Baby Time?

[TheConstantGrower]

My 3 ladies (standard mollies) look all nice and fat, i have a net breeder with small plants in the bottom for the fry. but I'm not sure of how to do this, this is my first aquatic breeding and i don't want to over stress the ladies into aborting by leaving them in a small net for the next 2 days unless I'm more sure they are going to drop.



sorry for the blur... these guys are fast as hell.

Hopefully someone can help me peg a time to move them.

 

[Thomas 2507]

I would say another two weeks to go tops.

 

[HCpetraitis]

My 3 ladies (standard mollies) look all nice and fat, i have a net breeder with small plants in the bottom for the fry. but I'm not sure of how to do this, this is my first aquatic breeding and i don't want to over stress the ladies into aborting by leaving them in a small net for the next 2 days unless I'm more sure they are going to drop.



sorry for the blur... these guys are fast as hell.

Hopefully someone can help me peg a time to move them.

They look pregnant but its kinda hard to tell if you can get any better pics that would be great but from the looks they will porbably be in the next week or so. Hope that helps!

 

[TheConstantGrower]

sorry i cant get any better pics... simple digital camera and fast fish make for terrible pics, ive seen some mind blowing pics on this site, i just gotta figure out the best way to shoot through glass, and gallons of water... at a moving target..

But 1 - 2 weeks you say.. alright ill keep an eye on them, the poor single male in that tank must be bored out of his mind... and jonsing for some "fish"

 

[5teady_2012]

The problem with most mollies is their size can be decieving, mollies dont tend to get really big when pregnant although some do..

I have had loads of normal mollies drop when they was the same size of what yours are, mollies fry are usually pretty big and tend to have a good survival rate against parents and most other livebearers.

If you do put them in a net, leave them in for a max of 48 hours, if no drop release and keep a eye on them, then try again after 4-5 days.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Thank you steady, thats what i was thinking, put them in tonight see if they drop, if not wait a week try again. i just don't want to miss it and lose my fry to my filter (no sponge) or to the parents.

my LFS said they will pay 25 cents per healthy fry... good deal if you ask me.


EDIT: are there any signs i can look for that shes about to drop? ive heard people say, erratic swimming habits, swimming backwards and up, but i'm not sure.

 

[5teady_2012]

You could put somke fine netting over the filters intake m8, that would rule out that, then you could heavily plant one corner of the tank for the fry to hide in incase the adults drop in the tank, also you could get some floating plants for them to hide in cos new born fry will swim to top towards the light.

 

[Thomas 2507]

When females are ready to drop, some get restless and some hide away. Males will probably be chasing them and looking into their abdominal area.

 

[TheConstantGrower]

yeah i have some special fry plants i got with the little nooks and crannys to hide in. GREAT idea with the netting over the filter tube and i was wondering how many mothers i can put in the trap.

I have 3 as you know they all look about the same way along, can i put in all 3?

Thats the trap i have sparse plants but for the low low cost of free... what can you do

 

[5teady_2012]

I would just put 1 in m8, the biggest 1

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Alright transported the dalmatian into the breeder net... And I'm not going to lie to you, I've never seen a fish look so sad in my life

 

[Madam Macaw]

I bought some fake plants and just floated them at the top. The last batch of fry I had was about 50, so you can always go that route. Leave the traps for after you dig out all of the fry from the tank.