Confused about pregnancy in both my sunburst platy and black molly

[snootsnooty]

Hi,

So I have purchased both a female platy and black molly from Walmart about two weeks ago. They were in horrible condition and I just had to buy them. (there were dead fish clogging the vents which just killed off more fish etc). I’m not such an experienced fish keeper but I have had many long living betas in the past. My tank is about 10 gallons with only three fish inside (the other is a “flame tetra”. which I have a hard time believing. but i’ll save that for another post).

After the third day of having these two- I’ve noticed they are a bit chunky than pictures of mollies/platys i have seen- or compared to the ones I observed at pet smart. I’ve read countless articles on how to indentify if the fish is pregnant or not. I’ve just confused myself even more. I’m concerned it could be an internal parasite of some sort after reading the articles. I’m very concerned and I don’t want to see them die.

So this is what I know about the black molly-

-She likes to hide by the filter but occasionally comes out when I’m far away from the tank.
-She eats a lot
-There is a small white dot near her anal fin
-She’s more defined in her belly
-When I purchased them both, she seemed like she was going to die. She was very lethargic

The sunburst platy

-She is very energetic and loves to be around the flame tetra
-She is very shy when it comes to me being around the tank
-There is also a faint white spot near her anal fin
-There’s a little sag to her belly- more defined than the black molly

I have purchased a breeding tank just in case

[Bettythebetta]

I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure they are hiding because mollies and platies have to be in groups.

[snootsnooty]

I completely agree. I will eventually expand my tank to a larger tank with more fish. It’s the black molly that wishes to pick and choose when she comes out. Otherwise the platy gets along very well with the flame tetra

[Autumnsky]

Groups of their own kinds. The fish will feel safer.

White dot???? Like salt? If so check out this article
Freshwater Ich? Yuck! - Aquarium Advice

If they have ich then that would be (at least one reason why they are behaving poorly.

There is an additional article about some good to know solid basics in my signature link - worth a read.

In regards to whether the fish will have babies, it is VERY likely if they were in mixed sex tank. It is what they do. There will be a darker color in the lower abdomen next to where they poop, the fish will get blocky and very fat looking before birth.

When you do a partial water change /pwc, make sure that the water is the tiniest amount warmer than your tank water, can help avoid Ich is stressed out fish.

Get a liquid test kit, read the linked articles from my signature about keeping fish in an uncycled tank.

Keep up with water changes because you have fish and no beneficial bacteria atm to process waste.

Do you know what the ammonia level is?

[JaysonMcK]

As with guppies I believe the males sperm stays alive inside the female for up to six months which means females can have several batches of babies without contacting a male for a very long time.

[Barliman]

Originally Posted by JaysonMcK

As with guppies I believe the males sperm stays alive inside the female for up to six months which means females can have several batches of babies without contacting a male for a very long time.

This is true to a degree also for platys and (I think) Mollies. I tend to assume any female older than a few months is pregnant.

Also, 100% agreed with Autumnsky's advice above.