Pregnant orange molly fish, black fry?

[CupFan99]

Hi,

First post on here so apologies if I've done anything wrong...

So, I have 4 female Mollies in my tank. The orange Molly is the one who is more obviously pregnant but the fry are black - is this normal or is there a chance that 1 of the other mollies has given birth to them?

Another thing to note is that there aren't any "obvious" gravid spots on any of these fish...

Here're the pictures of the mollies that could be pregnant:

Orange:

Black:

White & black:

And the fry:

Thanks in advance.

 

[Essjay]

It could be any of them. It depends a lot on the colour of the father. I am not well up on molly genetics, but someone who knows more than me will be able to give you more accurate advice.

 

[AilyNC]

Did you notice a shape change in any of them when fry were born? My platy was super round, then her tummy looked square in shape, then she had fry and tummy was muchhhh smaller that it had been.

 

[CupFan99]

We're monitoring the orange fish as she seems to be hiding behind the plants but she seems to be pooing more and other fish are following her around. I did have her in the breeding tank but she wasn't moving much until I put her back into the tank.

The fry managed to get out of the breeding tank too which renders the tank pointless - I have put some old tights around it, for now, to stop them escaping.

Would I be better putting her back into the breeding tank so that the other fish stop disturbing her?

 

[AilyNC]

We're monitoring the orange fish as she seems to be hiding behind the plants but she seems to be pooing more and other fish are following her around. I did have her in the breeding tank but she wasn't moving much until I put her back into the tank.

The fry managed to get out of the breeding tank too which renders the tank pointless - I have put some old tights around it, for now, to stop them escaping.

Would I be better putting her back into the breeding tank so that the other fish stop disturbing her?

All the pooping and other fish following is very like my pregnant fish. I'd actually leave her in the tank - you've lots of plants for her to hide in. You can keep an eye out for fry and catch them or just leave them in the tank. I've 3 that were left in tank and they're really growing fast now and doing well. They love hiding in my floating plant so it's easy to sprinkle in grounded fish food for them 2/3 times a day. I'd 9 fry in an incubation tank. Even easier to feed that way. I let them into the main tank after 2 weeks.

 

[Essjay]

No. Those tiny boxes are very stressful for the female. It is better to leave her in the main tank then when she's given birth catch the fry and put them in the box. If you have plenty decor, it will give the female somewhere to be alone, and the fry somewhere to hide. many fish will follow a female which is about to give birth so they can eat the fry as soon as they are born.