Black Molly

[mireme]

Hi
Im a newby to this forum and tropical fish, so I was pleased when my black Molly produced fry for the first time. I just thought she was fat

Anyway, she gave birth to 2, I think, and one got eaten

I couldnt find the other one. I went out and got a keep net for her but im not sure if she has finished giving birth now. Do they give birth all in one go or do they do it over a matter of hours or days?

thanks

 

[Truck]

they give birth over a period of a few hours to about 12 hours.

do you have males in the tank, even if not she can carry on having babies for 6 months as the female livebearers can store sperm

 

[mireme]

they give birth over a period of a few hours to about 12 hours.

do you have males in the tank, even if not she can carry on having babies for 6 months as the female livebearers can store sperm

Im not sure what i have in the tank lol
I have a black one and a white one and thats all i know. Next thing i knew, she was fat and then something was hanging out of her bottom and it wasnt poo lol

I feel rotten leaving her in the breeding net thing though. I cant see any signs of activity

 

[Truck]

if she has stopped giving birth release her.

livebearers are easy to sex,

look at the anal fin, a male has an extended apendage (gonpodium) and females fins are round and shell shaped

 

[mireme]

Ok, I will release the beast and have a look at their fins.

BRB

Im back

Not sure because they wont keep still long enough for me to have a look.

I have another question..Do loaches sleep?

 

[mireme]

thanks for your help btw.

 

[Truck]

no worries, i cant answer your loach question,

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the hobby Mireme. A molly that is ready to give birth will usually drop at least 20 fry. Many or most will be eaten if there is no provision for protecting them from the parents and from other fish in the tank. As Truck said, the drop is usually over within 12 or so hours but can be shorter or longer. A molly in good condition will usually give birth again in about 4 to 5 weeks, so if you missed saving any fry this time, you get another chance. Before you set out to save all the molly fry, you need to decide if you want to do that and what you will do with all the babies. A common molly has almost no value in a pet shop as something you would trade them, so your only real option would be to keep them or give them away.
If you set out to save some fry, it is easily done by giving lots of tightly placed plants of other objects that the parents cannot swim through. I usually do that with a dense mass of java moss which is a low light plant. It is much too tight for the adult fish to swim through but the fry have no problem swimming right through it.
Here is a picture of the mass in one tank.

 

[mireme]

Thanks for the information. Ive only seen 2 fry. Maybe she has been dropping them and i havent noticed. I will let you know what happens. I have a little incubation net now for them so fingers crossed.

I doubt that i will want to keep all of them but a few would be nice. Ive lost 2 dwarf gourami and a panda cory but all the other fish seem to be thriving so i would like to add more.

 

[mireme]

Just an update.

My molly didnt have anymore fry. She only had the two. One was eaten and i thought the other had as well, but when i was changing the water yesterday, i found him, so now he is in a isolation net and is very happy. My black molly keeps chasing round the white one now and being a bit naughty.

 

[Truck]

randy buggers arent they?

 

[mireme]

I wish i had their energy lol

Well im not sure what sex the white one is...The black one had the babies. I might get some guppies next week. Im really getting into this lol

 

[helterskelter]

This is a male molly
The dorsal fin is larger than the females and the fin by the bum (anal) is pointed
They tend to be the ones dancing around a lot displaying to females.

 

[mireme]

I think mine are two females. I cant stop the black one from chasing the white one though. She is being a bad fish. Must be her hormones lol

 

[malakye]

Can you get pictures of both of them? That way we can help you sex them.