Is my fish pregnant?!

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izzygajownik

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
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Im a new fishie mom and have no idea if my molly fish is pregnant. i noticed she looks larger than previous and im not sure if what im seeing is a gravid spot or her organs? I got her from a pet store about 2-3 weeks ago and she is in a communal tank with 3 other male fish one of which is also a molly. I wouldnt be surprised if she got pregnant, but I had quarantined her and then changed my mine because i dont want to move her to her old tank unless she really is going to have little fish soon.
 

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What are your water parameters?

If a male and female have been in the same tank, it is very probably she is pregnant.

The time for them to have babies, I think is around a month. Towards the time getting close to birth, you will see the middle area and front of the fish look "squared" off. Really you will see the squareness, it sounds odd but it is true, getting the skin more taut and a bit more shiny. And it just might look like she will burst. Not to be confused with a bloated fish which gets round all over.

The mom's can get stressed being put into breeding nets. You would likely have a better situation in another tank, with dimmed lighting and plants to hide around and floating plants to hide in hear the top of the tank, good especially for babies to hide. If you happen to be there when she is birthing, try adding a few bits of food. Some mommas love a snack to keep up their strength, others are too busy or stressed in the birthing process.

Make sure the water is basically perfect parameters as you will not want to be sucking up poo, doing a big water change right after birth since the babies are so small.

And because they are so small, a new baby fish, food for fry is ideal. Hikari has one called First Bites and other quality fish food companies have them as well.

You may need to use a prefilter sponge on the HOB intake if it has a HOB.

This is an easy prefilter to find at both big box stores, and at lfs, there may be larger sized choices, and online. I like having 2 of them, as you can switch it out and then clean the dirty one to have ready for the next switch.

Read up on caring for baby fish. Also what foods you can feed them.
 
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