Pregnant Mollies

[PaTTz]

I have recently move 2 pregnant mollies and one pregnant swordtail from my community tank into a smaller one. I am at school from 8 - 4 i am woried that i will miss the birth and the other mollies will eat them is that right?
I have a breeding net but i dont know when to put it in. My Swordtail has a VERY strong black dot in its stomache but it isnt very fat so i have mixed signs.

I would apreciate the help

Thanks Guys.

 

[5teady_2012]

Hi,

If you have move the pregnant fish to thier own tank, it would be a good idea to put some live plants in so the fry have a place to hide..usually mollie and swordtail fry are pretty big and easily escape being eaten but the plants will give them a lot better chance of survival..

When a fish is readt to drop, look out for the following

Dwelling on the bottom
Hanging around the top of the tank
Hovering near plants (or in them)
Hanging around the filter (if you have a internal one)
Hovering above the heater



and also.....

dont go by the gravid spot, .. the gravid spot can appear dark on females that aint pregnant, and appear light on heavy pregnant ones, all fish are diffrent and the gravid spot is so misleading.. the easiest way to tell is by the size of her belly (it will square off)

Depending on the size of your fish and age.. she may not get big and still drop... also sometimes in the gravid spot you can see the babies eyes, this is a good indication she aint far off her drop (once again dont go by the gravid spots color as i said, light or dark, all are diffrent... , but if there is eyes, thats a good sign)

Anymore questions, just ask

 

[who-izzet]

From the experience I have breeding livebearers, it can be hard to tell with a young fish. I prefer breeding traps that have a compartment where the small babies fall when the mother gives birth. They drop down and have difficulties swimming back to the mother. Although is likely you will lose a few that go back up and get eaten. Best way to deal with this is to add a few plants with the mother so they can hide but don't overcrowd her.

I find it's best to get them in a few days early so they don't get stressed.

There are alot of more experienced people on here that I'm sure will help with this one but the traps work well. You can get them for a couple of pounds on ebay or in your local pet stores. The net would be a good idea to put the babies or the mother after birth. The mother will need to rest for the day at least and it's not a good idea to put them back in the main tank straight away.

 

[5teady_2012]

From the experience I have breeding livebearers, it can be hard to tell with a young fish. I prefer breeding traps that have a compartment where the small babies fall when the mother gives birth. They drop down and have difficulties swimming back to the mother. Although is likely you will lose a few that go back up and get eaten. Best way to deal with this is to add a few plants with the mother so they can hide but don't overcrowd her.

I find it's best to get them in a few days early so they don't get stressed.

There are alot of more experienced people on here that I'm sure will help with this one but the traps work well. You can get them for a couple of pounds on ebay or in your local pet stores. The net would be a good idea to put the babies or the mother after birth. The mother will need to rest for the day at least and it's not a good idea to put them back in the main tank straight away.

If they have got a extra tank setup, its pointless using a trap.. the fry have a better chance in a big tank with only thier mother and lots of plants.. rather than a trap thats small, the reason i say this is because fry when born do sink at first, but there instinct tells them to swim towards light, they swim upwards and end upo getting eaten by thier mother in the trap, especially if the mother is worn out and hungry...

IM not saying traps are bad because with my guppies, i will only use traps... but anything else, i will let free roam with heavily stocked plants available for cover, and some slate to hide under as well.

 

[who-izzet]

Yeah it's makes sense. I have to use the traps though because I have that many babies in the baby tank, some would get eaten. I didn't know that about the babies heading towards the light but you can see they do that, resulting in some getting eaten. From my experience mollies very rarely eat their young anyway.

I found 3 baby berlin swordtails in a treatment tank today. They are lovely. Same colouration as the parents already. Similar to speckled mollies.

 

[5teady_2012]

Yeah it's makes sense. I have to use the traps though because I have that many babies in the baby tank, some would get eaten. I didn't know that about the babies heading towards the light but you can see they do that, resulting in some getting eaten. From my experience mollies very rarely eat their young anyway.

I found 3 baby berlin swordtails in a treatment tank today. They are lovely. Same colouration as the parents already. Similar to speckled mollies.

The thing with mollies is they are a pain for trying to eat thier young, fortunatly though, the fry are usualy fairly big and can get away

The thing is though, everyone experiences are all diffrent, so its always hard to judge someone elses fish and the only thing we can do is pass on our info

 

[PaTTz]

Thanks for all the answers.
But should i leave the swordtail and the other molly in there?
In case they it the other mollies babies.
i have a breeding trap ready for the fry because i think the other 2 will eat them.

 

[5teady_2012]

Thanks for all the answers.
But should i leave the swordtail and the other molly in there?
In case they it the other mollies babies.
i have a breeding trap ready for the fry because i think the other 2 will eat them.

If you have the 2 fish in a seperate tank, just let them drop in there, once they have dropped you can put the adults bk in to your mian tank and leave the fry in the tank they was born in

 

[PaTTz]

but i have 3 fish in there, when one of them give birth will the other 2 not eat them