Is my baloon mollie pregnant and when should I be expecting to see the fry.

[ben_likes_fish]

Is my molly pregnant?

I recently bought this baloon molly and kept thinking that it had a belly that was lager than it was supposed to be (i thought 'baloon' molly ment they would have a large round belly).
I did some digging and found out that its a female (i think) and possibly pregnant. I dont really know how to identify the signs such as gravid spots, boxed off belly and behaviour. Could anyone help me understand wether this molly is pregnant or not? If it is, when should I be expecting them and should I put it in a seperate tank or breeder box?
Also - when I saw the fish in the store, it seemed to move away from all the other fish as if it wanted to isolate itself. Furthermore, shes been hanging around the heater alot and swimming up and down the glass alot more.
Thankyou to anyone who responds, much appreciated.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello ben. Mollies are one fish that will test your tank keeping skills. The livebearing fish are generally very strong, hardy fish. Mollies not so much. Anyway, the male and female livebearing fish are typically kept together, so if you have a female, she's pregnant. The best thing to do is to keep the tank water as clean as possible. Here's a tip for you. If your tank is less than 30 gallons, work up to the point you remove and replace half the water two times a week. Tanks that are 30 gallons or larger, need half the water changed weekly. You can do the math and change gallons to liters. Remember, you must keep the water extremely clean. That's really the most important thing about this hobby.

10

 

[emeraldking]

From the pics I can tell you that you've got a female for sure (normal V-shaped anal fin). The question: Is a female balloon molly pregnant? That's always hard to tell because of the typical big belly they have of themselves. A gravid spot is not always to be seen in female mollies (doesn't matter what kind of molly). For a lot of breeding forms of female mollies have a high density of color cells at the vent area. This means that no gravid spot will be seen. While most female livebearers have a lack of color cells overthere, which makes it possible to see the internals (like intestines), eggs and embryos shining through the skin (which we call the "gravid spot").

Really, really clean water is not something crucial to mollies. They are more comfortable when water gets the time to set. Which you won't establish with a high frequency of water changes. Molly fry will grow faster with a more frequent water change. That's all to it. But adult mollies thrive better in water that have set.