FAQs on the Molly Reproduction
4
Related Articles: Mollies, & Poeciliids: Guppies, Platies, Swordtails,
Mollies by Neale Monks, Livebearing
Fishes by Bob Fenner,
Related FAQs: Molly Reproduction 1, Molly Reproduction 2, Molly Reproduction 3, Molly Reproduction 5, & Mollies 1, Mollies
2, Molly Identification FAQs,
Molly Behavior FAQs, Molly Compatibility FAQs, Molly Selection FAQs, Molly System FAQs, Molly Feeding FAQs, Molly Disease FAQs, Livebearers, Guppies, Platies,
Swordtails,
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Molly in labor 5 days and counting!! She's exhausted!! Help!!
4/15/20
Hi, Elizabeth from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have a prego molly stuck in labor day
5. She is so exhausted she falls asleep on the floor of the nursery tank and
looks dead. So dead i almost netted her out, actually had her out of the
water before she started flopping. When she contracts she has what looks to
be 2 tails hanging out of her. What can i do?
<Sadly, not much. Epsom Salt, at a dosage of 1-3 teaspoons per 5 gallons/20
litres, can have a useful laxative effect on fish. Since we're dealing with
smooth muscle here (there's no pelvic girdle in fish, so the birth canal
doesn't go through any openings between bones) laxatives can be useful.
Beyond that, there's no real way to manipulate the fish without significant
risk of damaging the Molly. Pulling at the tails of the fry, for example,
runs the risk of tearing tissues within the mother, which quickly become
infected. Pressing on the belly of the female, to push the fry out, could
easily burst internal organs, again, leading to death. On the plus side,
what you are experiencing here happens only very, very rarely with
livebearers, but alas, it does happen -- and I lost a beautiful big female
Halfbeak from exactly this. The fry had died, decomposed, and ultimately
expanded out through the birth canal as time passed, infecting the mother
and causing her death. Good luck, Neale.>
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Molly fry - Gender determination.
3/27/18
Hi Crew, Thanks in advance. I have a question that feels like I should
be able to find an answer to easily put I just can't seem to find it!
<Oh?>
I know that with many species of fish (including Cherry Barbs), when
spawning, the gender of the fry is determined by specific environmental
conditions (often pH),
<In some cases, yes. Not aware of this with Cherry Barbs, but certainly
some cichlids, such as Kribs, are demonstrably sensitive to pH.>
meaning that whole batches of fry can be either all male or all female
(and in borderline conditions, a mix of both).
<Indeed.>
My question is, is this true for Mollies?
<It would seem unlikely, given the eggs are inside the mother, who will
be providing a more consistent environment. On the other hand, once
born, male fry do seem to grow more quickly (common among other fish,
too) and can 'hog' the food, leading to starvation among the smaller fry
(which are mostly females). So the net result may be an imbalance of
sexes among the fry. That said, there may be environmental factors that
allow the female to adjust the conditions inside her body, skewing the
sex ratio of the brood one way or the other. It's as likely to be social
as chemical though: e.g., the absence of males in the school might
favour males, whereas ample food and therefore less need for genetic
variation might favour females. Hard to say, really, and not finding
much of relevance on Google Scholar!>
I have been rearing approx. 20 Molly fry (an interesting mix of
Dalmatian, Black and Golden Lyretails) separate from the parents in an
established 80 litre planted, low end brackish (SG 1.005), pH is 7.8,
Temp is 25C.
Nitrite/Ammonia 0 - Nitrate is undetectable (plenty of plants using this
up). Unfortunately I don't measure the GH/KH at the moment but I'm using
proper marine salt and tap water to achieve the SG.
<Should be fine for Mollies.>
The oldest of the fry are several months old now while the youngest are
about 6 weeks old. All of them still appear to be females (some of the
oldest ones are well over an inch long and look almost fully grown. All
are
extremely healthy and active with great colouration and patterns.
Obviously I'm keen to separate them before they start breeding with each
other but as stated, they all still appear to be females.
<Do bear in mind male livebearers may not be easily sexed for some
months, 2-3 months not uncommon. Some scientists even believe the story
of "sex changes" among Swordtails were more about late developing males
that
outwardly resembled females than actual sex changes. Indeed, there's
some scientific evidence that the classic male livebearer with the
well-developed gonopodium and fancy tail fin may only be one possible
'type' of male, and that low-key, more female-looking males also exist,
sneaking matings with females under the noses of more
traditional-looking males. Theoretically this provides the species with
two strategies: one with boisterous, colourful males at risk of
predators, and more discrete males that mightn't compete as strongly,
and without a proper gonopodium will find it harder to mate with
females, but will at least be able to father some fry in situations
where the more masculine males are at a disadvantage. Bottom line, in
batches of livebearer fry that appear to be entirely female, there's a
good chance there are some males in there, and observing their behaviour
might reveal some that behave more like males, squabbling or trying to
mate with the females.>
Is this normal for mollies? Many thanks for your time. Leif.
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Re: Molly fry - Gender determination. 3/27/18
Thanks Neale, it certainly does help.
<Good to know.>
Now that you mention it, I have noticed some interesting behaviour, with
some definitely appearing to be more boisterous than others. I'll keep
an eye on them.
<Indeed; and perhaps isolate, if further breeding from particular virgin
females is necessary.>
Thanks again for your insight.
Leif
<Most welcome. Neale.>
Live fry 10/29/16
Hi, my daughter has a small tank containing a single neon tetra, a Plec
and a molly. This morning we have seen live fry and are very puzzled how
they have appeared and which fish they are from.
Any answers would be much appreciated,
Thanks
Lynette
<Ahh; the young are very likely from the Molly... Not only do these fish
bear live young, the females can store sperm in their tracts and give
birth to successive batches. Bob Fenner>
re: Live fry 10/29/16
Fantastic thank you we were very puzzled spotted 3 so far but she's
still quite fat
<Look closely at the vent area... you may be able to see some of the
young's eyes! Bob Fenner>
re: Live fry 10/29/16
Will do thank you. Managed to catch 4 and put in a floating
separator so far
<Quite an adventure! BobF>
re: Live fry 10/30/16
It certainly was its only a small tank in her bedroom and
trying to catch the little buggers took ages what with filter heater and
ornaments in the way lol xxx
<Will surely be worth the effort as you/your offspring get to watch them
grow. Cheers, Neale.>
Behaviour of Dalmatian Mollies before dropping Fry.
