What Are They Doing ?

[L_Plates]

Just noticed something with my Mollys they seem to be doing a dance and i was wondering what on earth they are upto ?

I am unsure of the sex of them. See the video below. Could they just be paying, having a falling out or flirting ? Never seen them this way before.



Also i noticed on my Black molly that the belly seems a little larger than normal and there seems to be a big white well i dont know what to say to describe it but its near the anus of the fish. See video below its right near the beginning.



Any help on this would be great.

Thanks
LP

 

[fluttermoth]

First vid; well...they're not playing; fish don't really 'play' together as other animals do. It's either mating or fighting (it can be hard to tell with fish!) but I'd guess fighting. Mollies and other livebearers are easy to sex; the males have their anal fin modified into a 'gonopodium' which is a rod-like struture they use for mating. Females have a normal shaped fin.

In the second one..that's a female molly, so it could be close to giving birth.

 

[L_Plates]

Thanks, i had heard about the fin and they all 3 fish have the same fin shapes so i think they must all be female. Just read that the anus swells big and white when a molly is close to giving birth !

What am i to do as i have no idea how to deal with fry. Do i need to seperate her or anything ?

Thanks
LP

 

[This Old Spouse]

In the first vid, the lighter one is definitely male, and I can't tell about the other. It's really hard to tell with the black light. They look just like mine (both males) who chase each other around the tank all the time. Not sure about the second vid. Please keep us posted.

 

[fluttermoth]

Most female livebearers are pregnant when you buy them; d*** things are like rabbits. If you don't have a separate tank for fry, you're honestly better off just leaving her. Some, if not all, the fry will proably get eaten by the other fish, but if you don't have the space to rear them properly (and although they're tiny, they do need a lot of space if they're not to be stunted) its for the best in all honesty.

There'll be more fry along later if you really want to keep some; livebearers can store sperm for up to six months...

 

[L_Plates]

My current tank has space for them if needed so would it be an idea to maybe get hold of a fry trap to seperate her when the time arrives ?

 

[fluttermoth]

Most people are against the use of breeding traps; they're too small and stressful for the mother fish. You'd be better off getting a good, large clump of fine leafed plant like cabomba or elodea and floating that in the tank for the fry to hide in

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

 

[lilfishie]

in my experience with mollies they have larger fry than most other livebearers and tend not to try eating them thereselves, with your stocking i'd say they'd be fine, a few may get eaten but providing you have hiding places you should have some survive

 

[AstonN24vantage]

what i do is let the female have the babies, but catch them and put them in the breeder trap. def mating.

 

[L_Plates]

Thanks for the replies i will look into the plants.

Just looked at the lighter molly and this fish has 2 fins on the belly. Are males only meant to have 1 (gonopodium) ?

 

[lilfishie]

This should help

they all look female to me

 

[L_Plates]

This should help

they all look female to me

They are all female then for sure.

Thanks for the replies.

LP

 

[lilfishie]

still have high chance of more fry after this lot, female livebearers can store sperm

the first vid is proabably 1 trying to be the alpha female

 

[L_Plates]

Hehe thanks lilfishie.

I feel like im back in the delivery suite for the birth of my daughter