Breeding Mollies

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

lilliemoon5ilver

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
20
I have had 2 females and one male molly in a 20 gallon aquarium for about a month now and I have seen no signs of breeding or pregnancy. They have one more companion, a (I thought) pregnant platy. I thought she looked very pregnant when I bought her, but that was a month ago and she doesn't look to have gotten bigger. The platy has not shown any of the typical signs (isolating, hanging out near the heater, etc) of giving birth. How long should I expect to wait for things to progress? (getting mollies prego, platy having her frye...) Is there anything I should do that might help things along?
 
Okay, I get close to the tank to take pics and they start bugging out. I think they expect me to feed them. If I can figure out how to post a video, that'll be better.
 
Ya picture is the sure way to know. Typically they are pregnant for about 28 days. As for your Molly fish they should have no problem mating at all they live for it..lol

How long has your tank been set up for? Is it cycled? What was your last test readings?
 
vlcsnap-2012-10-24-21h07m09s153.jpg Sorry, new (ish) to this. Cycled? And I haven't tested levels. (what should I be testing other than PH?)
 
lilliemoon5ilver said:
Sorry, new (ish) to this. Cycled? And I haven't tested levels. (what should I be testing other than PH?)

Cycling is the process of establishing beneficial bacteria
Test for at the minimum ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates
Use an API master test liquid kit not strips if that's what you have
 
Emerald is right. You need to really get an API liquid test kit and test your water before having fry. They will not live in a tank not cycled and with testing numbers that are high. Could possibly be why your mollies aren't mating as well.
 
Thanks everyone. I will do that. What about the platy? That dark area is what they refer to as a gravid spot, right? She looked pretty much exactly like that a month ago. Should I be worried?
 
Okay. From what I've read, it looks like maybe my GH is too low...Which is odd considering how these test results read..... GH is 120, KH is 240. PH is 7.5. NO2 is 0 and I've just done the NO3 and i'm waiting for the results. Suggestions?
 
I'm also doing the NH3/NH4 test for ammonia. My house mate has a salt water aquarium, thankfully I didn't have to go out and spend an arm and a leg on all these kits. Oh, the NO3 is somewhere between 0 and 5.
 
For both salt and fresh water (same test, just different result keys) He actually has multiple kits (a separate kit for each quality to be checked.) They are made by nutrafin.
 
Back
Top Bottom