Saffron Molly Pregnant?

[abertawechris]

I've only recently started keeping mollies and I currently have 6 - 1xblack, 2xdalmation and 3xsaffron.

I've notice in the past week that one of the saffron mollies has become larger around the belly area which has also darkened in colour. The other mollies won't leave it alone and chases it everywhere even during feeding times.

Is it possible that it is a female and is pregnant? The fish shop owner told me they were all male!

I've attached 3 photos of the fish (1st photo - its the fish on the left near the thermometer, the other photos - its the fish at the top).

Please can you help?

twitter.com/swanseaguy

 

[weejen]

Yes it's pregnant. Also the black molly in the first pic to right is also female and pregnant looking

 

[Jonty]

If you have a male molly and a female molly in the same tank, she will be pregnant

 

[orangefish]

You can tell if the molly's are male or female, as the males will have a 'gonopodium' (if that's how you spell it!). It's like a spike underneath it's belly-google a picture of it, it's very obvious. And congrats!

 

[omega59]

Hi very nice fish orange is my fab colour. Okay it appears pregnant but I will say it's also over fed, see the way it drops down looks like a ting ball tip, that's over fed.

 

[OldMan47]

A simple way to sex mollies or any other poeciliid fish is by observing the shape of the anal fin. That is the fin right next to where they eliminate waste.
This is the female of a species you are unlikely to encounter in a fish shop but has the triangular, maybe you would call it fan shaped, anal fin of a female.

This is a male of the same species showing the elongated anal fin, called a gonopodium, of a male.

Although the anal fin of a molly is not quite as exaggerated as on these teddies, the principle will make it easy for you to tell the sexes apart.
I agree with Weejen that the black fish is definitely female. I cannot see the orange colored fish well enough to sex it.

 

[abertawechris]

View attachment 60078 Thanks guys for all your answers. I have sexed all my mollies now and it appears that out of the six I have, 3 are female and pregnant looking. I have since found 3 baby fish in my tank and have put them in one of those net boxes inside my tank. They appear to be growing quickly even though their only 5 days old. Any ideas how long I should keep the babies in the net before releasing them into the tank?

 

[OldMan47]

A lot depends on what other fish are in the tank. If it is only well fed mollies, the danger to the fry is quite small after only a week or two. In your case, I see some tetras that would lead me to to wait a little longer.