Pregnant?

[phoenix2081]

Hi I bought 4 mollies. I believe 2 are male and 2 are female as 2 have what appears to be a tube pointing to their tail fin, which apparently from reading is the penis. The other 2 just have a small fin.

The 2 with the small fins and which I think may be female (I am not 100% sure on sex as I have only been in the fish game for about 3 months) are getting massive stomachs of late. The clear yellow one just looks like it could pop. Do I need to get a hatchery ready, as I have no funds or space for a breeding tank, or have I mis read the situation.

The tank will have alot of wood and more plants in soon for young fry to hide in if neccessary.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[phoenix2081]

While I am on the topic, how far do you think they are if they are pregnant. When should I move them into the hatchery?

 

[Neptune54]

I would recommend moving them when you see fry, since putting them in a net stresses them out. I would say that they're not quite there yet, but definently getting closer. Congratulations on the soon-to-be fry!

 

[phoenix2081]

thankyou for the reply. I thought they were pregnant as I had been researching but just wanted a double take from some one with a bit more experiance than me.

Mitch

 

[Neptune54]

Make sure to post when the fry come!!!

 

[phoenix2081]

I definately will. While you are on the subject, I have seen 4 beautiful platy's. As they are both livebearers what is the odds of them inter breeding? If not am I better off getting multicoloured mollies? I know of black, white and dalmation as colour patterns. Can you get blue, red etc?

 

[Neptune54]

I remember reading somewhere that mollies and platys can't interbreed. Unfortunately, I don't know about the multicolored mollies. If you want, you could try doing some other research online and see if you find an answer!

 

[phoenix2081]

Some sites say yes, Others say no.

I may get a few and a few other types of molly like white, black, dalmation. See what happens. Cheers for replies though.

 

[Neptune54]

Good luck! Can't wait to see what you get!

 

[OldMan47]

Xiphophorus genus cannot cross with Poecilia genus. It is that simple. Since swordtails and platies are Xiphophorus, they cannot cross with Poecilia, which includes guppies, mollies and dozens of less common fish. The sites that say they can cross are a good reason to avoid those sites. I have been active on a good number of tropical fish forums and have given up trying to correct people on some of them because the newbies there are busily convincing each other that they know what they are talking about. Bad information is just as common as good information on the internet. Around here we try to correct obvious bad advice but there is still plenty that gets past us. On other forums, they don't even seem to try.

 

[phoenix2081]

Cheers oldman for the good information.
How did you learn all this? Just out of curiosity.

 

[OldMan47]

I have picked things up over the years. I have been keeping livebearers since about 1955. There is no way I could tell you where I picked up a particular fact but I retain what I learn quite well.

 

[phoenix2081]

I hope to know as much as you when I get that far into keeping fish.

 

[OldMan47]

You will probably know more than I do Phoenix2081. The hobby has progressed quite far since I got into it and information is far easier to find than it was when I was young. Kribensis, a West African egg layer, was classed as "never bred in captivity" when I got into the hobby but now people consider them very easy to breed. As the hobby matures, we learn tons, if we keep our minds open to new information. I attend the ALA, American Livebearers Association, annual convention for the express purpose of learning more about livebearers. As a result, I know lots about livebearers you will likely never see unless you also get deep into livebearers. My collection of rare and endangered livebearers depends in large part on my attendance there. I specialize in goodeids which are mostly endangered or threatened for the simple reason that they come from semi-arid environments and their water has been diverted mainly to agricultural usage. Most of them are easy care fish that I can propagate and distribute to other hobbyists. If their natural habitat ever recovers, there will be plenty of fish to repopulate them. One of the easiest I have, Ameca splendens, was thought extinct in the wild just a few years ago, then a small population was found in the wild. I have no idea whether that population was from someone like me or was naturally present where it was found. Either way, it is something I will continue to keep in my tanks and spread around to other hobbyists. Together we may be able to prevent actual extinction of the species.