5/20/16
Good afternoon,
<Hello Shannon,>
I happened to stumble across your website and thought I would ask a few
questions. I should explain about our tank first. Last July we set up a
tank at work, brought 2 female Dalmatian mollies and a female Mickey
mouse platy back to the office, floated them, and went home for the
evening. The next morning we walked in my co worker goes "Oh, look at
all the poop on the plant!! ... wait.. the poop has eyes." We got 21
babies out of that fry.
<Nice!>
Because we were not prepared, we had to do some quick thinking. We
raised what we could however lost most of that fry to ick.
<Do review the use of salt; very good for dealing with Whitespot/Ick,
and Mollies are a hundred times healthier in slightly brackish water.>
Fast forward to after Labour Day weekend. We walk back into the office
on Tuesday only to find that our two females are stuck between the
breeding net and the glass, ( we now use a plastic floating fry catcher
rather than the net that hangs on the side) she had tried to have
another fry over the weekend and got stuck splitting open. :( Her sister
also died we assume trying to eat the fry. All of that second batch of
fry died.
<Sad. May have been premature. Top tip: get floating plants. Never mind
the trap. They're bad medicine! Instead, just get floating plants
(Indian Fern is ideal) and let the fry shelter there. While some might
still be eaten by other fish, enough will survive to keep your community
tank busy.>
We had to do a 100% Water change to get all the dead babies out. We were
left with 4 fry and the Mickey mouse platy and a corey cat.
<Corydoras aren't fans of brackish water, unlike the Platies, which are
fine in it. If you do use salt to treat Whitespot/Ick, keep it down to 2
gram per litre. Will eliminate the parasite within a couple of weeks, by
which time you can revert to plain freshwater. This won't harm
Corydoras.
Brackish water, 5-6 gram/litre, is ideal for Mollies, but bad for
Corydoras.>
We let the fry out of the hatchery when they were big enough to not get
eaten by the platy. One of them decided to turn into a boy. I took him
home to my big 35 gallon bow front so he wouldn't knock up his sisters.
I was a little late. About 3 weeks ago we found 3 fry floating around
and we put them in the breeder trap. Then this week on Tuesday I spent
half an hour fishing out 10 more fry and rescuing them. We haven't seen
anymore recently but I expect I'll be fishing again soon, sometime this
weekend or even next week. We aren't sure if our 4 remaining girls are
just fat or ready to drop, at least three of them seem ready. My
question is what is their behaviour like? Throughout the day 2 of them
wander off from their sisters and sit over by the heater just sitting
there, tails pointed down to the gravel, but more in the middle of the
tank? Is this common for the females to seclude themselves before they
drop? I assume they like the heater because it's warmer over there and
we have some plants in the back corner as well?
Any thoughts or information you may have would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much for your time.
Shannon
<Let me direct you to some reading...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Mollies require warmth, good water quality, space, and hard/alkaline
water chemistry. Salt, though optional, is very beneficial. They're
difficult fish to keep well, and become stressed in small tanks, in cool
water, at high nitrate levels (let alone non-zero ammonia and nitrite),
and in soft water. Review, and act accordingly. Cheers, Neale.`>
Black molly 5/18/16
I have a black Dalmatian Mollie she is 3.5in long and 1.5in from her
belly to top fin. She is 3.5yrs old I call her Bertha she is one of my
first babies born.
<Nice.>
She has a pea size white cotton thing coming outta her butt it
looks like..Idk what is it..for a fish we r close I taught her to come
when called by name she tries to wave hi but her fins won't let her do
it right
she gets mad. PLEASE HELP ME SHE AINT GONNA DIE IS SHE??
<Hard to say. Photos are not at all clear. You could start by using
Epsom Salt, which has a laxative effect that can helps Mollies (and
other fish) pass obstructions in the gut. Constipation is common in
herbivorous fish like Mollies. But at the same time, there are some more
serious problems.
Stillbirths can cause real problems for livebearers. The dead embryos
form a silvery or off-white sac that protrudes from the vent. Really,
without surgical action, the embryos will rot, cause infections, and
kill the mother. You can't pull these embryos out without a risk of
seriously damaging the mother, so there's not a lot you can do here
short of humanely
euthanising the fish.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/euthanasia.htm
Similarly, Hexamita, worms and other parasitic infections of the gut can
cause problems. Hexamita is distinctive, producing a combination of
lethargy, loss of colour, stringy white faeces, and often pits on the
head and flanks. It's treated with Metronidazole. Camallanus worms are
quite common among livebearers, exhibit themselves as the tips of red
worms from the vent, and are treated using commercial anti-worm
medications (such as Prazi Pro). Would direct you to this article:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Then follow the links at the top to read more about Mollies and their
health/disease issues. Good luck, Neale.>
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Genetics? Mollies 11/23/14
I purchased a pair of gold dust or panda Mollies online and have had a
few fry born from this pair.
<Nice.>
My water parameters are good per API master kit.
<Now this confuses me. "Good" for Mollies is "Bad" for Bettas, which you
also have in this tank. So let's pin this down. What are the water
chemistry values here? Remember, Mollies want alkaline water conditions,
ideally slightly saline. Aim for 15-25 degrees dH, pH 7.5-8.5. They also
appreciate reasonably brisk currents. Bettas want the opposite. Minimal
current, and water that is soft to medium hard, slightly acidic to
slightly basic. Aim for 1-15 degrees dH, pH 6.5-7.5. Obviously there's
not much overlap here! Keeping Mollies in tanks with community fish is
often done, but precisely as you're observing, with mixed results. Some
specimens live, some specimens die. It's a crap shoot. So before
dismissing these Mollies as being genetically poor, I'd want to know
something about the aquarium
(test kit numbers, not opinions like "good" or "fine") and I'd want to
know how they do if you make the tank slightly brackish (which the
Platies and Guppies would enjoy, but not the Betta). Not strongly
brackish, but something like 5-6 gram/litre (about 1 teaspoon of marine
aquarium salt/US gallon). If adding salt isn't an option, you absolutely
must ensure the water is hard and alkaline, and furthermore that water
quality is excellent, not just ammonia and nitrite (both zero) but also
nitrate (below 20 mg/l). Nitrate is much more toxic to Mollies than most
other community fish bar dwarf cichlids. Salt detoxifies nitrate to a
degree, which probably explains why Mollies are healthier and easier to
keep in brackish and marine systems. I'm not saying Mollies are without
genetic problems or subject to common diseases, they are, but
environment is often the key thing for long term success.>
Several months later, after a normal water change, the female began
spinning in slow circles. Isolated her, used Metronidazole, but it was
too late. Hadn't noticed the behavior prior to water change. I
euthanized her w clove oil.
