Are My Mollies And Platys Pregnant?

[pokegirl1332]

i'm not a beginner but i'm definitely not advanced yet, but i'm really excited cuz i'm pretty sure these 2 fish are both pregnant =D, i have 2 pics of my molly (sold to me as a golden panda lyre tail molly, can anyone tell me if that's right based on the pictures cuz she's ALOT more black than my other 2 but she's a real beauty), and my mickey mouse platy has recently gotten VERY fat! can anyone please help me and confirm that they are pregnant and i need help with what to do!!! this is my first time having fish be pregnant and i really have no clue what to do other than what i've read of the internet and i want as many of them to survive as possible (i've made a separate 5 gallon tank for them with lots of plants) and there's a million things i need to know like, should i use a breeding net? how do i care for the babies? how to feed them/how much? are they really pregnant? how much longer? how to tell how much longer? how to tell when it's time? when should i separate my fish? any advice? i read that small fry can suffocate in in large gravel, should i get sand? and questions i didn't ask that might be important for me to know? PLEASE!!! I NEED YOU FISHY BIRTH EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE!!!

 

[LyraGuppi]

Why do you want all of them to survive? If you do your chances of being overrun are massive.
Try not to use a breeding net, they stress the fish. I would put the female into the 5 gallon and take her out when she is done, or just leave her in the original tank.
I fed my livebearer fry flake, like a normal grown fish.
They look to be pregs, not sure how much longer.
I like sand for the fry.
But....
My advice is to just leave the females be. Survival of the fittest.

 

[Mamashack]

They look pregnant to me and not wanting to put a dampener on this first experience, but what are you going to do the next time and the time after that when they drop fry every 4-5 weeks?
When they "square off" they're not far from dropping the fry and they can carry sperm packets for up to 6 months so they don't even need a male to keep on having babies for that long - if there's a male present they'll keep on producing fry until they drop from exhaustion.
Unless you want to buy a new tank every month the best thing to do is leave the females in the tank and provide plenty places for a few fry to survive from each drop so that your tanks don't get overcrowded with fry. 
How big a tank have you got them in at the moment?

 

[SeanTrollope]

i dont think the black one is, the yellow one looks like it still has a while to go.
 
you should have the babies in a small tank with sand and a few plants
 
a air driven filter is better as it cant really harm the babies.
 
you should also use a net that the babies can fall through but not the mother.
 
you can feed them fry food or finely crushed flakes 2-3 times a day in small portions they will also appreciate live food

 

[pokegirl1332]

yeah i read all about them being able to have many many babies but out of the ones that survive i want to keep a few cuz i have 3 tanks x1 20 gallon which is where the molly is and x2 10 gallons where my platy is and i have quite a bit of room and my mom has a 10 gallon as well plus i just really want to see as many as possible grow big and strong =) and i also know alot of people with large community tanks that might want a few mollies or platys =) thanks for the advice though =)

 

[attibones]

Well the mollies and platy both need larger tanks. An adult female molly can produce anywhere from 6-60 fry in a single drop. You'll really want to be careful about the number of fry you keep. 

 

[pokegirl1332]

thanks and yeah i really only want to keep 2 fry for myself and the rest will go to other good homes =) not some kids 2 gallon bowl =P