Help With Sexing Mollies??

[KhloeM]

PLEASE READ: hi!! so i'm completely new to mollies, and i have just about no idea what gender any of these mollies are. they aren't all in the same tank, they are in different ones at the moment also, i fear that a few of them may be pregnant! and i've never bred fish before, so im super stressed about it i'm so sorry, these pictures are of bad quality and you probably won't be able to tell from them, but in the off chance that someone is a molly expert maybe you can help? thanks!
Fish #1: Gold Dust Molly (i cant tell if this molly's stomach is bigger?) Fish #2: Black Molly (I think this molly is a female based off of behavior, could be wrong though)


Khloe

[KhloeM]

Fish #3: Lyretail Molly (honestly, not quite sure what exact type of molly this is...) i'm thinking that this fish is male, again, based off of behavior. once again though, i am not an expert at all this picture really isn't great, but i'll try to snap a better one later.


Khloe

[SushiRoll]

Fish #1 female
Fish #2 male
Fish #3 female


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

First one is female the other two are males. Get another male or the female will get pressured by the males get stressed and eventually die. The anal fin for males are more pointed and females are rounded


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[QuakingAspen]

Gold dust is female, black is male. Can you get another pic of the lyretail?

[KhloeM]

thanks for all of the help. yes, i'll try to get another picture of the lyretail. i do have a question though. i have a dalmation molly who i'm almost certain is male, but he keeps chasing the black molly and going for his underside? and that's what made me think the black molly was female but i don't know. i'm thinking of just getting rid of this dalmation molly (giving him back to my lfs because they take any fish) because i just got him and he keeps stressing the heck out of my poor black molly! nobody else is chasing in my tank. and i also have two other gold dust mollies who i think are female, i'm just concerned about them having fry i don't want to breed them but i know that the only way would be to get rid of all one gender or just separate them. i can't get any new tanks either.


Khloe

[KhloeM]

here's two more pictures of the black molly where you can get a better look at the fins, just to clarify that this fish is definitely male.

Khloe (sorry i don't know why this last one is on here just ignore lol)

[Trainer_Ruby_]

It's most likely asserting dominance. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get aggressive. Best prevention is adding another female


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[KhloeM]

Originally Posted by Trainer_Ruby_

It's most likely asserting dominance. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get aggressive. Best prevention is adding another female


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thank you my lfs takes back any unwanted fish and i just got him so i might just return him so there is no aggression.


Khloe

[jasmin1502]

1st definitely female
2nd definitely male
3rd not to sure but it could be female


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[KhloeM]

Originally Posted by jasmin1502

1st definitely female
2nd definitely male
3rd not to sure but it could be female


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thanks so much! for some reason i just can't get a good picture of the lyretail, but i'm pretty sure he's male. thanks for the help!


Khloe

[irdajoh]

Like others have said 1 is for sure female 2 male, 3 hard to tell even for me who only had mollies. My guess would be female. As for them being pregnant, it's gana happen it's nature. Another user said get another male... I disagree 2 females for 1 male. Now having fry of my own too I keep them in a breeding net while maturing so they don't get eaten. Why don't you want fry? It's amazing watching them grow and also fish born in a tank are more likely to survive longer.

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[KhloeM]

Originally Posted by irdajoh

Like others have said 1 is for sure female 2 male, 3 hard to tell even for me who only had mollies. My guess would be female. As for them being pregnant, it's gana happen it's nature. Another user said get another male... I disagree 2 females for 1 male. Now having fry of my own too I keep them in a breeding net while maturing so they don't get eaten. Why don't you want fry? It's amazing watching them grow and also fish born in a tank are more likely to survive longer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

thanks for the reply! i've actually been able to get some good looks at my lyretail, and im almost positive it is a male due to the fin i also dont have the black molly anymore, due to him being a bit aggressive. luckily, my grandparents really wanted yet another black molly in their huge tank, lol!! well, basically i'm just really nervous to raise them. i feel like i'll just mess it up being a basically beginner. i know it sounds dumb, lol, i just am afraid of messing up and basically killing all of the fry. plus, i only have a ten gallon tank that my mollies are in, i heard that's too small to raise fry, is this true? have a good day!!


Khloe

[Trainer_Ruby_]

Get hornwort if you want to raise fry easily. It floats on the surface so some flakes get stuck in it is hard to kill unless you try and big fish can't get into it easily. I have a molly fry that loves to sit in the stuff and the other fish don't bother it


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[KhloeM]

Originally Posted by Trainer_Ruby_

Get hornwort if you want to raise fry easily. It floats on the surface so some flakes get stuck in it is hard to kill unless you try and big fish can't get into it easily. I have a molly fry that loves to sit in the stuff and the other fish don't bother it


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ok i'm super sorry but is that a type of plant....? i'm so sorry i'm honestly a very beginner at this, lol! and if you know, how many fish are there usually when a molly gets pregnant? are there like a ton? thanks!


Khloe

[SpaceFish42]

Yes, hornwort is a plant.

[KhloeM]

Originally Posted by SpaceFish42

Yes, hornwort is a plant.

ok good, lol! thank you very much!


Khloe

[FreshSaltGirl]

Khloe, don't you worry about raising those baby mollies, you'll do great! A 10gallon is fine! Floating plants are great for sure. Just crush up their flake food into very small bits that can fit into their mouths. Watch their tummies to make sure they are full. At 3 months, I usually like to separate them by gender, because they aren't old enough to sex until then. I was worried about raising mollies my first time, too - so I understand where you're coming from.

[FreshSaltGirl]

Oh and to answer your other question: mollies can have anywhere between 5 and 100 babies in one batch. Upwards of about 40 is used reserved for larger mollies like sailfins and ballons. From personal experience, smaller mother mollies (my shortfin gold dust molly for example) have around 20. My current mother had 10 her first birth, then 16 her second. She may not live too much longer, she developed a swim bladder problem after her last batch. But that's just a rough estimate of course.

[FreshSaltGirl]

*usually