<Thank you for doing this in a humane manner.>
Fast forward to the next water change and another female molly (could
have been a progeny of the first, but no gold markings) began a similar
behavior only this time it was nose down. I also euthanized her. Finally
the male, a few weeks later, succumbs to I don't know, but he wasn't
spinning. In fact I believe I had 3 spinners, after h2o change (which I
think is coincidental) and the male, all removed and euthanized. Could
this be a genetic problem? It strikes no one else in the tank (40 gal
breeder with Mollies, platys, a Betta, one guppy). Have heard of
whirling dx, but don't know if this is the same.... Any help
appreciated! Kimberley
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Genetics? 11/25/14
Well, I keep my water hard and alkaline; I have 7 tanks with Mollies out
the wazoo...it's just in this tank, with this particular pair and
progeny.
<That is curious. Some Molly lines/strains seem to be more picky than
others. Recall some Molly species are more brackish water fish, whereas
others are more freshwater fish, and since you can't tell by looking
which ones gave the most genes to your specimens, it's a gamble whether
yours will need salty conditions to thrive or not. A while back I wrote
a piece on Mollies for Practical Fishkeeping Magazine that I think
reveals a bit more about these very complicated fish, now uploaded to
their website, here:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=6331
The bottom line is that the genetics of Mollies is complicated, and it's
hard to say precisely what conditions the fish in front of you will
need. Brackish is always better, but it isn't always practical, and
therein lies the challenge.>
I don't have exact numbers now but can fill you in later.
<Excellent... that will help a lot.>
I keep a Betta in all my tanks, but if this is detrimental to them, I
will remove them.
<Does depend a lot on the Betta. Farmed Bettas are pretty tough, and
while soft water is better, they can do well in hard water if all else
is excellent. If yours are happy, then leave them be.>
Unfortunately I lost 3 female Bettas to a death trap ornament, so
there's another thing everyone should keep in mind.
<Indeed. Bettas aren't as easy to keep as many people think. Keeping
them for long and healthy lives takes a bit of doing.>
Thanks, Neale, for your reply.
<Most welcome. Neale.>
Molly; repro./comp. 8/5/14
After returning home from a short trip, noticed the new Molly we just
got had babies!! She's in a tank with a barb(?), I think. We've had that
fish for a couple of years. Anyways....there were 5, down to 3 now.
Moved the barb to his own tank then noticed the Molly seemed to be
wanting to eat the babies so put her with the barb. Now what?? Can they
all go back together once the babies get a big older and bigger?
<Ah yes... a quarter inch or more in length should do it>
Thanks
Heather
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Re: Molly 8/5/14
Awesome! Thank you for your quick reply!!
<Cheers, BobF>
Mollies; repro. 6/5/14
I bought 2 pregnant mollies, about 2 months ago, and they both gave
birth within a few days of us buying them. We bought a "birthing net"
and placed all of the babies in it. We have since cleaned the tank,
removing everything separately, and thoroughly cleaning everything
separately. Now, a few days after doing so, we have found about 15 new
babies. Now, please take into consideration the fact that both of our
Mollies are female, and the babies are still separated from the moms.
Can Mollies hold out on
giving birth to all of their babies, and have more of them over a month
later??
<Yes. The record for livebearers is delivering fry 6 months after
mating!
Cheers, Neale.>
HELP!!! 2/28/14
Hi I just recently got a balloon belly molly whom I believed was
very pregnant. I am in the process of setting up a birthing
tank for her. Well I was gone today and when I got home she looks to
have "lost" get belly. I can't see any fry but if they are dark I have
black rocks and I know they will hide. In my tank I only have mollies
and guppies. What are the chances I will see and fry and when? Should I
move them to the birthing tank if I do see them? Thank you. -Christine
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
The section on Breeding is particularly relevant. Mollies can/do
miscarry, they can be cannibalistic, and the fry are small enough to be
picked off my other aquarium fish. On the plus side, they breed freely,
so even if you weren't lucky this time, getting things right for the
next batch shouldn't be hard. Fry instinctively hide at the top of the
tank, so floating plants are especially helpful shelters. It's best to
leave the female in the main tank, collect the fry from the floating
plants, and put the fry in the floating breeding trap or rearing tank.
Moving pregnant livebearers isn't a good idea, and putting them in a
breeding trap (or even a small, sub-8 gallon, breeding aquarium) is
likely to be very stressful. Cheers, Neale.>
Male Mollies an over breeding, beh., stkg...
4/1/13
So my husband and I have had a fish tank for the last 7 years and we
have always chosen to get Mollies as they are beautiful fish, are rather
hearty (we have had some females live to be 3 years old), easy to care
for, tend to have fry that could survive getting eaten (had one family
last seven generations), and usually last a long time...
<Ahh, you likely have "good molly water" (hard and alkaline), have kept
the water not too warm, well-cycled, regularly maintained through water
changes....>
We also have them in a tank with one large (5 year old) gourami, danios, a
couple platies and two tiger barbs (not friendly fish but they have
adapted well...) At first we would always get a pair, one male and one
female. We learned very quickly that the males can be very aggressive
and actually (for lack of better terms) rape the females to death... Is
this what is truly happening to our fish?
<Can be trouble>
We can tell that the females are already pregnant and have been very
successful in keeping them and their fry alive but more often than not
the males will constantly chase the females around and try to mate with
them, even
after they are pregnant. We just bought some more fish because our
population was getting low and now have two orange lyre tail mollies and
two silver mollies. We asked for one male and three females
<Good ratio>
but got two of each and now both females are pregnant and both males are
still trying to breed with both of them. I have seen this in the past
and usually the female will give birth then die... I have had many
females give birth and survive, but I am just wondering... Is it
possible that our females are getting very stressed out by these males
"over matting" with them??
<Yes>
And if so... do I need to get rid of the males because they are very
beautiful fish and I don't want to but I also don't want my females to
get over stressed...
<Either that/this or add more females if you have room>
By the way we do normal water changes keeping our ph at about 7.6, use
aquarium salt to help all of the fish stay healthy and also regularly
change our filter media...
<Ahh, as I suggested above>
Just hoping for some suggestion because I have put the males in "fishy
jail" because they are over breeding with our females, but they males
get along together just fine! I just don't want our females to get
"raped"...
Help please......
Jeff and Erika
<Cheers, and thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Re: Black Knife Sick, now Molly reproduction, stkg.
