molly in labour???

[jewels_bling]

help- i have a molly in labour- or she is aborting- but she is so huge i think there wiil be some live fry dropped- only problem is that it looks like she has been struggling to drop the same egg for hours and hours.... she is about the 3rd molly i have caught dropping fry... and the only one i have actually moved into a breeding trap- and i have doctored it up with a little bit of grave for the fry to hide in and some floating plants on top- plus i have been making sure that there is a little bit of food in there for the mama as she has been having little nibbles here and there... i am just worried because she has not dropped anything yet that i have seen and has been struggling since yesterday- i know yesterday she dropped one egg and ate it but other than that- nada... anybody ever midwife a molly before and have any advice on how to help her along... water and everything is all good- she went into labour yesterday after i did a water exchange and up the temp in the tank one degree....

 

[Annastasia]

Breeding traps can be stressful for them, especially Mollies as they are pretty big. But anyway...

So she's trying to drop an egg? And she's been trying for at least 12 hours? Hmm...that's not really normal. The thing I would advise would be turn the lights out, and make her enviroment as stress free as possible. Give her a little more time, chances are she will make it through this.

 

[wwestar2000]

But mollies are livebearers they wouldnt be dropping eggs. They would be droping fry. Let her loose is the best thing. The babies would survive in your tank loose. The breeding net is just something a expierience user would use if they didnt have hiding places in there tank. Let her loose.

 

[Annastasia]

The eggs are undevoloped fry, wwestar.

You can let her loose, which may be best, depending on the fish you have, but there is no guarantee the babies will survive. Mollies are big fry eaters, and so are most other fish. However, if you keep watching her, you could stick the babies in a breeder net (If you have one) when they come out, and raise them up a bit in there. Not long though, because Molly fry are born big and you don't want to overcrowd.

 

[jewels_bling]

ok- here is the thing- the "breeding trap" i have her in is about a half us gal big and it is set up with gravel and floating plants so it is pretty big and it is more to seperate her from the males in the tank that still like to harass the females when they are in labour- i would put her into a seperate tank but the only other one that i have right now has got sick fish in it-

hadn't thought about turning out the lights though- but everything else is pretty set up or her comfort and she doesn't look overly stressed except for the fact that it looks like she is really struggling to get whatever it is out- i can't tell if it is a fry that is stuck or if it is an undeveloped egg that she is aborting- but i am thinking more the second than the first. i also don't know if this is her first fry or not- i am thinking not but this is just the first one i have caught her in labour for.

she is definitly the biggest i have ever seen a pregnant molly get though - the poor fish is huge!

but she has been trying to get this one thing out all day as far as i can tell and my mom and i have really been keeping an eye on her- she doesn't appear any further along then she was when i got up this morning.

any other ideas to help her?