Molly Breeding

[Siamese Fighting]

After realising my black molly was giving birth, she went into my live bearer breeding tank. She lost about 20 babies in the main tank (that her husband ate, I might add. He just swam round with his mouth open behind her!) but I managed to retain 60 of her fry in a 15L tank.

I've had her for about 3 months now, along with another female and a single male in a community tank. As I can only presume the white male impregnated her, what will her babies grow up to look like? They're all black at the moment obviously, but will they look like swimming cows? ha ha ha.

Oh and how long until she is able to be pregnant again? I am going to have some job distributing these across my various tanks and pet shops (if they even take them!)

I wish I had taken a picture of her pregnant because she was huge but she is petite again now, and the white is displaying quite frantically. It's not like he's got competition but he wants more!!
I had a couple of deformed fry too, but she fortunately decided to eat them herself.

 

[LauraFrog]

How long have you had the black molly for? There's no guarantee that the white male is responsible for her being pregnant. A lot of livebearer females are already pregnant when you buy them. Because they can store sperm for up to or over 6 months, any babies she has now are a mixture of the white male's and any other male who managed to mate with her previously.

If there are any fry that are light orange, grey or pink, they are not yet their adult colour. Most of them colour up to a darker version of their birth colour, ie; fish that are born a sort of flesh tone colour become bright yellow, orange or pink. However fish that are born black are often their adult colour already. Black is a dominant colour, so it's probable that most of your fry will be black mollies. A mating between a black female and white male may produce dalmatians also if the female is carrying dalmatian but not displaying it (you can't see black spots on a black fish).

Domestic mollies are hybrids between several species, mainly Poecilia sphenops, P. velifera and P. latipinna. The adult sizes, gestation times and drop sizes of these species vary, and so will the times of domestic mollies depending on the proportions of the different species in them. If she is a small molly (mainly sphenops) she may have 40-100 fry every 4-5 weeks. Larger females have more fry less frequently, every 6-8 weeks.

 

[Siamese Fighting]

Thank you for your response

They are all black so far, as she has dropped a further 10 today.. rather randomly.

How long until they are large enough to live in a tank with other mollies and guppies?

 

[12azor]

Add them to the tank when they're big enough to not fit in the others mouths.

 

[Siamese Fighting]

Thank you for stating the obvious.

How many weeks will this take?

 

[kewskills]

Thank you for stating the obvious.

being rude to someone who is just trying to help you will not encourage other people to post in your threads.

 

[12azor]

Thank you for stating the obvious.

How many weeks will this take?

Well if you have only just had these and depending on what your feeding them it could be anywhere from 6-8 weeks. The latter just to be sure.
But as I said as soon as they get big enough so they can't be eaten - say near enough 2cm should be big enough.

Don't be put off if they don't get food in the main tank though, as most of it would be eaten by the larger fish. If you have a tube that you could put the food down so it is in between plants of hidden the few week old fry should be able to get their share.

 

[dunchp]

How long have you had the black molly for? There's no guarantee that the white male is responsible for her being pregnant. A lot of livebearer females are already pregnant when you buy them. Because they can store sperm for up to or over 6 months, any babies she has now are a mixture of the white male's and any other male who managed to mate with her previously.

Laura..., I agree with everything you say (as always ), but are you sure that the babies will be a mixture of the 'white male and any other male'? I thought the female stored sperm packets, but although she can mate with numerous males, a brood would all have the same father. I also thought that the female would 'prefer' sperm from more recent matings over stored sperm.

I will have to do a bit of research, but I was just wondering whether you knew something I don't.

 

[Siamese Fighting]

Thank you for stating the obvious.

being rude to someone who is just trying to help you will not encourage other people to post in your threads.

Yet you have decided to, how interesting.
I really hate unneeded hostility in my threads.

 

[Siamese Fighting]

Thank you for stating the obvious.

How many weeks will this take?

Well if you have only just had these and depending on what your feeding them it could be anywhere from 6-8 weeks. The latter just to be sure.
But as I said as soon as they get big enough so they can't be eaten - say near enough 2cm should be big enough.

Don't be put off if they don't get food in the main tank though, as most of it would be eaten by the larger fish. If you have a tube that you could put the food down so it is in between plants of hidden the few week old fry should be able to get their share.

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah they are on Hikari First Bites and broken up flakes for the moment.

Would I have to wait 6-8 weeks until I could sell them, or does it not matter what size they are on sale?

 

[12azor]

I'd say you should sell them when they're 3cm or above. That's what size I have usually seen them being sold.

 

[dunchp]

I'd say you should sell them when they're 3cm or above. That's what size I have usually seen them being sold.

I think it will take more than 8 weeks to get to the size you see in shops. If you are desperate to get them to a saleable size quickly then they need newly hatched brine shrimp, even then you will need 12 weeks plus.

 

[Siamese Fighting]

I'd say you should sell them when they're 3cm or above. That's what size I have usually seen them being sold.

I think it will take more than 8 weeks to get to the size you see in shops. If you are desperate to get them to a saleable size quickly then they need newly hatched brine shrimp, even then you will need 12 weeks plus.

It's not so much wanting to make a quick profit, it's just I don't have the room to keep them all up to adult size!
It's my own fault for saving so many! haha

 

[LauraFrog]

Depends where you're selling them. LFS usually need them at least half size, preferably 3/4. If you're selling them as feeders it probably doesn't matter how big they are.
If you don't like unneccessary hostility in your threads please don't snap at us, we are trying to help. Fish have different sized mouths so the size at which they can't get eaten depends on what you have in the tank.

Dunch I have no idea. I always thought that they used multiple sperm packets for a large brood but I could well be wrong. It's just that I've seen a white molly throwing black fry with only a yellow male in the tank.

 

[dunchp]

Dunch I have no idea. I always thought that they used multiple sperm packets for a large brood but I could well be wrong. It's just that I've seen a white molly throwing black fry with only a yellow male in the tank.

I have had a quick check on the internet and there seems to be a paper on multiple paternity, but that is for Heterandria formosa which practice Superfoetation (multiple broods developing at intervals in the same female) so I am not sure whether it is the same for other fish. I will be going to the ALA convention where there will be all sorts of ichthyologists speaking so I will see if any of them have any ideas.

Will probably post as a new thread when / if I find out. Sorry to hijack this one.