1/12/13
Well I know it has been quite some time since my last question. I would
like to quickly update you on the Ich :(. Black knife died when I went
to the LFS that morning, was very sad. All the other fish lived through
it however, except for the swordtail fry(have about 4 left). I'll get my
Black knife again in a few months :). I have one possibly small problem
and the only answer I can find is add more females. As I've said before
I have 3 Black Mollies (1 male 2 females). The male is obviously VERY
active and is CONSTANTLY all over the females. Both females are
pregnant, one being ultra pregnant (figured she would have done her
business by now but I think she hasn't due to the stress from the male).
I really rather not add another female, I don't want to overstock.
Anyway I'd very much like your advice in this situation please.
<I's likely trade in the male itself... some of the coming offspring
will serve as replacement fish>
Very rarely is the male swimming peacefully. 90 % of the time he's
swimming underneath either female. Females seem annoyed but since they
are mollies are they "ok" with this aggressive male behavior.
When I say aggressive I'm quite sure he's not nipping, more like he
swims with his face in her anal fin area and then swims around her
flashing his monster dorsal fin. Anyway Thanks again guys!
ps: perimeters 7.5 ph, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 15.
<Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Is the molly pregnant? 7/27/12
Hi,
Can you tell me if my black molly is pregnant? Is this the early stages of
pregnancy or is it just plain fat?
<Can't tell from that photo. If a female has ever been with a male since she
was more than 3 months old, she'll be pregnant for anything up to 6 months
after being with that male. Do bear in mind Mollies can be pregnant whilst
also being fat (this one doesn't look particularly overweight) or having a
problem like Dropsy that causes them to swell up. Do read about the needs of
Mollies, here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Most problems with Mollies, such as the infamous "shimmies" where they rock
from side to side while treading water, come down to environmental problems.
Mollies are not easy community fish, and are very demanding about water
chemistry and quality. Cheers, Neale.>
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Molly labour 7/17/12
My molly is VERY, VERY pregnant. (This is not the first pregnancy
I have had in this tank.) I have noticed an opaque sack protruding from
her anal vent area for 2 days now.
<This is not good, and to be honest, when I've seen this with a female
Halfbeak, she died a few days later. Do see the pictures here:
http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/disease-prevention/dropsy-malawi-bloat.aspx
Review environmental conditions (especially water hardness, salinity)
and social factors (e.g., too many males per female) because something
seems to have stressed your Molly, and thereby caused the death of the
embryos and this subsequent prolapse.>
Figured she would have dropped by now. Do you have any suggestions on
what I should do for her? She has been sitting on the bottom of the
tank.
Wiggling around every once and a while. Please help!
Thanks,
Rob
<Read up on euthanasia:
http://wetwebmedia.com/euthanasia.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Odd Molly babies.....inbreeding??? 6/18/12
Hi there I have a question about Molly reproduction. I have been
breeding molly's for quite some time and I have noticed 1 or 2 out of
20-30 will have this odd condition that I have never been able to save
them from.
They are born normally sometimes are a little longer than their
siblings, but they do not develop right.
<Very common; natural... fishes have much of their "pre-natal
development" post parturition... a percentage are expected to be
defective>
Within a month they have grown much less than their siblings are long and
very skinny and have a big head and their gills seem to be fanned out
and protruding a little. They seem very weak and frail but hold on
forever it seems. They eat like the other fish but just don't
thrive like the others.
The oldest I have got one is 4 months and then it died. What is
this? Is it inbreeding? A malformation of genes?
<Perhaps a provision for differing/possible environments... evolution in
the very short term>
It does not happen with just one female I have seen it with most of them
over the years and it does not happen with every batch seems to be a
50-50 to have 1 or 2 in a batch. I know its normal to loose some
babies after they are born but this is just weird. I wondered if
anyone has ever come across this and can identify it?
Thanks Jacquie
<You are a keen observer; nice to find in a fellow aquarist, human.
Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Molly Fry Help, rdg. 5/22/12
Hi there,
<Nicky>
Firstly what an informative site, thank you.
<Welcome>
We have an established 30ltr BiOrb tank
<Mmm, unfortunately more a toy than a viable aquatic life support
system>
that had 2 leopard danios and a platy. My daughter recently was given 2
Mollies for her birthday. That 2 have now turned into about 50 after the
female gave birth to approx 50 babies.
We have managed to get all the other fish into another tank (BiOrb) and
left the babies, but have since had 12 casualties with the filter. I
understand that the BiOrb isn't the best tank for babies (we weren't
intending on any) but need your advice on what we can do now to try and
prevent many more getting stuck. We want to try and do best by the
babies as my daughter is so pleased with them.
<Mmm, due to so many issues... water quality, foods/feeding... best to
have you read through the genus's repro. FAQs files:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/MollyReproF4.htm
and those linked in series above>
I look forward to your reply. Many thanks in advance.
Nicky
<Welcome again, Bob Fenner>
Pregnant Molly 4/25/12
Hi, my name is Alejandro.
<Hello, Alejandro!>
On March 2nd I sent you a mail about a black molly fish which I bought
and I thought was (or is) pregnant because she was having some
territorial issues and I could notice that she was larger than the other
female mollies. The thing is that today is April 24th and the molly just
keeps getting bigger and bigger.
<I can see from the photos. But please, don't send 10 MB of photos next
time! Resize them down to 500 KB each!>
I think that by now she should had given birth.
<Agreed.>
Now I'm not completely sure if she is pregnant
<If she is with a male, or has been in the last 6 months, YES, she is
pregnant. But she may be getting bigger for another reason as well.>
or if she could be having some sort of problem. I have her with some
tetras and another female molly but no male mollies.
<Tetras and Mollies don't mix. Mollies need hard, alkaline water
-- preferably slightly brackish. Such water is wrong for tetras.
Bloating and dropsy (oedema) are common when Mollies are kept in the
wrong water, especially soft water. On top of this, she has a
deformed spine (like the "balloon molly") which makes her look an odd
shape.>
I attached a couple of pictures of the molly. Please tell me if she
could be pregnant or sick. Thank you.
<Do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Molly babies
3/31/12
Hi my black molly had her babies today I got her in the little floating
birthing tank/fry catch just in time to watch the birth of 10 little
mollies. She has always had small batches. After the 10th baby was born
I noticed she was pushing out some eggs too. They look fertile with
little blood vessels and looks like a tiny black fish in them. Can
anything come of these?
<Unlikely if they're not actually moving about. In theory
prematurely born Mollies could be viable, because the fry don't
have a true placenta and instead use up energy reserves in the yolk
sac. So they could develop outside the mom. But I've never had much
luck with such fry.>
I have transferred the babies into my baby tank and put the mom back in
her tank. I still have the eggs in the floating fry catch will they
continue to develop or should I just let the fish have a good protein
snack?
