Molly faking pregnancy?

[Nuclear Queen]

My mom has a female molly that we thought was pregnant (she's HUGE, but definitely not sick so obvi=preg, right? Apparently not.) but it's been like 2 months and nothing's happened. My mom got a mesh breeding tank and put the molly in, and says that in like a day there was a crazy amount of poop in the breeder basket and the molly looked significantly skinnier. She eventually removed the mesh breeder tank, and the molly swelled up again.
Is she faking pregnancy to get the two male mollies to leave her alone, or is she like too scared to poop or something?? They chase her all the time (but they also chase each other all the time, so?)

I'd move her to her own tank if we had one, but we don't and we don't really have the money to buy another tank+stand+fliter etc. Plus, then she'd be without any other mollies, and they need company.
Is there another option, besides giving her away?

FYI: When we bought the mollies they were small and we thought they were all males!! I would never have done this on purpose!

I only have potato pics, so this just what she looks like, not an actual pic of her:

 

[BBradbury]

Your Livebearer

Hello Nuc...

Livebearing fish are able to delay dropping their fry until they believe water conditions are just right for fry survival. Moving the female is stressful and it can be injured or stressed to the point that they're not going to cooperate.

I have a lot of Guppies and Platys and keep the pregnant females in the same tank with the other fish. Not moving them and heavily planting the surface with Hornwort and Pond weed makes them more comfortable and allows them to hide from a more aggressive fish.

Your Mollie will need clean water conditions, so if you're not removing and replacing half her tank water weekly, you should work up to it. Make the new water a bit warmer than what's already there.

I add a trace of standard aquarium salt to the new water. A heaping teaspoon at least for every 5 gallons of new, treated tap water. Mollies would like twice that much.

If your female is close to dropping her fry a constant source of clean, warmer water and a bit of aquarium salt will help.

B

 

[Fishobsessed7]

Are you sure she's not a balloon?


Fishobsessed7

 

[Fishfur]

You don't say what size tank you have, but if at all possible, it would be good to get the ratio of males to females more in line. You've already noticed that with two males the female is being given little peace and clearly you know having two males and one female is not a great idea.

If you don't have room for a few more females, most stores would probably be willing to exchange one of the males for another female, and that would give the current female some relief from male attentions.

 

[Nuclear Queen]

B

What happens if she's doesn't become happy with the water conditions? Do the unborn fry die, or kill her, or what??

Could I just set up a totally separate tank and wait for her give birth or keep her in the mesh pen for a bit to see if it really is a pregnancy?

I don't want to box her up somewhere, but I don't have a lot of other options rn

 

[Fishobsessed7]

I'd get another tank before I used a breeder


Fishobsessed7

 

[BBradbury]

Your Molly

What happens if she's doesn't become happy with the water conditions? Do the unborn fry die, or kill her, or what??

Could I just set up a totally separate tank and wait for her give birth or keep her in the mesh pen for a bit to see if it really is a pregnancy?

I don't want to box her up somewhere, but I don't have a lot of other options rn

Hello again Nuc...

If you maintain clean water conditions and plant the tank surface well, the fish will be fine. Feed a balanced diet of a little flaked, freeze dried and frozen foods, but keep the feedings small. You don't want uneaten food to foul the tank water. Mollies are very sensitive to changes in their water. You don't need to do anything else.

B

 

[Mebbid]

What happens if she's doesn't become happy with the water conditions? Do the unborn fry die, or kill her, or what??

Could I just set up a totally separate tank and wait for her give birth or keep her in the mesh pen for a bit to see if it really is a pregnancy?

I don't want to box her up somewhere, but I don't have a lot of other options rn

While they can delay for a little while, this won't be more than a day or two. Try thinking of a woman holding her baby in, Its just not gonna happen.

You will notice she's ready to give birth when she becomes squared off at the bottom.

Try posting a pic of her when you can.

 

[Nuclear Queen]

Getting a bigger tank off craigslist that still smaller than my biggest tank, so I have room to set it up. Problem solved!