:cough: When Livebearers Won't Breed...

[JollieMollie]

: - /


Okay, I have issues with this. I have a total of five mollies and three guppies now and I have trouble getting them to breed. I know, I know...


Okay. So. First we had one male and one female guppy. Male shows no interest in female. Turns out female is pregnant. Okay, no problem. We get another female guppy, on the samll side and no gravid spot. Male shows no interest whatsoever. What's wrong with him? Sheesh.


Mollies: I got two female black mollies, one silver sail fin molly, and one 24k molly. No breeding, chasing occour. Someone says 24k won't breed with others. Disappointment. I go buy a dalmation, sail fin, lyre tail molly. He chases female silver sail fin all over creation, won't let her rest, totally ignores black mollies. Argh!

If the important factor is the sail fin or not, why won't 24k show interest in either normal blacks or sail fin silver? If it's something abotu the color, surely damations are just as closely related to silvers as to blacks? I really don't want to fill up my entire tank with mollies before htey even breed just trying to get a combination that will breed and no one is getting harassed! : - P What's the deal, and what should I do? I have a 29 gallon btw.






- Why won't my male guppy show interest in either female?

- Why will my male molly onnly breed with the silver?

- Should I get another silver or another dalmation molly in your opinion, or will the male show interest in the blacks after the silver is prenant?



:sniffle: They aren't working out simply like they have for me before. They are being so complicated....


Everyone looks really healthy though and they are all very active. I didn't really realize how incredibly active mollies are compared to... everything else, basically! Even barbs and neons look lethargic next to them...

 

[theotheragentm]

Let's start with stupid questions. Sometimes the simple ones have the answers.

Are we positive we have males and females? Male anal fins (on the bottom, furthest back towards the tail) are tube-like.

Are we positive we have fish that are old enough to mate? What are the sizes of the fish in question?

Colors should not matter with mating. It's rare, but not uncommon, to see livebearers that won't mate. More often than not, people have the opposite problem.

Are we positive the fish haven't mated and given birth? How long have you had the fish? I've never seen my fish mate, but I see them pregnant and fry show up as if magically.

 

[Eridor]

sorry whats a 24k molli im confused

 

[JollieMollie]

Stupid questions are always a good place to start. (-:


As it happens, I am educated in how to tell male from female livebearers and am absolutely certain of that much. (-:


It's possible that the female guppy isn't old enough, I suppose; she is a touch smaller than the original, pregnant female. I'm not sure how to tell when they are sexually mature though, so I can't answer that conclusively for the guppies. The male I have seen flirt with various other objects and swing his gonepodom or whatever that's called like they do when they're mating. Just, not with the guppies. (-: The little female is, as I said, only a bit smaller than the pregnant (is gravid proper?) female guppy.


As for the mollies, the silver high fin is huge and the blacks are not noticably small for normal black mollies. I owned them before and breed them, and I haven't noticed these being smaller. If someone can give me a rouch inches to maturity estimate (mollies are usually mature once they have reached 1.5 inches, or whatever) then I can set about trying to measure them. (-: But I don't believe that to be the problem.


I have had the black mollies and silver and 24k for... two weeks maybe? and the dalmation for a day. (-: The females all look quite slim and have for the several weeks that I've seen them. I realize breeding may not always be seen, but I watch my fishies a lot and since I have seen the dalmation pursue the silver relentlessly I know sometimes I see it. (-: The 24k actually did "sniff" (I guess fish dont' sniff...) around the anus of a black molly female earlier today like they do right before breeding but after a halfhearted pursuit he gave up. Mostly he just ignores them or lets one of them bully him! So no, I don't think they're pregnant, and they definately have not given birth. Oh, and the gravid female and male guppies I've had for probably a month, the new female only a day.



Eridor, a 24k molly is a breed of molly. It is gold colored with more black towards the tail; I got a lovely male that is half gold and half black with little to no speckling. (-:

 

[theotheragentm]

I will assume for the time being that these are normal sexually mature fish. That being said, pregnancy begins same day male and female are put together. Two weeks is about when you start to notice signs of pregnancy. This is when size starts to show, but it's just a start so don't worry too much if you can't see it just yet.