<As you see fit.>
Thanks Jacquie
<Cheers, Neale.>
Molly fry
3/19/12
Hello everyone at WWM.
<Hey Anne>
I have a very settled 60 (UK) litre tank with 7 mollies, 6 neon tetras
and two bronze Corys.
<Mmm, the mollies like hard, alkaline water, the others softer,
acidic conditions>
When we bought the young mollies between 5 and 6 months ago (we
staggered their introduction to 3-4 at a time) we asked for all female,
but an undercover male managed to sneak in, which we discovered when he
began to mature and his dorsal fin got much longer and his anal fin
became "different" (if you see what I mean.)
<I do>
Nature took its course and he became very interested in the other
mollies around Christmas time, but no babies appeared. This
Friday, however, 4 molly fry suddenly appeared most unexpectedly - none
of the females had looked particularly fat nor had any of their
behaviour changed. Straight away that morning I purchased a
breeding net and moved them into there for safekeeping, in the belief
that the other fish would eat them given half a chance. Two of
them had been hiding amongst our 3 living plants and the other two had
been hiding behind the heater or filter. Having taken advice that
the breeding net should only be a very temporary solution, though, I
went out late on the Saturday afternoon and bought a 13 (UK) litre tank
with a sponge filter and a heater set at the same temperature as the
main tank (25-26 degrees centigrade).
I filled it with water from the main tank, one of the plants and a
little of the thoroughly rinsed gravel that came with the new tank, and
a handful of the gravel from the main one. I left it about half
an hour then moved the fry into it, and went to bed. I had to set the
filter on a pretty low setting so that the fry weren't dragged
towards it against their will! In the morning, the water seemed a
little cloudy and the fry all looked stressed, i.e. holding their fins
in a closed, not fanned out position. I know from fish loss many
moons ago when I was just starting out that this isn't a good sign
and, sure enough, by the end of Sunday we had lost all four of
them. We were very sad indeed.
What did I do wrong?
<Likely a "bacterial bloom" from the tank being so new...
Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/cloudywaterfw.htm>
Whilst I really did want these little babies to survive, we never
intended to be breeders. Would it be an option to put the male in
a separate tank on his own or would he hate that?
<Could try>
I do know that giving him away is an option, too, but would
prefer to keep him if possible.
I know the females could continue to give birth for a while even if he
is removed, and with a view to further batches of fry, was I right in
my assumption that the other fish would try to eat them?
<Try, but not necessarily able or interested>
If not, I would not try to separate them next time (we do have 3
plants for hiding in). But if this is a significant risk, how
should I go about moving them and how and when should I do it?
<Better to move pregnant females well in advance...>
Did I move them too quickly this time?
<Maybe>
Thanks in advance.
Anne
<You're read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/MollyReproF4.htm
and the linked files above? Bob Fenner>
Re: Molly fry 3/19/12
Thanks, but from your replies am still a little unclear.
Can I get the bacterial bloom from a new tank even if the water in it
was brought right from the old, stable and fully cycled tank alongside
it? Is it still classed as new then?
<Generally moving most all water from an established system to
"new" is fine, doesn't result in such trouble/s, but not
always... Perhaps a good deal of nutrient gets liberated, allows for a
microbial population explosion>
Also, I didn't mention that the probable mother molly was black and
not at all fat, so hard to know she was pregnant and therefore I
couldn't move her before birth as I didn't know it was going to
happen.
<Happens... batches of young can be small, the pregnancy not
indicated>
We think it was one of the two black ones as two of the fry were
black and two exactly the colour of the father, and he is much more
interested in the black ones than any of the others anyway. If this
happens again, I'll again have to move the fry to the nursery net
after they're born but how long should I keep them in there before
(a) placing in the nursery tank, or (b) back into the main one?
Regards
Anne
<All gone over and over where you were referred... Please read.
B>
Molly Reproduction 3/13/12
Hi there I have a Dalmatian molly that had a batch of babies born on
Feb 23. (She is an offspring of a Dalmatian female and a Sail Fin
Male both of which died after about a year with me. She only
shows the characteristics and colors of the Dalmatian unlike most of
her sisters and brothers [that I gave away]. Most of them are
marbled with both parents looks.) My question is, is it
possible for baby fish, in one batch, to be fathered by 2 different
males at the same time and be born at the same time?
<Yes it is; what's more, females can/do store sperm in their
tracts...>
That's kind of weird I know, but her batch of babies are so
different.
Some are dark, speckled with silver black and pale yellow, and are much
more plump. The others are very long, slender silver/white and
are starting to get some spots. The males in my tank are a
Marbled Balloon Molly, a Tuxedo Gold Nugget Molly, and a Lyre Tail
Molly (which died of old age just over a month ago) and a Black Molly
which replaced the Lyre. The darker babies look like they have
some of the markings of the Tuxedo Gold Nugget Molly with the dark
patch (Tuxedo) at the end of their tail. The others look like the
former Lyre. Is this even possible?
<Yes>
Or could it be a recessed gene from the Sail Fin Grandfather
causing the long slender light ones. (The Sail Fin grandfather was a
very impressive long slender pale yellow fish with a huge black dorsal
fin and tail and it had a few black spots on its body) I
know when babies are born they usually take on either the mothers or
the fathers looks or a combination of both but these babies are
literally like night and day. And yes they were all born from the
same female at the same time, I watched all 15 be born in my baby
tank. The female was alone in the tank aside 4 other babies one
month old. (so cool, so cute!) And the dark ones have always been
bigger than the light ones, right from the beginning. All are
healthy and growing fast but this has bugged me since they were
born. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. There
have been hundreds of babies come and go from my tanks over the past
few years but this is the first time this has happened. Thank
you. Jacquie
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
Pregnant Molly, beh./sys. 3/3/12
Hi, my name is Alejandro. I recently bought two black female
molly fish and put them in a 10 gallon tank.
<Really need more room than this Alejandro... too small a volume to
keep stable; allow for movement, diffuse territoriality. Please read
here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollysysfaqs.htm
Everything seemed just fine until I noticed that one of the female
mollies may be pregnant. The thing is that the pregnant molly keeps
attacking the other one, who is a little smaller.
<Ah, yes. Common behavior>
Today I noticed that the little one keeps hiding over the floating
plants on the top of the tank. I thought that this may be due to the
ammonia or nitrite levels in the water (I don't have any way to
measure them, so I just guessed), so I changed half of the water in the
tank.
