Pregnant Molly........HELP!

[Kimlafeiet]

Hi all,
I am a fairly new fishkeeper. I have had my 20 gallon tank for about 2 months now. It is fully cycled and everyone is doing well.
Currently stocked with 2 mollies, 2 high fin variatus, 1 dwarf gourami and 4 guppies. When I got my 2 mollies about a month ago, I had no clue as to what to look for with sexing, and ended up with a female dalmation and a creamcicle male. Oops.
So.....long story short, he pesters her a lot, Ive seen "what happens" and her belly is looking much larger than it used to.
At this point, I dont have any interest in breeding fish or raising fry, but I know if I just leave it alone, the babies will get eaten by the fish in the tank. My worry with this is that if any of the babies dont get eaten, it will obviously increase my bioload, which I think is already maxed with my current stock. Also, if the fish do eat the fry, will they create excessive waste and spike the ammonia/nitrites?
I also feel slightly guilty about letting the babies just get eaten. I have a 5 gallon tank I could put her in to have them, but I know NOTHING about raising fry, or even how to tell when she will even be ready to have them. All I know is I have a fat female molly with a boyfriend that wont leave her alone
Also.....I know I need to seperate them and rehome one or both of them. What would be better to keep? I would like to continue to have 2 mollies.

And.....since we are on the subject, do I need to worry about my guppies and high fins? The platys are both females and all the gups are males. So far, no interest shown.

Thanks for any info/ advice. Much appreciated

 

[BettaGal]

I believe mollies are similar to guppies. I understand the fun. My guppy couple, Zack and Mina (don't ask, was reading Dracula), would make love every hour on the hour on top of the mancave which Zack then would use as a slide. It was disturbing.

Move her when her belly looks like a square or when her behind is a black spot. If you don't move them, the gourami will have a lovely live snack. Make it somewhat dark as for some reason it makes them more comfortable when they're ready to pop.

Fry care isn't really hard. Just slightly on the annoying side, at least when Mina had hers finally. They need good food. You can crush up a couple flakes, but the fry are tiny and need it small. I used a small portion of frozen brine shrimp each morning. Clean water is a must. I would change out some and readd some every afternoon. My fry were stupidly curious and would investigate anything I inserted, so I used a turkey baster so I could refrain from sucking up curious babies. Give them a plant or cave to hide in. Don't do plastic. I've had so many fish get stuck in plastic plants, including guppy fry. They are very cute and fun to watch grow up, unless they're like Taz who couldn't swim and would spin like the tazmanian devil from looney toons to move. He didn't make it.

Males have no chance of pregnancy while females can store sperm for I think up to six months. If you want absolutely no fry, males is the way to go.

 

[TidBitz]

Just a warning the Molly can hold sperm for 5x breeding without a male even around. If you have many hiding places or even rock substrate you will usually find a couple babies live regardless. If you are not into breeding females need to be separated. I had over 50 platy and molly babies I cared for at one time in a month so if you don't want that it may be best to let be and let some of the babies live VS most of them. I know it sounds mean but after all there is a reason for nature.