Molly Pregnancy

[random919]

Hi all,
Quick question. How long should you leave a molly when shes pregnant before putting her in the breeder trap? She is 30 Days on now and i can see her gravid spot and she is reasonably big. i can also see what looks like eyes through her stomach.
Also, my male is chasing my other female and she has been with them since i put them all in at the beginning. She is chased around any time she comes out of the corner or the ship ornanment that she hides in. is there anything i can do to help this matter?
Thanks guys
random919

 

[Meggie :)]

I wouldn't put her in the trap at all...it only stresses the mothers out, and if you put the female in too early she can have a miscarriage (if that's the right word for a fish haha)...if you really want to save the fry you can either put a ton of hiding places in there for them like plants or something...or you can scoop them up as she pops them out and put them in the trap or a separate tank good luck!

~Megs

 

[random919]

shes now 32 days and still no babies. how long can they be before having their fry?

 

[OldMan47]

It can be quite long. My last brood female used to always take 42 days between drops. She simply did not start again for a couple of weeks after a drop. The only way to be certain of the interval is to introduce a virgin female to a male and remove him after a day. That particular drop will happen at almost exactly 28 days.

 

[random919]

her gravid spot has disappeared!! has she has then fry and all have been eaten or is she still pregnant? she still lokks quite big and is pretty square still underneath.

 

[OldMan47]

If she is large and getting more square by the day, she is still carrying. Have a read through of my post about My Molly's Progress (I keep a link in my signature area). The intent of that thread is to help you monitor progress. It follows one of my breeding females from day one of a drop to the next drop and has pictures along the way with commentary about what I saw. I never, let me repeat that never, use a gravid spot as an aid to determining a fish's state. Instead I find that shape is far more reliable.

 

[random919]

its day 39 and still nothing. she is still pretty big but still no fry. i'm slightly worried

 

[fishmania06]

i was wondering if anyone could tell me whether my molly fish is pregnant i have noticed recently in the past week or so that she has become very big and a black spot has appeared hovering around, ive heard this can be called a gravid spot. Any help would be great i will try and upload a picture of her(if it is infct a she). Thanks

http/www.facebook....&type=3

this is a picture of my molly... hope this helps

 

[the_lock_man]

i was wondering if anyone could tell me whether my molly fish is pregnant i have noticed recently in the past week or so that she has become very big and a black spot has appeared hovering around, ive heard this can be called a gravid spot. Any help would be great i will try and upload a picture of her(if it is infct a she). Thanks

http/www.facebook....&type=3

this is a picture of my molly... hope this helps

The link isn't working for me.

You've obviously read through this thread, so take a look at the pinned topic that OM47 refers to.

Does she now, or has she within the last 6 months, shared water with a male molly? If yes, then the chances are that she is gravid, yes.

 

[fishmania06]

i was wondering if anyone could tell me whether my molly fish is pregnant i have noticed recently in the past week or so that she has become very big and a black spot has appeared hovering around, ive heard this can be called a gravid spot. Any help would be great i will try and upload a picture of her(if it is infct a she). Thanks

http/www.facebook....&type=3

this is a picture of my molly... hope this helps

The link isn't working for me.

You've obviously read through this thread, so take a look at the pinned topic that OM47 refers to.

Does she now, or has she within the last 6 months, shared water with a male molly? If yes, then the chances are that she is gravid, yes.

last week

today this is how she looks.


she has gotten realy big, yes the OM47 realy helped she looks like early to mid stags but i am unsure. I had baught her 1 month ago and i found out last week that the yellow molly i own is a male. Also i was wondering if she is pregnant will all the other fish pick up on this as they are rubbing themselves on her and the male yellow molly is acting very dominent towards the other fish that come near her.


any help would be great.

 

[OldMan47]

Other fish are more aware of your female's state than we are. As she gets close to a drop the other males will give her lots of attention. The whole driving force of sex, in any animal including man, is to try to ensure survival of the genes of the parents. In livebearers, the male who first mates with a female right after a drop has the best chance of perpetuating his genes. It will mean that any female close to a drop becomes the favorite of every male in the tank. Watch the action of the males. I bet they move along side the female and you will see them swing their gonopodium forward and toward the female for about a second. That is the movement of mating in a common livebearer. The momentary contact is all that it takes to produce the next generation of fry.

 

[fishmania06]

Other fish are more aware of your female's state than we are. As she gets close to a drop the other males will give her lots of attention. The whole driving force of sex, in any animal including man, is to try to ensure survival of the genes of the parents. In livebearers, the male who first mates with a female right after a drop has the best chance of perpetuating his genes. It will mean that any female close to a drop becomes the favorite of every male in the tank. Watch the action of the males. I bet they move along side the female and you will see them swing their gonopodium forward and toward the female for about a second. That is the movement of mating in a common livebearer. The momentary contact is all that it takes to produce the next generation of fry.

aaaaah that explains it, will this also mean that one of my male plattys has a chance of mating with her as he tries to get near her everychance he can get whilst my male molly if off chasing another fish away.... and my pregnant molly looks about 1-2 weeks pregnant at the moment your pinned topic on the stages of a molly birth ws realy helpfull..... thankyou

 

[OldMan47]

Mollies will not breed successfully with platies. It is not one of the possible crosses.

 

[fishmania06]

well thats good, i just cant wait to see what the fry turn out like, silver like there mummy or yellow with big black eyes or a mix, oh i cant wait