<Good>
Still, the little molly keeps hiding, since the pregnant molly
keeps chasing it all around the tank. I've looked on your website
but it seems that the male mollies are the territorial ones. Is this
territorial behavior normal in pregnant mollies? Thank you
<This behavior is natural... You should separate these fish, look to
getting a larger system. Bob Fenner>
I need help and or advice! 3/1/12
Hi WWM Crew,
My name is Diamond Richardson and I'm very worried with my
Dalmatian Lyretail Molly. Ever since I got him
he's been perfectly fine and maybe a few weeks later his right eye
grew swollen very large but then went away.
He was fine for awhile. Now he's acting weird and can't swim up
to eat and I have him in a 10 gallon tank
<Really too small to be stable... water quality changing too easily
in a short time. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollysysfaqs.htm
with two guppies and two sunburst molly's.
I've only ever had goldfish before I purchased these fish and all
of them are fine accept my Dalmatian Molly. He sits on the bottom of
the tank and has a hard time swimming to the top. The other day he put
himself in the plastic plant I have in there but then when I looked
again he was just on the bottom. This has been happening for quite some
time and so I decided to take him out and put him in a glass fish bowl
with less water so he could eat. I've been feeding all my fish
goldfish flakes and they've been fine with that.
<Mmm, really need something more substantial... see the Linked Files
above where I referred you to>
I also have a Betta so today when I put him in the glass bowl I
gave him some of that since Molly's and Betta's are tough fish.
I read some of the stuff other people have been having troubles with
their Mollies and saw aquarium salt is recommended and a strong plant.
I'm going to try it but please help me as best as you can with any
advice. I love my fish dearly(:
Also one other thing, since I put him in the glass bowl he's been
swimming around it like he's fine and then he'll sit at the
bottom and get back up and do it again. Thank you for your time and
help!
<Need information re water chemistry... For now, do read where
you've been referred. Bob Fenner>
molly male and molly birthing
2/26/12
I have decided that I liked my sons mollies so much that I started a
new tank with just mollies.
<By far the best approach! Well done. Now, do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
If you're keeping Mollies on their own, ensuring the right water
chemistry -- hard, alkaline, and ideally slightly brackish is extremely
easy to do. Buy some marine salt mix, and add around 3-5 grammes/litre
of water. That'll be tolerated by hard water plants just fine, and
the Mollies will become dramatically healthier.>
I purchased one that was pregnant and since I had the birthing tank
already and she looked ready to go – there were quite a few signs, I
better put her in there while I did a few errands and then picked up
some plants for the tank for when she did give birth. lo and
behold, I come home and spy a little fry in the big tank!?
<Is normal.>
upon closer inspection, all the fry are in the big tank and mamma molly
is still in the isolation tank?
<Ah, now, did you put the female in a floating breeding trap or
similar? Don't do that! Despite the marketing, this isn't what
these traps are for. In fact they're more likely to cause
miscarriages than anything else. Instead, stock with floating plants
such as Indian Fern (Water Sprite) -- the best choice if you don't
have great lighting -- or even plain vanilla Brazilian Waterweed
(Egeria densa) or Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis) -- these do
need good light to do well. Fry hide among the plants, and then you
check the plants daily, scoop out the fry, and place the fry in the
breeding trap. Rear the fry there for ~3 weeks, then they'll be big
enough to set loose with their parents. Easy!>
so can you offer any suggestion as to why the babes were able to get
out of the isolation? it is the type that floats above the water
with the separator about 1/2 inch above the bottom so fry are supposed
to drop down away from momma. I was hoping if they were born when
I was away to come home to see them all on the bottom of the isolation
tank.
<If the fry got out, chances are water sloshed over the top of the
thing, or else, the slots are bigger than they should be, but that
isn't likely. My guess is the fry came from another female.>
as it was, I had a few feathery plants and a hollow sculpture, the fry
were all hiding away in plants, sculpture or in the pebbles. I caught
16 and put in another tank and all seem well. I have no idea what
she actually birthed. I know that she can give birth again in 30
days so I wonder if I should just put the plants in, but if I decided
to try the tank again, any suggestions?
<See above.>
The momma is a Dalmatian molly and the fry all appear black (so small,
its hard to tell), can they change color? could they develop
spots? she is more white than black though.
<If you have more than one variety of Molly, they'll all cross
breed, and your offspring will be "mongrels" without any
particular colour pattern. Over time, the generations end up
greenish-brown like the wild fish. Imagine if you kept a German
Shepherd and a Dalmatian together. You wouldn't expect the puppies
of those two dogs to resemble either parent, would you? Instead, the
puppies would have some random mix of traits. Same here.>
I imagine they would just possible develop white specks? Now last
question, I had two females and two male mollies in my sons tank and
the males were very aggressively pursuing the one female Sailfin
molly.
<What they do. Keep at least 2 females per male. Best not to mix the
crippled Balloon Molly varieties with other varieties.>
I finally decided to move the one male to the other tank. The
mollies in this tank are very mellow, even though there are two males
and 5 females. Are there such things as males that are (for lack
of a better word) “horny”?
<Of course. In the wild they're smaller than the females and
therefore easier prey for predators. Evolution favours the males that
mate often, and mate early.>
I was afraid this might be stressing out the female.
<Is doing so.>
I was sure she must be pregnant by now with all this attention (they
have been together for over a month), she doesn’t appear fat but
maybe she is too stressed and cant relax to allow herself to become
pregnant?
<Or has miscarried; this is commoner than inexperienced aquarists
imagine.>
Do you think the male remaining might calm down now that I have removed
the other one?
<Males either spar with one another or chase females, depending on
what's available to them. They never become mellow.>
If this male keeps being aggressive or starts pursuing the females in
this tank aggressively, should I take him back to the pet store or get
rid of another male? I am not sure if this is his nature or a
dominance issue?
<Both. Male Mollies become dominant by chasing other males away, and
they try to become dominant precisely so that they have greater access
to the females.>
he is a beautiful fish, Sailfin perfect features, I really love the way
he looks. would hate to get rid of him but I don’t want to
stress out my girls!
jp
<Do read, learn about Mollies; none of this is unusual. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: molly male and molly birthing
2/26/12
Thank you so much for your reply,
<Most welcome.>
I have been reading and re-reading most of the information on your site
about mollies along with other fish. The male in my sons tank seems a
bit calmer now that he is the lone male.
<Logical; he has less need to assert dominance.>
The one in that I moved still seems a bit randier than the others in
the tank. To be honest, you would have thought they were all
females by their behavior until he arrived, or the other males just
haven't matured, but he will have them all pregnant in no
time. I might need to get my 75 gallon tank downstairs
started! or let nature take its course when they are
born....:( I have heard some pet stores will take the fry.
