Mollies can hold sperm from their last mating, which means she could have met her match six months ago and still be having his babies, though if she has a new boyfriend, the fry will probably be his.
The black one is poking around her rear because he is interested in her, and he wants to mate. This attention can become very aggressive in some males, so keep an eye on him.
The gravid spot isn't present in all female fish, it's about a 50/50 trait on whether a female fish will have one, sometimes they develop later in life, other times they never develop.
With your female I would speculate she won't have a gravid spot, though her fry may. She's becoming transparent because she is being stretched with all her fry, she'll return to normal after she has dropped. Remember to remove her from the nursery as soon as she is done dropping or she may eat the fry. Do you plan on keeping all of them? Mollies often have 20 or more fry in one drop.
OH MY! Fantastic info!
If the black molly becomes too aggresive with her, should I place him in a seperate tank until she delivers? Or move her? Or how does that work? He is constantly all over her, but I just noticed that if he swims away, she swims after him and nudges him in his side. I just fed them and now he seems a little less aggresive with her.
I am not sure what I will do with her fry. My inlaws were talking about getting a fish tank again, so maybe I can gift them some new fish?
About how long will the fry be OK in a 5g tank alone? I know its 1gal/inch of fish rule, and the fry will be around 1cm when they are first born?
Thank you so much for your reply!
We have had her for over 6 weeks, I dont think they can be pregnant for that long, can they? Or I did read something about holding sperm? I am not sure what that means though. LOL Oh being a Newbie...
I noticed that the black molly is constantly pokeing around her rear end last night and when she deficated, there was a clear jelly looking substance mixed with normal stool. Is this something to be concerned about?
I do not see a dark (I think its called) Gravid spot on her, but I notice that her belly is becoming more and more almost transparent when I look at her in the light as she gets larger. Do all fish get the gravid spot or is it something that shows as they are closer to delivering/dropping?
They can be pregnant for up to 2 months before they drop the fry.
The gravid spot can hardly be seen on opaque fish, it's the shape of her belly you have to follow. When she squares off (looks like her bottom side has corners under her head) then she's going to drop fry within 1-2 days.
Sperm holding for 6 months means that she can drop fry, without a male around, 6 times or so. So if you remove the males from around her, she will keep giving birth until her 6th or so drop of fry.
The jelly stuff might be of concern though, keep an eye on her. If she makes white poop often, it might be a parasite. Although my lyretail swordtail had a jelly-like white poop before birthing last time).
So the squaring off is in the front or the entire belly? I am pretty sure I read that the back portion of her belly will drop off and square off as well? She is still quite round in the front like a ball, but her back portion is dropping nicely.
