Silver Molly pregnant

[shuhu]

Hi

I know it's esier if I post a picture but my digital camera just broke 2 months ago.

The thing is that, I think that my Silver Molly is pregnant, her belly grew in these past 2 weeks or so but I see no black spot, you know, the one that it's supposed to represent the frys eyes or something she looks "perfectly" healthy so I don't think she has a bloated belly or anything like that. Even though she looks pregnant, the male still comes to her like it used to, you know, he sniffs under her and smims around her at times, is that normal?

My questions are:
- how far could she probably be in her pregnancy?
- What should I do with her in the mean time? should I feed her more? should I separate her from the male, should I keep her in the same tank with the other fish.

From what I've read Mollies take from 2 to 3 months to give birth, right? so if there are 2 months left I could use the current 10Gal tank as the fry tank because I will be getting a bigger tank by then, but if it's sooner I only have a 5Gal empty tank with no heather, no lights, no filter or anything, just gravel. Would that do for the fryes to be born in???

 

[Allix]

When my mollies were pregnant they didnt have a black spot, just big tummies and i think ours took approx 6 week to have their fry

 

[Kiarra]

Mollies don't get the dark spot (called a gravid spot) that Guppies do. They should get very large and squarish through the belly.

The male will always try to breed with her, but he will be especially annoying when she's close to term, or even approaching it. He's trying to get her to abort, so that he may successfully breed with her.

No way to tell how far along she is without a picture. But you'll know. She'll become very large through the belly, and it will take on a squarish shape when she's near labor.

Feed her a high-quality protein diet, such as frozen and live foods. Keep her water extremely clean. If you want to separate her, do it gently and kindly to her, but I don't think you should need to for a while yet. I sincerely doubt there are two months in her pregnancy left...probably less than a month, if her belly size has been increasing.

If you only want to raise a few of the fry, you can go ahead and let them be born in that tank. Most will be eaten, but a few will survive. But if you don't want that, then you'll have to move her. The 5 gallon will do. I'm currently raising the lone Molly fry I saved when my female gave birth in an unheated, uncycled, unfiltered tank, and that little fry is growing FAST and is very active. You may lose some, but you shouldn't lose many as long as you keep the water clean. (My lone Molly fry has 80% water changes daily.)

 

[shuhu]

thanks, thats about enough of what I needed to know (i think) its weird that the male would want her to abort since he has been with her for about a month but who knows

I hope everything goes fine and that I catch her before she gives birth, I soooo want to get this right so I will keep on reading about it .... btw, thanks for letting me know about the water changes I was thinking on doing a 20% or something like that but I will follow your advise, at least you guys have been there with the same type of fish and almost the same conditions as mine good luck with yours

@ Kiarra
do you happend to have pics before pregnancy and at the last days ??? I havent seen any of silver mollyes before giving birth so I can only imagine how it would look like but haven't seen a real pic.

 

[Kiarra]

A 20% daily on a 5 gallon would be fine. Just don't forget your dechlor.

I don't have a camera, actually, but I'll poke around on the internet as see if I can find a pic for you.

Edit: Well, I couldn't find any pictures poking around in the few spare minutes I have. But you will notice behavioral changes when she's about to go into labor. She'll start looking for places to hide, such as in caves or plants, and she'll get aggressive with anyone who comes into her chosen spot, or just grouchier than usual overall.

 

[shuhu]

Alright, thanks. Hope I'm able to see her "mood" changes in time

 

[lisangary]

Hi

I do have a picture of my Silver Molly about days before she dropped, but I don't know how to upload it!! If anyone can help with this I will post picture.

Thanks

Lisa

 

[Annastasia]

Lisa:

To post it, you can to to Member's Aquarium Pictures and upload it there. Or, you could sign up at www.photobucket.com and upload it there. Then copy the URL under the image, and click the IMG tag on here, then paste the URL in. Should show up as a picture.