Do any buy them?
<Rarely, and only if pedigree. They don't want
"mongrel" cross-breeds.>
I have gotten plants and ditched the breeding tank - which is what I
was on my way to do, when I discovered the baby mollies in the
tank. The comment that really caught me off guard - that these
could be from another female...none of my other females appear
pregnant, but with the pitch black mollies, it is hard to tell, you
can't see a gravid spot,
<Not normally visible on Mollies anyway.>
do they all get really big?
<Varies.>
my Dalmatian molly that I thought had the babies is still rather large
and keeps just sort of hovering in one spot, not very active,
<Ah, now, this sounds like the Shimmies. Do review water quality and
water chemistry. We get a lot of messages about sick Mollies; almost
all down to their environment.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/MollyHlthF8.htm
>
she also still seems to have her gravid spot? its hard to tell
because it just looks like a brown spot on her whitish silver body
.
<The gravid spot is merely the wall of the uterus pressed against
the skin. It's visible in small livebearers like guppies because
they have little muscle on this part of the abdomen. But on Mollies its
rarely, if ever, reliably visible and diagnostic enough to prove
pregnancy. Contrary to myth, it isn't a colour patch that evolved
to conveniently tell aquarists their Mollies are pregnant!>
She has been like this and I thought that once she had her babies she
would perk up. she is not very sociable, the others sort of stay
in little groups of two or three and then regroup but my Dalmatian
keeps where she is. Is this normal or does this seem more like
she may still be pregnant?
<See above.>
Now I know she can still have more babies, but this wouldn’t happen
for another month, right?
<Around about a month, but varies.>
I saved 16 babies in a gallon tank. I have a bigger tank, I need
to scrub out and get a sponge filter - is this a special filter or does
is just have a piece of sponge to keep the babies from going up into
it?
<Molly fry are strong and will be fine with whatever filter is
installed in the main tank. No need for a separate rearing aquarium
unless you want to keep virgin females away from sexually mature males.
Otherwise yes, a plain vanilla sponge filter is ideal.>
I spun the food in a baby food processor and the fry love it. I
am using a turkey baster to get up excess off the bottom of the tank
and do a 20% tank change. My question is this, how long do you
think it will be safe to keep the fry in this tank?
<If you don't need/want to keep and sell the fry, then leave
them all in situ. Some, perhaps most, will survive. If you need to cull
the fry, then adding a salt-tolerant or low-end brackish water predator
like a Knight Goby can take care of this, eating the fry but leaving
the adults alone.>
How often should I do water changes in order to keep them healthy?
<In freshwater tanks Mollies are very sensitive to nitrate, so you
really do need weekly water changes to keep it below 20 mg/l. Obviously
ammonia and nitrite also need to be zero. In brackish water (and I
don't mean water with a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon!) they
are much less sensitive.>
They are on my desk where I can watch them and are doing well, I can
watch them eating and pooping. water in both tanks are perfect, I
checked it. I bought fake plants though, should I buy real for
the future? I need to check my lfs.
<If it floats, it'll shelter the fry. Real or plastic
doesn't matter. Cheers, Neale.>
molly male and molly birthing
2/26/12
I have decided that I liked my sons mollies so much that I started a
new tank with just mollies.
<By far the best approach! Well done. Now, do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
If you're keeping Mollies on their own, ensuring the right water
chemistry -- hard, alkaline, and ideally slightly brackish is extremely
easy to do. Buy some marine salt mix, and add around 3-5 grammes/litre
of water. That'll be tolerated by hard water plants just fine, and
the Mollies will become dramatically healthier.>
I purchased one that was pregnant and since I had the birthing tank
already and she looked ready to go – there were quite a few signs, I
better put her in there while I did a few errands and then picked up
some plants for the tank for when she did give birth. lo and
behold, I come home and spy a little fry in the big tank!?
<Is normal.>
upon closer inspection, all the fry are in the big tank and mamma molly
is still in the isolation tank?
<Ah, now, did you put the female in a floating breeding trap or
similar? Don't do that! Despite the marketing, this isn't what
these traps are for. In fact they're more likely to cause
miscarriages than anything else. Instead, stock with floating plants
such as Indian Fern (Water Sprite) -- the best choice if you don't
have great lighting -- or even plain vanilla Brazilian Waterweed
(Egeria densa) or Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis) -- these do
need good light to do well. Fry hide among the plants, and then you
check the plants daily, scoop out the fry, and place the fry in the
breeding trap. Rear the fry there for ~3 weeks, then they'll be big
enough to set loose with their parents. Easy!>
so can you offer any suggestion as to why the babes were able to get
out of the isolation? it is the type that floats above the water
with the separator about 1/2 inch above the bottom so fry are supposed
to drop down away from momma. I was hoping if they were born when
I was away to come home to see them all on the bottom of the isolation
tank.
<If the fry got out, chances are water sloshed over the top of the
thing, or else, the slots are bigger than they should be, but that
isn't likely. My guess is the fry came from another female.>
as it was, I had a few feathery plants and a hollow sculpture, the fry
were all hiding away in plants, sculpture or in the pebbles. I caught
16 and put in another tank and all seem well. I have no idea what
she actually birthed. I know that she can give birth again in 30
days so I wonder if I should just put the plants in, but if I decided
to try the tank again, any suggestions?
<See above.>
The momma is a Dalmatian molly and the fry all appear black (so small,
its hard to tell), can they change color? could they develop
spots? she is more white than black though.
<If you have more than one variety of Molly, they'll all cross
breed, and your offspring will be "mongrels" without any
particular colour pattern. Over time, the generations end up
greenish-brown like the wild fish. Imagine if you kept a German
Shepherd and a Dalmatian together. You wouldn't expect the puppies
of those two dogs to resemble either parent, would you? Instead, the
puppies would have some random mix of traits. Same here.>
I imagine they would just possible develop white specks? Now last
question, I had two females and two male mollies in my sons tank and
the males were very aggressively pursuing the one female Sailfin
molly.
<What they do. Keep at least 2 females per male. Best not to mix the
crippled Balloon Molly varieties with other varieties.>
I finally decided to move the one male to the other tank. The
mollies in this tank are very mellow, even though there are two males
and 5 females. Are there such things as males that are (for lack
of a better word) “horny”?
<Of course. In the wild they're smaller than the females and
therefore easier prey for predators. Evolution favours the males that
mate often, and mate early.>
I was afraid this might be stressing out the female.
