Molly pregnant

[CorinneJMB]

Hi

I think my black Molly is due to have her fry’s. Im not to sure as I’ve never had fish give birth
She has a very big tummy and hiding around the big rocks I’ve put her in a breeding box

How can I tell when she going to have her fry’s

Thank you

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi

I think my black Molly is due to have her fry’s. Im not to sure as I’ve never had fish give birth
She has a very big tummy and hiding around the big rocks I’ve put her in a breeding box

How can I tell when she going to have her fry’s

Thank you

A picture would help better. A large belly could be a few different things. Breeder boxes have been found to cause undue stress on the fish to the point of delaying births so placing the female either in a tank with lots of floating plants for the fry to hide in earlier in the pregnancy OR removing the other fish in the tank which could eat the fry is the better option. This is all assuming the fish is actually pregnant and not suffering from the other possibilities.

 

[CorinneJMB]

I’m not sure how to add photos off my phone

 

[Aiken Drum]

I’m not sure how to add photos off my phone

Go to "Go Advanced" below the message window and you can then add photos from the "Manage Attachments" button.

 

[CorinneJMB]

Here I hope it works

 

[Andy Sager]

My opinion is that the breeder box is too small for that fish. I can't really see how far along she is but I'd release the fish and either place a divider in the tank ( an option I forgot to add in my previous post) so that she can give birth in some frilly floating plants or add a lot of frilly floating plants to the tank so that the fry have a chance to hide after birth. Once they are out, you can place them in a separate tank until they get large enough not to get eaten or keep them in the divided section of the tank until they get large enough not to get eaten and then you can remove the divider.

 

[CorinneJMB]

Ok could I put her in a tank by herself till she gives birth sorry I’m new to all this I got a little plant not much

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok could I put her in a tank by herself till she gives birth sorry I’m new to all this I got a little plant not much

Good. Get some more frilly plants. Fish like Mollies can delay birthing until she feels secure that the fry will survive. They naturally give birth in weeded areas.
BTW, there's nothing to be sorry about. Fish keeping has a lot of nuances that you learn along the way. There is also a lot of bad info out there in fishland so you really need to get more than one opinion whenever you have questions. As you go along you will start to interview the people you are getting advice from so you'll know who to believe and who to say "Thank you" and walk or run away from. I'm 59 years into fish keeping and had 45+ years of being in the tropical fish business and there are things happening today that I still learn. My specialty is fish breeding and medications because I was a commercial fish breeder. Your fish could very well be genetically linked to one of my hatcheries as I bred a lot of different fish for the trade many years ago.

 

[CorinneJMB]

Ok then I’ll go get some later on my way home from work

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok then I’ll go get some later on my way home from work

 

[CorinneJMB]

Hi here is my Molly in her own tank

Do you think she will give birth

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi here is my Molly in her own tank

Do you think she will give birth

Now that I can see better, I don't think she's far enough along yet but the tank is now looking like a better place for her when she is ready.

 

[CorinneJMB]

Ok do you know how far along she is

 

[Andy Sager]

Ok do you know how far along she is

There's no way to tell. The gestation period for Black Mollies is anywhere from 30-45 days but because many mollies are hybrids of different molly species, it could go as long as 70 days. All you can do at this point is wait and check daily for little fish swimming at the surface among the plant leaves.

 

[CorinneJMB]

Ok thanks

 

[af2018]

I’ve had pregnant black mollies for several months. Andy gave me the same advice and I took it and I have floating plants now. A couple days or so ago I noticed one of my females getting smaller and she has the spot on her private area indicating she’s ready or whatever. I have chosen to let nature run its course. I haven’t separated the mollies from my other fish and the goal is for my angelfish to eat all the fry. So nothing new is popping up in my already well stocked tank but I’m fairly certain 1 of them has at least started having them. They don’t have them all at once from what I have read. This is my first time at least that I’m aware and expecting. Around Christmas we had a single fry pop up in a 10 gallon that housed 2 or 3 females at the time. I speculate the others were eaten or maybe got sucked in the filter. So that was a little different.

Also what Andy said about your breeder box I second that. You’re probably inducing stress in her and it’s going to delay your results here.