Molly Pregnancy

Hey336 · Nov 28, 2015

My molly has been pregnant for 4 weeks almost 5 now shes got her gravid spot, squared off, etc. All the signs i can find my water is all tested and maintained at all times...i can see an eye inside of her but the babies wont come out, im not very patiant but is there any way i can help her with the birth or do i just have to wait? Im allowing her to breed in the main tank because of the amount of hiding spots and plant life

RyanTheFishGuy64 · Nov 29, 2015

I am going to make a safe assumption and say that everything is fine and going to plan. You might be able to sped up the process by heating up the tank to 80F and do a 25% water change twice a week to make sure the water is perfect. Other than that, just wait! Good Luck

NewbeeTanker · Dec 26, 2015

How did your pregnant Molly go? I'm new to all this, but we bought a Molly that happened to be pregnant. I thought there was something wrong with her till she seemed fine and my hubby spotted a fry in the tank.
But a week later she got fat again, had clear discharge, and what looked like a gravid spot again. This morning she's skinny again. Can't see any fry though. I don't have any males in the tank, so could she just have had bacteria swelling her tummy, or can she have more than one delivery from one pregnancy? I'm new to all this. The tank had its first ammonia spike a few days ago, at 2ppm so could that have done it? I'm still getting it under control.

Fish4Life0290 · Dec 28, 2015

Newbie Tanker Your molly is probably pregnant again because females can become pregnant for up to 6 months after her last encounter with a male. This is an adaptation that insures the survival of offspring due to mollies being a somewhat cannibalistic fish. Expect new fry for a while. Happy Fishkeeping!

NewbeeTanker · Dec 28, 2015

Thanks Fish4life0209

. There were some new surprise babies in the tank but I think my big platy ate them all

. There is still one survived from her first batch though. It's pretty cute, I hope it survives. Thanks for letting me know about the 6 months of pregnancies. My guppy is now looking pregnant too and she's not been near a male for 6 weeks

. This is all so fascinating

NickAu · Dec 28, 2015

If you want more fry to survive you need to give them some cover, IE plants I prefer live.

Another option is some 1/2 inch plastic tube cut into 2 inch lengths, Big enough for the fry to hide in too small for a mature molly to get into.

This stuff about 8 bits should be fine.
http

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AquariumGuides · Dec 29, 2015

For some fish, you can induce pregnancy by changing conditions. For example, for Amazonian fish, a large water change often inducing egg laying because it signals to the fish the arrival of the floods.

However, for livebreaders that breed like guppies (mollies included), you should generally just wait for the fish to be born.

NickAu · Dec 29, 2015

AquariumGuides said:
For some fish, you can induce pregnancy by changing conditions. For example, for Amazonian fish, a large water change often inducing egg laying because it signals to the fish the arrival of the floods.

However, for livebreaders that breed like guppies (mollies included), you should generally just wait for the fish to be born.

Inducing spawning behaviour by doing water changes is quite normal with breeders.

However inducing a live bearer to give birth is not the same as inducing them to mate, and it will result in premature births and dead fry, All things being equal if your fish is healthy and the water conditions are OK mother nature is the best judge of when a live bearer gives birth not man.

Fish4Life0290 · Dec 29, 2015

You're welcome NewbieTanker. Plants(fake or live) are beneficial for survival rates. I have 2 floating mats that I picked up at PetSmart, 1 live anubias, and a bunch of plastic plants from various places in my 20 gallon tank. The fry seem to fare well in the mats. Soon you will have a rapidly growing colony of fish so happy fishkeeping!

OldMan47 · Jan 17, 2016

For fry survival you want a dense plant like najas grass, java moss or something similar for the fry to hide in. This is a small clump of java moss in one of my tanks.