It's really hard to take a picture of a moving fish with an iPhone...

 

[BBradbury]

Your Mollies

View attachment 168290

I have 8 mollies (3 males 5 females) and they just won't have any babies. They are always mating but the girls never get pregnant. I don't know what the problem is. Any ideas?

Hello Linds...

Of all the "Livebearers", Mollies are the most sensitive to changes in the water chemistry. These fish can hold their fry indefinitely, waiting for the perfect water conditions.

I keep large tanks of Fancy Guppies and Corydoras and can tell you, pure water conditions are a must. The way to get the water just right, is to change half the tank every week, without fail and make the new water a bit warmer, 80 degrees is perfect.

You need to heavily plant the tank. The more plants, the more privacy the females have and the more comfortable they become in the tank. Attached is a pic of one of my tanks. I have floating Anacharis and Pennywort. These are very fast growing stem plants and are the best natural water filters. They'll help keep the tank water pure and just need moderate light. You really need to put in a lot of plants. The more the better for your Mollies.

Anubias nana and nangi, Singapore moss and Java fern are easy to grow plants for the bottom. You can attach any to pieces of lava rock or driftwood you can weigh down with rocks. The point is, you make the tank like their original habitat.

One more thing, Livebearers will do best in slightly brackish water, so I've always added a teaspoon of standard aquarium salt (not table salt) to every 5 gallons of my replacement water. This amount is very minimal and won't affect your aquarium plants, just boosts the fishes' immune system and improves gill function.

Just a couple of suggestions.

B

 

[Lindsey577]

Hey, thanks for the suggestions. I will be getting more plants when I have the money. Is the salt safe for snails, ghost shrimp, and tiger barbs? If so, I'll add the salt tonight. Thanks again!

 

[Lindsey577]

And I forgot to mention that the temperature is about 75° in my tank.

 

[Jmunroe]

Temp to low, raise it 3-4 degrees, lower nitrates with 50% water change a couple days in a row.

 

[BBradbury]

Adding Aquarium Salt

Hey, thanks for the suggestions. I will be getting more plants when I have the money. Is the salt safe for snails, ghost shrimp, and tiger barbs? If so, I'll add the salt tonight. Thanks again!

Hello again Linds...

I've never kept Barbs, but I've kept shrimp and currently have Ramshorn snails in my tanks and never experienced health problems in any of my tanks by using a little standard aquarium salt. The teaspoon of salt in every 5 gallons is very minimal, but enough to have a calming affect on the fish.

Just add the teaspoon to every 5 gallons of your treated, water change water.

Please keep me informed.

B

 

[Lindsey577]

Can't believe I forgot about this, but I have a Swordtail in the same tankthat has been pregnant and had babies at least 3 times. I don't know if that helps any or not, but I figured I would mention it.