Pregnant Molly, please help me!

[BellaBee]

Hi! I’m new to owning fish and I have a Molly that is definitely pregnant because I saw a tiny fry in my tank. I moved the fry to a container and gave it some food. However there was only one that I saw so I moved my female Molly to a quarantine tank with some artificial plants because I don’t have any live plants yet what else can I do for her? She’s stressed the heck out and I am afraid of her not allowing her births to go through. Please help me

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It's preferable to leave the gravid (pregnant) females in the main tank and scoop out any babies with a plastic container. Chasing the female around a tank and lifting her out of water can stress or injure her or the babies.

At this stage, make sure the water in her container stays clean and warm and leave her alone. She will give birth when she is ready.

 

[BellaBee]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It's preferable to leave the gravid (pregnant) females in the main tank and scoop out any babies with a plastic container. Chasing the female around a tank and lifting her out of water can stress or injure her or the babies.

At this stage, make sure the water in her container stays clean and warm and leave her alone. She will give birth when she is ready.

When I saw the baby I immediately moved her (the preggo mamma) to the 1g tank I used to have for my Betta, she's been there for a few hours now and seems to be calming down, thank god. It does have a heater in it and I did a water change this morning as well so the water is nice and clean. Are the artificial plants going to make more stressed? I read that they like to have hiding spots but they might be too hard for her.

 

[BellaBee]

I just hope that I wasn't too late because if only one of them made it where the hell did the rest go? My filter has been off for the last 2 days as the water level was too low to keep it on and I didn't see any abnormal activity (filter has since been turned on and water change was done after finding the fry). The size of the fry is concerning because it seems to be bigger than it should be at only a few hours old... I also read that the females can store sperm and use it to fertilize whenever they choose to, but that doesn't explain there only being one baby. There are no other gravid fish in my tank that would produce a fry that large...

 

[BellaBee]

I just hope that I wasn't too late because if only one of them made it where the hell did the rest go? My filter has been off for the last 2 days as the water level was too low to keep it on and I didn't see any abnormal activity (filter has since been turned on and water change was done after finding the fry). The size of the fry is concerning because it seems to be bigger than it should be at only a few hours old... I also read that the females can store sperm and use it to fertilize whenever they choose to, but that doesn't explain there only being one baby. There are no other gravid fish in my tank that would produce a fry that large...

So sorry for the spam! But I moved her out because the male was constantly chasing her and not leaving her alone, I though it was best especially since I don't have any live plants for her to hide in to get away from him.

 

[Colin_T]

Live plants are preferred but any plants (including plastic) are fine and will make the female feel more secure.

You need to keep the filter running 24/7 otherwise you will have ammonia problems that will kill the fish. If you have an internal power filter, you can lay it down so it is completely underwater.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

the water level was too low to keep it on

do you not top water off? welcome to TFF

 

[BellaBee]

Live plants are preferred but any plants (including plastic) are fine and will make the female feel more secure.

You need to keep the filter running 24/7 otherwise you will have ammonia problems that will kill the fish. If you have an internal power filter, you can lay it down so it is completely underwater.

Okay will do thank you so much!

 

[BellaBee]

do you not top water off? welcome to TFF

I do when it needs to be done but I prefer to wait until the water change because I can clean and refill at the same time. But if I should do it that way then I shall! And thank you, glad to be here!

 

[emeraldking]

If she had more fry, probably they got eaten. But sometimes, the number of newborns can be very low. But if I look at the fry shown in that picture, it must be a couple of days old now.

 

[BellaBee]

If she had more fry, probably they got eaten. But sometimes, the number of newborns can be very low. But if I look at the fry shown in that picture, it must be a couple of days old now.

That is exactly what I think. There is no way she had over 20 babies and only one survived, the one fry has got to be 48Hrs or older. I really hope they make it! Any tips for caring for the fry? I have been using the food I have for my fish but crushing it up to a powdery substance so it is easier for him/her to eat.

 

[emeraldking]

That is exactly what I think. There is no way she had over 20 babies and only one survived, the one fry has got to be 48Hrs or older. I really hope they make it! Any tips for caring for the fry? I have been using the food I have for my fish but crushing it up to a powdery substance so it is easier for him/her to eat.

If she had released one or more stored sperm packets in the folds of the fallopian tube, it can happen that not all eggs that are present will be fertilized. Which automatically results in a lower number of newborns.
Usually, all eggs before fertilization have been provided with nutrients by the female herself. This is called pre-fertilization. These nutrients are needed for the embryos to nurture and develop. In general, all present eggs will have the same amount of nutrients so they will all develop at the same pace. But sometimes one or more eggs have more nutrients. This results in a faster development of the embryo and will be born sooner than its other siblings. Which means a low number of fry that will be born at that time or just one newborn fry, of course. And later on, the other siblings will be born that started to develop at the same time as the first born(s).

You can feed those fry the crushed flakes that you're already giving. You don't have to feed something else. But if you want to feed them something else, that would be okay as well. But they'll grow up just fine with the crushed flakes.