Molly Pregnancy Questions

[Tsub]

Hello. I am new to the forum as well as aquariums. I have had betta for a couple of years. They are still kicking it strong, but i recently decided to go to a bigger aquarium. Its nothing huge. Its a 10 gal(will be upgrading to a 30 gal in a month or so) tank with an internal filter. I do a 20% water change daily as it is a newer tank. I keep all of the levels where they should be as well. Now in the tank I have 3 mollies. I habe 1 male black molly and 2 female dalmation mollies. I recently read that they are "the rabbits of the fosh world," but I have questions i havent found the answers to. I just want to make sure I do this right for the Mollies sake. Any other advice would be very appreciated.
Why do the females chase around the male?
How can I tell if one is pregnant?
Besides the 30 day routine, how do i know my Molly is about to give birth?
Should I buy and prepare a seperate tank for the fry?

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome


My experience is that mollies don't put up with much. As long as not too rough, then some chasing around should be fine as they sort out pecking orders.


On mine they always get very squared off when close to birth.

[toolman]

Welcome to AA!
As previously said, they'll get squared off. My family loves watching livebearers and their fry.

[Delapool]

Plus one - the fry are amazing to watch.

[Tsub]

Thank you. One of the females have died. So now i have one female and one male. How long should i wait to add another? If my research proved fruitful 3 females to 1 male is recommended. So should i hurry up and buy another or should I wait a week or so?

[idol1]

mollies do not do good in breeder nets or breeder plastic traps. They need room to deliver. one quarter of the tank needs to be heavy planted. low thick plants for the babies to hide in. The pregnant female will hide in the planted side to give birth and try to hide from the male. male mollies are nonstop when it comes to females. If your tank is stable enough for two more fish then I would add the females.

[Tsub]

Okay. Will do. Thank you

[mimiheart]

Ten gallons may not be big enough. I use the ten gallon for grow outs on my fry. (When I've cared enough to separate.)

I've never even tried traps. And yes Males are nonstop. Females will establish a hierarchy though and it will cause chasing at first. My younger girls in my big tank are just catching up in size to my dominant female and they're playing chase a bit. She's still queen, but I give it another month before one of her daughters takes over.

Plants help save fry. Bettas like fry as snacks if you need population control. (So do larger tetras.)