Dalmation Molly Birth... where are the babies?

[Puriti]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I have a bunch of different fish in there, but my one dalmation molly, Cookie, was pregnant when I bought her and when I came home from school today... well her fat stomach wasn't there anymore. Now, I know that some of the fish could've eaten the babies and I know that they give livebirth but can you usually see the babies? Cuz all I see is little black dots on the bottom of the tank which could be numerous things @___@

 

[Fluff]

You should be able to see the babies. They may be hiding in the gravel or in any other decor you may have. As well, some not doubt got eaten.

Welcome to Aquarium Advice.

 

[Puriti]

@____@ I sure hope they are cuz I just made a big evacuation of the other... *counts* 11 fish i have in there X.x


thanks ^^

 

[Puriti]

Are they like.... long black things about a half inch big cuz there's some of those on the bottom but they're not moving ._.

eh..maybe they're just blood worms....EEEE I CANT TELL WHAT ANYTHING IS @______________@

 

[Fluff]

In my experience, baby mollies are about 1/4" long. So, I can't say what the long things are. If you are feeding blackworms, that's likely what they are.

 

[Puriti]

They kinda look like... swelled up bloodworms that I feed my betta fish but I have yet to find any baby fish in there @___@

 

[tracygh]

Hi Purity, welcome to AA

In the last two weeks I have had sworstail babies and guppy babies. We lost most of the guppy babies to hungry tankmates What you are looking for is something about 1/4 inch long, kind of a translucent fleshy color, shaped like an exclamation mark with block dot eyes on either side. My guys liked to hide right down in the plants and IN the gravel. Check VERY closely along the sides of your tank, just along the gravel line, you may find some stragglers.
I had a breeding box for my girls, and kept the fry in there for a bit, now all the fry are in a 1/2 gallon set up that I bought as a $10 Betta kit compete with gravel and fake plant. They will stay there until they are big enough to fend for themselves. Even quarantining your fry in a glass vase or something would be a good idea. The best tip I ever got was to use a turkey baster to suck the little stinkers up. You know what? Works like a charm! So go to the dollar store, get yourself a turkey beaster and settle down in front of your tank, and let the hunt begin!

Good luck to you hun,

 

[Jchillin]

What other fish do you have in this tank other than the bettas and the mollies? JMO but bettas and mollies aren't exactly the best of tank mates.

If you believe that it is an uneaten bloodworm...it needs to be removed as soon as possible.

 

[Puriti]

I only keep the female in there, the male antagonizes everyone else in there except for the smaller fish but my female's docile compared to most of my other fish. I have a gourami, tetras, and danios otherwise. I had a small batch of mollies before that i found after I had taken all my other fish out since I had a nitrite problem and I still have one left and he's the biggest one of that litter, all the ones that were transparent died. The biggest one I found was almost a centimeter big and I can see all his features and such but I have yet to find the really tiny ones from Cookie's litter @___@

 

[littletank]

Hey Puriti. I have a big mommy platy that has had 4 litters in four months. Her fry hide IN and Under the gravel. Literally.

I use my net to swirl the gravel about and I'll find a few. I have never been able to rescue more than 5 from one litter. Even if you do spot one, they swim really fast and hide again. It almost seems as if your eyes are playing tricks on you.

As soon as you notice one under a little gravel, scoop up a netful of gravel from that location then dump the net into a bucket of the same tank water. They will hide in there as well, but will be easier to spot because there will be a lot less gravel.

If too many days go by, the other fish will eat them usually. If I don't rescue them the day they are born, I'm lucky if I find three little survivors. Good luck.

PS: She'll keep having more every month if you let her mate
littletank

 

[Andos99]

Molly fry are very visible and will hide at the top of tank if there is something for them to hide in. I always find more as time goes on because they are quite illusive their first several weeks of life. You should, however, have no problem determing a fish from a bloodworm.