Why My Molly Hiding

[eddy6]

hi i was just woundering why my silver balloon molly is hiding all the time, she is pregnant because we have seen the black spot by her fin. We have moved her from the main tank to a small tank where she can be on her own because the other mollys keeped on chasing her. Here is a picture of the tank and please tell me if its ok to leave her there until she has give birth.

here is some of here hiding places.

 

[Geoff1991]

Im no expert, but id say shes ready to give birth, turn the lights off for a bit and avoid stressing her out.

Oh and keep a close eye on her when shes given birth, sometimes livebarers die after giving birth.

 

[eddy6]

ok i will do but is this all fine for a molly to hide like this because she is the only one in the tank so no fish can stress her out

 

[helterskelter]

Firstly she a balloon molly and these are very fat fish and almost impossible to tell their pregnant untill they give birth

Secondly the tank will be fine for her, once she settles in she'll be out and about
Keep the lights off for now though to help her settle in.

 

[eddy6]

because she is white i have seen the black spot behind her fin so i know she is pregent but can some-one let me know if she is stressed out or she she is getting ready do give birth we have got her from the main tank which i could post pictures of it if anyone wants to see it. she has been in that tank for two days but she only eats small amounts of flaked food.

 

[helterskelter]

She's stressed ATM but she'll settle down.

She dont look to large in size ATM so she may need to do a little more growing she'll have babies at some point but again with balloon mollies their very difficualt to say how close their are as there fat fish due to the deformed body shape.

 

[eddy6]

she wont abort on giving birth will she because i think this is her fist time because she is only young not like my other female molly in my main tank who is old and very big

 

[jnw1981]

I also have balloon mollies and my silver female is double the size of your specimen when expecting.
She pops out fry every 4 wk cycle and is gigantic the whole time, so unless you make a note of the date, it can be very difficult to tell when a female balloon is ready to give birth.

Being a livebearer she'll be used to the harrasment of the males. Make sure she's not the only female therefore sharing the strain. Ratio of 2 or 3:1 is fine. In future I'd recommend laying the tank with objects that break the eye-line which will give her more places to hide and quicker escapes from randy males.

 

[eddy6]

she looks healthy but is just hiding she will move from one place to another and heard they hide because there looking for somewhere to give birth can someone explain why she is hiding and is she healthy. and if she is stresed out

 

[jnw1981]

Was she hiding in the previous tank before you moved her? I thought you moved her to avoid harrassment from Males?
In which case she could be hiding now because you've moved her to a new environment and she doesnt yet feel safe. That's perfectly normal for introducing a fish to a new tank. Switch the light off and leave her til the morning undisturbed.

May have been better to leave her in her natural enviro in the first placee and move the aggressor instead til she has the babies.

She'll be due again in 4 weeks so make sure she has plenty of hiding spots and breaks in the mid-water eyeline for quick escapes to avoid the stress of tank move next time.

 

[eddy6]

she did hide in the corners in the other tank but now she hides in the pictures as showen but she did get chased by the other female. will she be ok and will she abort on giving birth

 

[eddy6]

im sorry to say but my molly passed away and lost her babys we did cut her belly open and saw her babys but im very sad