Prego Mollies-still!

countrygirl4

AC Members
Oct 3, 2005
37
0
0
Hi! My mollies are still pregnant, never did have any other babies, and they are both looking like they are about to explode! My question is, how can I tell when they are trying to have their babies? I have one that keeps flaring her fins and opening her mouth kind of wide once in a while. When I put the moms in the breeder cage, they both just got stressed out, so I am hesitant to put them in there again. They just don't seem to be comfortable up there. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
what type of molly are they?..the baloon mollys always look like they are pregnant

my mollies stay pregnant for a few weeks befor giving birth, if they still look big keep one in the breeder, and see what happens
 
Last edited:
They are dalmation mollies, not the balloon ones. And both of the females I have look like they could burst at any moment! Both have been doing the same thing-staying away from the other fish, staying pretty still, and then opening their mouths really wide and flaring up their fins. The problem I have is that when I have put them in the breeder, they seem to get too stressed. I also tried putting one in a 1 gallon tank as kind of a maternity ward, but she seemed pretty stressed in there, too. I am afraid if I put them up their again, they may get too stressed and die or something. Do you think that will happen? I kept one up there before for a couple of days, and she wouldn't eat and just kept swimming into the sides and freaking out.
 
Our black mollie had her babies and we just let her have them in her own tank. I think the breeder tank is stressfull! Allow for a lot of hiding places for the fry. They will seek out a good place to hide. Even at the bottom in the gravel. Then we caught them and put them in that net nursery. Worked fine for us!
 
Thanks...that was kind of what I was thinking, too. I think they just get too stressed in that thing.....the don't seem to relax at all, and they just bang the sides and try to get out. I will just leave them where they are comfortable, and the babies should have hiding spots til I can catch them....my fear is that they will be born overnight and I will not catch them in time! But hopefully they can hide well enough.
 
We had a lot of fake plants and were able to save about 30 of them. They will hide and find good spots. We had them in the morning and we caught them. But after i came home from work there were 15 more in the Aquarium so they were not all eaten.
 
on the topic of mollies... but a little off topic, how long does it take for the fry to become full size?
 
we are about a month in and they are still small. I have heard frequent water changes and frequent feedings help!
 
AquariaCentral.com