Pregnant Dalmation Molly

[Althamon]

I know I definitely have one pregnant molly and she has been fairly square since I got her on 25th feb, and no chance of looking for a gravid spot as I would only assume it was part of her markings:


Taken 2nd March


Taken 7th March

Is that the birthing tube appearing on the 2nd pic (little lump underneath fin)?

Any ideas on how much longer I may have to wait for her to have the fry?

Molly 2 was impregnated on multiple occasions on 2nd March so expecting that in about 5 weeks I am guessing.

 

[Lyra0727]

I'm no expert but if mollys are anything like guppies it should be any time now. Especally since the tube is showing. Keep a very close eye on her!
(going based off of what I just learned today dont get mad if I'm wrong please )

 

[Althamon]

Don't worry I won't hold it against you but just needed a second opinion as I thought she looked ready to burst, she is still feeding though so it may not be today so it gives me a little more time to find a breeding pen of some form.

 

[Lyra0727]

I'm in the exact same situation with my guppy. If she gets any bigger she will pop! But still no babies. But at the moment I'm thankful for that because I still need to get plants for the fry I'm going to try without a breeding trap. I dont like moving my fish to much they act weird every time I do.

But your females tube is showing a lot more than my guppy.. so I'm sure she is going to burst really soon.

 

[Althamon]

I thought about trying to see how natures course would go in terms of allowing them to fend for themselves then remembered my filter has large openings and if I didn't get a trap then they would be "nemo'd" due to being sucked up the pipe + I am curious to see how many she drops and not having minced frys to clean up

 

[Lyra0727]

Oh yeah with a strong filter it would be best to use a breeding trap. Mine isnt that strong so I never worried about it. I guess you'll just have to keep an extra close eye on her so you can catch her in time! Unless shes stubborn and refuses to give birth until after shes back in the tank.. I have read about guppies doing that before. Not sure how stubborn molly's are though.

 

[Althamon]

I just have a feeling she is going to be stubborn.

I am just putting her in the trap overnight as that's the only time I can't monitor her, I reckon she will drop over the weekend.

 

[Neon Squid]

My Dalmation Molly just gave birth to her fry tonight!

I was in the same situation as you, it just seemed to be big for AGES but I'm sure it'll happen soon.

 

[Neon Squid]

Just a quick caution about your molly.

Mines just dropped her fry tonight, but after watching her for a while she was chasing all the fry out of the stones on the bottom and eating them!

I have a separate nursery tank but am fairly new to this as well. After a while I removed the female and put her back in the main tank. I've counted 11 fry so far. She ate quite a lot I think tho. She may of had more but I didn't want to leave her alone with them all night incase by morning I was left with 0

I'd advise thick plants for your fry to hide in or separate the mum when you have an amount of fry your happy with.

 

[Althamon]

Congrats on your new fry.

I wish I had the space for a breeding tank but for the time being the trap will just have to do for mine. But I do have a tank I can put them in when they are older so I guess that makes up for it.

 

[Lyra0727]

Speaking of fry, How is your molly doing? Still getting bigger or has she dropped already? Let me know how it goes when it happens

 

[Althamon]

She is still getting bigger, and still just as hungry! so far not seen any signs of the impending drop but as soon as I see her off her food and hiding from the others, she is going right in the trap and lights will go off to reduce the stress of having so little space to swim. I predict she will have had them by monday but much later than next fri and I cant guarentee the fry will survive due to going on hol on the monday after.

 

[Lyra0727]

Well if the fry dont survive you can always try again It's really interesting to see how yours comes out because my guppy is going through the exact same thing and I have a habbit of compareing things.. It would be really funny if they both gave birth on the same night.

 

[Neon Squid]

I kept comparing my molly against other pictures for weeks, judging by your pictures I think your right in saying any day now.

New head count this morning confirmed 13 fry! Not bad considering mum ate a fair few. I hope you get a good drop! I'm going to grow mine a little and keep 2-3. Then I'll need to find 10 dalmation mollys homes.

 

[Lyra0727]

I kept comparing my molly against other pictures for weeks, judging by your pictures I think your right in saying any day now.

New head count this morning confirmed 13 fry! Not bad considering mum ate a fair few. I hope you get a good drop! I'm going to grow mine a little and keep 2-3. Then I'll need to find 10 dalmation mollys homes.

Depending on the fish store you could probably sell them. Lots of people do that if they have the chance to. It's the fastest way to find homes for them all and you make a little profit for the troubles (if you had any).