That being said, it is possible they aren't old enough to mate yet. Can you give us a size in inches of how long these fish are right now? That may give us a feel for whether they are mature enough to mate.

 

[three-fingers]

What are your water stats?

 

[Eridor]

thanks i that it may be gold but was not sure ta

 

[JollieMollie]

UPDATE: My female guppy gave birth today. (-: I've seen a couple people on here ask the same question that I'm going to repeat since I haven't seen an answer: My female looks like she's still present. I can even still see eye spots in her gravid spot. Yet she had four or more fry already and seems to have stopped. She looks healthy and find... suggestions? Help?



It was really sad, actually... I bought two bumble bee gobies tody. I was watching them swim happily around the tank, when all the sudden I saw a fry. My first fry, mind you, in this tank. I was very excited and started reaching for the net, opening the lid... the fry had gone behind a rock and all the sudden one of my gobies darted behind the rock too. The fry disappeared. O_O I know it's just the right size for a goby, similar to their natural food source, etc etc... but that doesn't lessen the exasperation when your long-awaited fry disappears down your newest fish's throat! I eventually found four more, though, so he's forgiven. Partly. I lectured him though.






The mollies are approximately two inches in length except the silver sail fin, which is perhaps as much as two and a half inches. I don't know what those are in centemeters, my apologies! The dalmation male still shows no interest in the black females, but he has stopped hounding the silver. I'm assuming that she's pregnant, do you think so?



Perhaps eventually I'll have goby fry as well. 9-: That would be exciting.




Oh, and I don't have data on my water stats. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned; I didn't do a fishless cycle, I just added plants and fish slowly. I'll check stats if I have continued problems, but other than some ich I've had no problems and all my fish are healthy. The only problems I had was when I didn't realize just how bad salt was for neons and bettas and barbs / But no, I don't have water stats for you, sorry. All my fish are active and healthy and that's all I can tell you for sure. (-:

 

[slipperysucker]

UPDATE: My female guppy gave birth today. (-: I've seen a couple people on here ask the same question that I'm going to repeat since I haven't seen an answer: My female looks like she's still present. I can even still see eye spots in her gravid spot. Yet she had four or more fry already and seems to have stopped. She looks healthy and find... suggestions? Help?



It was really sad, actually... I bought two bumble bee gobies tody. I was watching them swim happily around the tank, when all the sudden I saw a fry. My first fry, mind you, in this tank. I was very excited and started reaching for the net, opening the lid... the fry had gone behind a rock and all the sudden one of my gobies darted behind the rock too. The fry disappeared. O_O I know it's just the right size for a goby, similar to their natural food source, etc etc... but that doesn't lessen the exasperation when your long-awaited fry disappears down your newest fish's throat! I eventually found four more, though, so he's forgiven. Partly. I lectured him though.






The mollies are approximately two inches in length except the silver sail fin, which is perhaps as much as two and a half inches. I don't know what those are in centemeters, my apologies! The dalmation male still shows no interest in the black females, but he has stopped hounding the silver. I'm assuming that she's pregnant, do you think so?



Perhaps eventually I'll have goby fry as well. 9-: That would be exciting.




Oh, and I don't have data on my water stats. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned; I didn't do a fishless cycle, I just added plants and fish slowly. I'll check stats if I have continued problems, but other than some ich I've had no problems and all my fish are healthy. The only problems I had was when I didn't realize just how bad salt was for neons and bettas and barbs / But no, I don't have water stats for you, sorry. All my fish are active and healthy and that's all I can tell you for sure. (-:

Congrats on your guppy fry - its exciting I know! You might find that it was her first drop...because she is young she may only have a few....Also I had a female guppy who had two drops while i had her in a couple of months and she only ever had 7 - 9. She might drop more often with less fry...etc. Also stress and poor water conditions can affect labour...and sometimes even stop them. I ahve a few females ready to go...it seems like they have never dropped before but are growing bigger....the males are getting pretty aggressive and chasing their bums...the males try and bring them on in ome cases so they can fertalise them themselves. Agro little fiesty things they are. I love em...

Take care...remember to new your babaies and feed small amounts 3- 6 times a day...babies need plenty of food to grow. Gl Need any other advice feel free to contact me. Cheers

Cathy In australia