When do mollies show gonopodium?

[Rez]

I am hoping that someone can help a fish-loving Yank. I have been keeping fish for about a year now, I never had any experience keeping fish until last October when I got a wild hair and bought a fish tank for my dorm room. A year later I still have the same fish, or their offspring, (I hope I can keep the trend and generations going ) anyway after successfully raising a third generation of fish, I guess I became known as the fish guy around campus, a distraught girl came up to me at lunch and asked me for help with a fish problem I told her I'd try to help. She told me that she went to the lfs and picked herself up some fish for an aquarium in her dormroom and the next day she had babies. She told me that she specifically asked for all males, but sure enough when I got to her room she had 3 male guppies and a female dalmation lyretail molly. I asked her what she wanted me to do with the 21 baby mollies and she told me to raise them and give her 1 or 2 of the same sex, (males after I told her that the female can have more babies without a male present ) I told her that I'd take her female off her hands when we made the trade 2 males for her female( who is just gorgeous I might add ) ) I have now been sucessfully raising the fry for almost 3 weeks now and I was wondering when the male fry will begin to show their masculine traits, I know I should know this having raised a couple generations of red wag platies, but I really did not keep records of their showing sexual dimorphisms, becuase it was never really too relevant to me in the past, and the fact that mollies are different from platies. The fry are just starting to get really dark spots and are looking VERY cute, I am hoping to sell/give them to a lfs when the rest get bigger I just can't handle 20 new grown fish at the moment!! Plus I'd rather just keep my focus on my true love panda corys. I just want to begin to isolate males and females and need to know when to get ready. Thank you for reading my thread, I hope to post more in the future.

 

[Annastasia]

Weeell...it depends on the male. I've seen some pretty early, around 3 months, but most should be visible 6 months. Some males are late-maturing, some are early. Though, you should be aware, until they are 1 year old and fully mature, there still could be a late-developing male hiding around.

Oh yes, and it sounds like you are breeding brothers and sisters together? You should introduce new blood into the line, otherwise your fish will all be inbred and weaker. Also, breeding brothers and sisters together will eventually get you deformed fry.

 

[Rez]

Yeah I worry about the inbreeding too , but the fish do what they do and unfortunately poor genes are passed along. I am trying to get myself free of the livebearers and focus more on the corys, but the livebearers keep finding their way into my life, prior to my gift of 21 new mollies, I thought my livebearers were on their way out after separating Moon, my male platy, from my two females. I love livebearers, but until my situation with space gets better I am trying to keep population to a minimum and give the ones I have the best possible life.

I have another question since you brought up deformities. My last batch of fry were born right before I went on vacation, and I left my father to tend my fish for a week. When I arrived home I noticed one of my platies had a bent spine. I know this could not have been from inbreeding because I had purchsed her parents from my lfs. But the weird thing is that as she got older her spine gradually began to straighten and now I cannot tell her from her sister. I was just wondering what might have gone on with her. Thanks

 

[Annastasia]

Some fry are just born with a funky spine, because it's kind od bendable at first. As they mature, it naturally straightens out. It's normal, happens to a lot of people. Just be glad she straightened out, otherwise she would have a lot of trouble swimming.

And just because the parents came from the fish store, doesn't mean they aren't inbred. Usually they get their fish from one or two suppliers, and who knows what they do to get their fish.

Seperating males and females is the best, and simplest way to prevent inbreeding. And technically, it doesn't take up any more space. All you need is a divider.