When Will My Molly And Platy Give Birth?

[otakufishy]

I am new to this so sorry if I sound really lame or this is repeated somewhere else. Sorry

I just bought a few fish at the store and the guy said "That one (the molly) looks like she's gonna pop real soon." He said she'd have babies really really soon. Here is a picture of a fish that looks similar to her (my fish is possibly a little bit bigger)....

http/gallery.aquariumhobbyist.com/data/102137molly_closeup-med.jpg

when do you think she's going to give birth? she's about 2 to 2 1/2 inches long (very big compared to my other fish) and hangs out near the filter (in the dark)

second, when do you think my platy will give birth (the guy also said she looked like she was going to "pop". she had a very large gravid spot that's pinkish orangish. she looks like a bigger, more bulky version of this fish...

http/media.photobucket.com/image/pregnant%20platy/bmanatee/Picture008.jpg

she is active and hanging out with the other fish, while the other one is spazzing out near the corner. I don't know what's wrong with her.

Also, what is your opinion on breeder traps? If I don't use one, what can I use to save the babies because the mommas and other fish will eat them. Thanks!

 

[Kieren_1992]

i wouldn't want to say really, but the molly is closer and going to give birth before the plattie, is the plattie in a breeding net/cage. ifso take her out it will stress her more and se might not give birth through doing this... best to let the fry survive or die then to kill a good plattie

Kieren

 

[otakufishy]

None of them are in a breeding trap, but I've considered it. I've been thinking that the molly would give birth sooner too, because of her mood/behavior. I've heard that if they seclude themselves, then they are planning on birthing soon. Any others?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Otakufishy.
I cannot begin to judge a livebearer's present status from a verbal description and a picture of a different fish. Instead I will try to help you judge the state of your fish. I have a link in my signature area to a post I put together some time ago. It is called My molly's progress and shows a female molly from the date of a fry drop until the date of her next fry drop. There is some commentary along the way of what I considered to be her state at the time each picture was taken.
As far as breeding traps, I have used them as a young person to try to improve survival of fry and they do work for that. These days I do not use them. Instead I place a female into a separate tank with some decent cover in it. After the drop, if I am intent on maximizing the fry survival, I remove the female. In the case of my molly's birth to birth progress, I just left her in the tank with the fry and snapped pictures every few days. I probably lost a few to predation but with about 30 surviving fry I didn't worry about it. Today, those same fry are full sized adults and many of them have been sold to other hobbyists.

 

[otakufishy]

Thank you I loved the pictures they were great. That really helped the way you explained everything with examples. Currently, I have 3 mollies and 4 platies in my tank. Would it be safe for the female to give birth in there or would they all get eaten? I want to save as many fry as possible but have heard of the risks of the breeder traps. Thanks for all of this.

 

[OldMan47]

That is a lot of predators for the fry. I use a separate breeding tank so that I only have a single female predator and if I wish I can even remove her right away. I do not use traps although there are lots of people who really love them. It is more a matter of taste than anything else. I find the traps do not suit me and I worry too much about fish that I put into them.
I do have a few from years past that are much larger than the ones you can buy these days but still don't like to use them. I may give up and use an open bottomed one, one that allows the fry to swim into the tank while holding back the female. I have some Brachyrhaphis roseni, a female of the species was recently my avatar, that are producing lots of fry but I have never seen one yet. They are not just predators, they are voracious fry eaters. My inability to ever save any may drive me to using that trap. Since the adult females are only about guppy sized and the trap I have almost takes up the whole side of a 10 gallon tank, I may overcome my distaste and be OK leaving one in there that is almost ready to drop fry.
This is a picture of my Brachyrhaphis female.

 

[otakufishy]

THEY BOTH GAVE BIRTH!!!!! Only I wasn't home to catch it, so most of them died.... I have a lot of big fishies with big mouths... :'( On a positive note, I caught 4 of them (3 mollies and 1 platy) and put them in a breeding trap so they're safe. Now I can mark my calender so I know when to expect my next babies! Let's hope that these little guys make it...

 

[OldMan47]

I went ahead and merged your threads so you wouldn't need to keep jumping around Otakufishy.

 

[otakufishy]

Update: There is now a total of 11 babies! I have found them popping up everywhere, when I was sure that I had gotten them all. Well, I guess that serves me right. The babies are black and the gravel is black.

p.s. thank you OldMan 47, for combining the threads.

Also, do you recommend I get another small tank for the babies (I was thinking 3 gallons or so), or do you think they'll be fine in the breeder until they're big enough to be let out?

 

[OldMan47]

If you have all your fry confined to a breeding net or trap, try very hard to find another container for them. I have found that a simple storage container, like you might use to store sweaters over the summer, does a great job of providing temporary housing of many of the common livebearers. They can often hold over 10 gallons of water and give things like newborn fry a chance at surviving to become big enough to place into the main tank.

 

[otakufishy]

What about filtering and heating? Do the fry need this while in a bucket? And I thought that fry couldn't be moved out of their tank because of the shock of changing water. How would you recommend I go about this and when? Thank you again, for answering all of my questions.

 

[OldMan47]

The heating is often not necessary, depending on your room temperature. Filtering is important unless you are ready to do frequent large water changes. Betta breeders are forced to work with lots of water changes like that because each developing betta needs its own container and nobody can afford to heat and filter hundreds of tanks for each breeding. Instead they do frequent, every couple of days, water changes of over 50% at a time. That is enough to keep the water conditions healthy for their fish in gallon or even smaller containers. Livebearer fry can be kept together but the same approach can make the larger containers safe for them.

For me that filter issue is not a problem. I always have a few spare filters running on my heavier populated tanks so that they can be pressed into service whenever the need arises.

 

[otakufishy]

This is about a separate fish, but a similar issue. I have another molly (gold dust molly), that is quite large, and has a white dot near her anus. When should I expect the babies, since I hear that the white dot is the birthing tube? She's behaving normally. Thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

The white dot is indeed a sign that some people use to judge the readiness of a livebearer to drop fry. It is something I have never learned to judge properly so I stick with what I understand, I use the degree of squaring off to tell me how close things have become.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

The white birthing tube is not always a great sign, my plattys show that 2 weeks before birthing, and even my non-pregnant ones show it...the best symptom of imminent birth is hiding, secluding herslf from everything and everyone...mine hide by the filter or rather as behind it as they can get....if you dont see them at feeding time, and swimming away from all other fish. these are the signs i have noticed after 8 females giving birth. hope that helps