Bit Confused =\

[silverrabbit]

So I bought a couple of balloon mollies from a pet shop near me about 3 weeks ago. Yesterday the white female dropped what I assumed was all her fry (which I missed, and by the time I came home only one was left, which I then witnessed her chasing and was gobbled up before my net could get in the water )

Thing is, she still looks rather full, squared and black in the tummy region - has she held some back?

I'm really confused, these are my first livebearers and i'm so sad I didn't rescue the babies sooner

 

[kizno1]

they can hold on to fry mine some times do it and will have the rest the next night or in a couple of days so shes fine

 

[silverrabbit]

Thank you... she still hasn't had any more fry that i've been able to see. I'll keep my eyes peeled, and i've added more plants for the fry if they do appear. I'm thinking that maybe she's holding onto them because she's in the quarantine tank with the other molly i bought on that day, and so was a bit bare. Hopefully the plants will help.

 

[OldMan47]

My experience with mollies is that they don't hold back fry. I don't know that it is even possible but they just don't seem to do it. I read stories by people all the time about them holding back fry for 5 or 6 weeks but my first assumption is that they missed a fry drop since they seem to be about that far apart anyway.

 

[helterskelter]

They can hold them back for several days at the most.
It's usually caused by poor water quality and stress.

 

[silverrabbit]

Well her water is good - Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate around 20.

I think maybe the house being so hot is stressing her out? Her tank during this crazy-hot weather has stayed at 28C, whereas I had it at a steady 25-26 before

On a lighter note, I found a fry in the amazon sword last night hehe. So I have one baby, just a bit concerned that she's still a fair size. Soends a hell of a lot of time lingering in the plants.