HELP! Babies!

[Kamdavid]

Just got home from getting a replacement fish for one of the kids... look in the bag, and there are 6 babies !! I have the babies in a breeder net , and the pregnant mom in a little fish net. She doesn’t look happy. But she popped out her 7th right now. Is this ok ?

 

[Colin_T]

I don't blame her for being unhappy. She was probably in labour when caught and bagged up. That is really bad for her. Then moved to a different tank and put in there with different water conditions, that is also bad for her. Hopefully she will be ok.

 

[Kamdavid]

She’s dropped two eggs now. ?!? I feel so bad for her. We didn’t know she was pregnant though.

 

[Kamdavid]

Should I just release her into the tank. I’m afraid the other fish will eat her babies though. Ugh I don’t know what to do.

 

[Kamdavid]

Here are the eggs

 

[Kamdavid]

I’m guessing she’s aborting now ? She did have 7 healthy fry .

 

[Retired Viking]

Those "eggs" are probably premature fry that have not fully formed. I would let her go free, she has a lot of stress to deal with and the more stress the greater chance that she could die. I have lost several mollies giving birth. You can leave the fry in the fry net and feed them fish food grind up to dust.

 

[Kamdavid]

Those "eggs" are probably premature fry that have not fully formed. I would let her go free, she has a lot of stress to deal with and the more stress the greater chance that she could die. I have lost several mollies giving birth. You can leave the fry in the fry net and feed them fish food grind up to dust.

Well I released her into the tank to hopefully help with her stress. She’s doing a little swimming , staying towards the back bottom mostly. I have 7 fry from her in the breeders net.

 

[emeraldking]

You could release her into the tank and keep the fry in the net. Like Colin_T already mentioned is that the stress of capturing her and putting in a small enviroment (the net in this case) may have lead to drop some fry. And in this case also some eggs. The eggs themselves have got nothing to do with stress. I know that a lot of people think that premature eggs that have been dropped are because of stress. But with ovoviviparous livebearers such as guppies, pre-fertilization is at hand. This means that the mother to be has fed nutrients into the yolk before any fertilization has taken place. The amount of nutrients should be sufficient for the whole gestation period untill birth happens. An undeveloped egg/embryo means that there wasn't sufficient nutrient in the yolk to start with. So, those eggs would have never been able to develop to a fully developed embryo. But undeveloped eggs are easier to push out. It only takes a couple of days to develop into a fully devleoped embryos after fertilization. The remaing gestation time is needed to grow. This means that a female can drop fry earlier than the average gestation time as long as the embryos have already developed. The only difference will be is that the fry are smaller. This is how it works...
Ovoviviparous female livebearers won't nourish the embryos by their body during the whole gestation time. Only viviparous female livebearer are able to do that.

 

[Kamdavid]

You could release her into the tank and keep the fry in the net. Like Colin_T already mentioned is that the stress of capturing her and putting in a small enviroment (the net in this case) may have lead to drop some fry. And in this case also some eggs. The eggs themselves have got nothing to do with stress. I know that a lot of people think that premature eggs that have been dropped are because of stress. But with ovoviviparous livebearers such as guppies pre-fertilization is at hand. This means that the mother to be has fed nutrients into the yolk before any fertilization has taken place. The amount of nutrients should be sufficient for the whole gestation period untill birth happens. An undeveloped egg/embryo means that there wasn't sufficient nutrient in the yolk to start with. So, those eggs would have never been able to develop to a fully developed embryo. But undeveloped eggs are easier to push out. It only takes a couple of days to develop into a fully devleoped embryos after fertilization. The remaing gestation time is needed to grow. This means that a female can drop fry earlier than the average gestation time as long as the embryos have already developed. The only difference will be is that the fry are smaller. This is how it works...

Ok good to know. I did release her and will keep an eye out for more fry, if she does have anymore. The 7 fry she did have are in the breeder net and they have already had their first meal one hour into their life !

 

[emeraldking]

Well actually, you don't have to feed those fry the first day. They still have their yolksack to absorb.

 

[Retired Viking]

@emeraldking Is an expert when it comes to livebearers, keep an eye on mom and make sure she has hiding places and the males do not start chasing her while she heals.

 

[Kamdavid]

No other male mollies in the tank. She’s doing her own thing right now. She’s swimming and checking the tank out.

so I won’t give them another meal
Until tomorrow I guess ?

 

[Retired Viking]

The fry are cute, I hope they make it to adulthood

 

[Kamdavid]

The fry are cute, I hope they make it to adulthood

I do too ! I can already see some cute coloring on them.