Pregnant Molly?

[invictor]

Hi all,

Bought a few Molly's the other day, and I think one of them is pregnant. Its a white looking Molly, so trying to find this white spot it proving quite tricky. The reason I think she could be pregnant is because she seems pretty deep-bellied unlike the rest of them, and seems to be keeping to itself, hiding in my decorations or within the plants in my tank quite alot, sometimes its difficult to find it!

Edit: Now with photos. The best I could get as she seems to be hiding down the side of the tank and refuses to come out for a photo!

Thanks,
Mike.

 

[weejen]

i would say she is preg but i aint very good at tellin how long to go sorry

 

[invictor]

Does anyone know how long the pregnancy's last? If its could be within days I best go buy some form of fry net

 

[-SPB-]

The gestation period is roughly 30 days.

I'd buy a net regardless then your not going to get caught short!!!!

 

[invictor]

Crikey, didn't realise it was so short a time. She must have been pregnant for a little while, as I've only had her 24 hours! How do I know how far along she is? I've read that putting the fish in the fry net can be stressful for them if they're not actually going to give birth for an unknown period of time... what shall I do? I'm a bit of a newbie to fishkeeping but it would be great if I could actually try and raise some of the fry.

 

[-SPB-]

It can be stressful, so the last time possible the better, BUT, I really couldn't tell you how long she's got left.

This is what someone told me a couple of years ago, hopefully it can help you:

Mollies will start to look boxy before they give birth. This means the bottom of the belly will look flat instead of round. She is also likely to start hiding from other fish, maybe hanging out by the filter or in a corner of the tank. Her natural instinct is to get away from the other fish.

 

[OldMan47]

You have plenty of time, weeks before that molly drops her fry. I have a link in my signature area called Molly Progress that will take you to a place that I posted a pictures every few days all the way through a molly pregnancy. At a quick glance, she looks like somewhere around 2 weeks to go but a close study could revise that a week either way.

 

[invictor]

Pleased to announce that said molly began dropping her fry about half hour ago, 12 so far, going to keep her in the fry trap for a few more minutes to see if there is any more. Little concerned about the mother though, since she began dropping the fry, a red mark seems to have appeared on the right side of her, like theres a form of internal bleeding any ideas what this could be?

Edit: 40 minutes after she began to drop the fry, much of the fry are just sitting rather motionless at the bottom of the fry catcher. Although 4 or 5 of the 14 so far do on the odd occasion perk up and swim around the catcher at full pelt before going back to sit on the bottom...how long should they be down there before they get up and swim? I don't imagine for a moment that all the fry will survive, but it would be handy to know whats meant to happen

 

[OldMan47]

That is a very early drop for those fry. You could be seeing immature fry that don't swim well. Fry always seem to pause a short time before swimming away, but just sitting on the bottom is a bit unusual. Do you see any evidence of a yolk sac on them?