Poorly Or Pregnant?

[Masami]

I realise this is a common topic (and its my first post), but would appreciate some re-assurance whether my molly is a pregnant one or a poorly one.

 

[Fishy friend2]

She looks pregnant to me

PS she is very pretty,

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, very pregnant!

See how her belly has 'squared off', like it's almost got corners, expecially at her front? That means she's very close to giving birth; sometime within the next 24 to 48 hours usually

Oh, and to the forum; that's a lovely pic, btw, well done on that!

 

[Masami]

Thanks for the quick reply, I think I was lucky with the picture since it was only taken with my phone.

I only have two fish in my tank since its relatively new (set up a week before xmass) so probably still going through initial cycle, the other is a golden loach (aka chinese algae eater) will I need my floating breeding tank in there or will the fry be ok to free-roam the tank without being eaten.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Masami.
Fry from your molly, could even happen today, should be fine as long as there are some decent hiding places and both the fish in the tank are well fed.
Since you have only been set up for a week, you will need to do daily water changes for at least the next 6 weeks. A cycle takes about 6 weeks on average but unless you are testing your water daily you need to remove any build up of nitrogen daily for at least that long. Water changes of 50% would not be out of line. No more fish should be added until the tank finishes its cycle.

 

[Backlash]

Hi Masami,

Just keep an eye on that Chinese Algae Easter you have, especilly when he starts getting a little older.. I had one when I first got into the hobby... All went well for a few months, he kept the glass clean, but then I started losing fish.. Some time later I caught the Chinese Algae Eater trying to eat the scales and slime off my fish, rather than the algae off my tank..

Not being overly impressed with his new eating habbits, it was time to find him a new home.. Unfortunately (for him), the only tank mate that I haad that would be suitable was my 5' yabby... (It was no surprise that the Yabby won the fight)

After speaking to a few friends in the hobby, it turns out that it is quite common for the Algae Eaters to do this, so my advice is get rid of him, and buy a few snails..

Mark..

 

[Masami]

another couple of days gone by, no sign of babies and swelling seems to increase around food times and subsequently decrease. I have also noticed that my molly poo's within an hour of being fed and the golden loach will happily eat the poo of the bottom.

I now suspect the fish isnt digesting its food very well.

 

[Masami]

This fish is still large but hasn't dropped any fry at all, however some other mollies which I got a few weeks later have had their first fry on friday just as I got back from holiday, I have home the fry in a 30ltr tank and all nine that I recovered from the main tank are doing well so far.

One suprising thing is that this molly is now mostly black with only a few small white areas, I hadn't realised this until recently going though my pictures.

I think I will need to rehome my single male Molly as I am concerned that rehomeing regular births of molly fry will be problematic, and quite a few will survive each month due to my java ferns and java moss which are both quite dense now.

 

[Neptune54]

One time, I thought that my platy was about to drop; she finally did an week and a half later. I'd say try not to worry aobut it and just keep an eye on her for the time being. Another thing you should know is that guppies, mollies, platies, swordtails, and perhaps endlers (I don't know for sure on them) are able to store sperm for up to 6 months, so even if you rehome the male, she'll still be able to have a few drops after that. Hope this helps!

 

[random919]

It possibly is a digestive problem and unfortunatly there isn't much you cn do for them apart from hope an wait. She looks pretty pregnant but you cant see the gravid spot so it is very hard to tell. this is like my guppy. We thought it was a female but them the tail fin changed to the male charateristic. He started to swell up and wasn't digesting his food. On Easter saturday, he stopped eating and then unfortunatly he died the next morning.
Keep an eye on your molly and see if it starts to drop fry.
Hope this helps

 

[Masami]

Thanks for the updated I stop worrying about her a while ago, if she finally drops I will update the thread as I imagine it will be quite a batch if she does

 

[5teady_2012]

She looks very close to me, i would say within the next 3 days

 

[Masami]

It finally happened! I don't know if it's some kind of record but she had 60 fry on her very first birth!

 

[5teady_2012]

Congrate m8, she must have a lot bigger, definitely not a easy judgement on your fish lol, 60 fry is good, but they can have up to 150