Keo Mated with Attica

[clairemolly]

So there I was watching my mollies when keo (male marbled) started mating with Attica (female sunset)! What color fry do you think she will have? Will I have sunsets with more spots?Or something totally diffrent?

claire

 

[Kiarra]

In all probability, knowing livebearers, she was probably pregnant long before he got there! But, in the future, she probably will bear his young, after she exhausts all the stored sperm she has accrued from any other males she has been with. Livebearer females can typically store 6-7 sperm packets within their own bodies, and fertilize themselves using those sperm packets that a male implanted in them. So a female can give birth to 6-7 "litters" without seeing a male since the first pregnancy.

 

[clairemolly]

I see so he is not yet a dad.So all of the females I have in the tank must give birth several times before any of the males I have in that tank become papas.

claire

 

[Kiarra]

Yeah, that's the general idea. Don't worry, though...it's possible that the fry's father(s) are incredible-looking, and you won't mind having their fry around.

And it's also possible that your females have near-exhausted their supply of sperm packets, and should be available for another male to take the step up and be a dad.

One thing you can also do that I've heard works, though I haven't tried it myself, is to replace your female with the male you want to father her brood, very shortly after she drops fry. That way, he can inseminate her before she uses up one of her sperm packets. That's the theory behind it, anyway. I do not know if it works.