<Is doing so.>
I was sure she must be pregnant by now with all this attention (they
have been together for over a month), she doesn’t appear fat but
maybe she is too stressed and cant relax to allow herself to become
pregnant?
<Or has miscarried; this is commoner than inexperienced aquarists
imagine.>
Do you think the male remaining might calm down now that I have removed
the other one?
<Males either spar with one another or chase females, depending on
what's available to them. They never become mellow.>
If this male keeps being aggressive or starts pursuing the females in
this tank aggressively, should I take him back to the pet store or get
rid of another male? I am not sure if this is his nature or a
dominance issue?
<Both. Male Mollies become dominant by chasing other males away, and
they try to become dominant precisely so that they have greater access
to the females.>
he is a beautiful fish, Sailfin perfect features, I really love the way
he looks. would hate to get rid of him but I don’t want to
stress out my girls!
jp
<Do read, learn about Mollies; none of this is unusual. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re: molly male and molly birthing
2/26/12
Thank you so much for your reply,
<Most welcome.>
I have been reading and re-reading most of the information on your site
about mollies along with other fish. The male in my sons tank seems a
bit calmer now that he is the lone male.
<Logical; he has less need to assert dominance.>
The one in that I moved still seems a bit randier than the others in
the tank. To be honest, you would have thought they were all
females by their behavior until he arrived, or the other males just
haven't matured, but he will have them all pregnant in no
time. I might need to get my 75 gallon tank downstairs
started! or let nature take its course when they are
born....:( I have heard some pet stores will take the fry.
Do any buy them?
<Rarely, and only if pedigree. They don't want
"mongrel" cross-breeds.>
I have gotten plants and ditched the breeding tank - which is what I
was on my way to do, when I discovered the baby mollies in the
tank. The comment that really caught me off guard - that these
could be from another female...none of my other females appear
pregnant, but with the pitch black mollies, it is hard to tell, you
can't see a gravid spot,
<Not normally visible on Mollies anyway.>
do they all get really big?
<Varies.>
my Dalmatian molly that I thought had the babies is still rather large
and keeps just sort of hovering in one spot, not very active,
<Ah, now, this sounds like the Shimmies. Do review water quality and
water chemistry. We get a lot of messages about sick Mollies; almost
all down to their environment.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/MollyHlthF8.htm
>
she also still seems to have her gravid spot? its hard to tell
because it just looks like a brown spot on her whitish silver body
.
<The gravid spot is merely the wall of the uterus pressed against
the skin. It's visible in small livebearers like guppies because
they have little muscle on this part of the abdomen. But on Mollies its
rarely, if ever, reliably visible and diagnostic enough to prove
pregnancy. Contrary to myth, it isn't a colour patch that evolved
to conveniently tell aquarists their Mollies are pregnant!>
She has been like this and I thought that once she had her babies she
would perk up. she is not very sociable, the others sort of stay
in little groups of two or three and then regroup but my Dalmatian
keeps where she is. Is this normal or does this seem more like
she may still be pregnant?
<See above.>
Now I know she can still have more babies, but this wouldn’t happen
for another month, right?
<Around about a month, but varies.>
I saved 16 babies in a gallon tank. I have a bigger tank, I need
to scrub out and get a sponge filter - is this a special filter or does
is just have a piece of sponge to keep the babies from going up into
it?
<Molly fry are strong and will be fine with whatever filter is
installed in the main tank. No need for a separate rearing aquarium
unless you want to keep virgin females away from sexually mature males.
Otherwise yes, a plain vanilla sponge filter is ideal.>
I spun the food in a baby food processor and the fry love it. I
am using a turkey baster to get up excess off the bottom of the tank
and do a 20% tank change. My question is this, how long do you
think it will be safe to keep the fry in this tank?
<If you don't need/want to keep and sell the fry, then leave
them all in situ. Some, perhaps most, will survive. If you need to cull
the fry, then adding a salt-tolerant or low-end brackish water predator
like a Knight Goby can take care of this, eating the fry but leaving
the adults alone.>
How often should I do water changes in order to keep them healthy?
<In freshwater tanks Mollies are very sensitive to nitrate, so you
really do need weekly water changes to keep it below 20 mg/l. Obviously
ammonia and nitrite also need to be zero. In brackish water (and I
don't mean water with a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon!) they
are much less sensitive.>
They are on my desk where I can watch them and are doing well, I can
watch them eating and pooping. water in both tanks are perfect, I
checked it. I bought fake plants though, should I buy real for
the future? I need to check my lfs.
<If it floats, it'll shelter the fry. Real or plastic
doesn't matter. Cheers,
Neale.>
Pregnant
fish? 2/15/12
HI,
I have a very plump looking balloon molly.
<Indeed!>
I have her in a tank with all babies at the moment. I was just
wondering if there was any way you could tell if she's
pregnant or not.
<If she has been in a tank with a male in the last 3-4 months,
then yes, she could be pregnant. But do also be aware that
Mollies are prone to Dropsy, especially when kept in freshwater
(as opposed to brackish or marine) aquaria. Mollies are delicate
fish that sicken quickly if exposed to the wrong
environment.>
She waddles through the water, very active, appetite has
increased drastically over the past day or so, she has her fins
fanned out but when I go to take a picture she tucks them under.
I attached two images. I was just wondering if maybe you could
tell.
Thanks,
Danielle
P.S. I have 8 babies 4 days old and going strong! but that was
from a different balloon molly.
20 gal main tank - 1 orange balloon molly and the black balloon
molly(right now she's in a different tank but usually in this
one)
10 gal - 8 babies and the black female.
<Do read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
Re: Pregnant fish? 2/15/12
Thanks! I literally got her last week and the tank she was in at
the store had more than enough males in it.
<Problem solved, perhaps, but do be aware of Dropsy. Compared
to pregnancy or simply being fat, Dropsy causes fish to have
scales that lift away from the body (very visible from above,
like a pine cone) and fish become lethargic, lack colour, and
stop eating. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Pregnant fish? 2/15.12
Thanks. I just got marine salt and ill have hydrometers on the
way here soon so I should be good to go for now
<Real good. Mollies don't need much salt;
even 3-4 grammes/litre, or 0.5 oz/US gallon, will make all the
difference. That concentration, by the way, will be a mere 1.001
at 25 C/77 F, or about 10% normal seawater salinity.
If you have good digital kitchen scales, you may not even need a
hydrometer. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Pregnant fish? 2/15.12
I do have an excellent scale. However when filling up and doing
changes how much salt do I add? Say I take out two gallons do I
put enough back in to make up for the loss which would be one
oz?
<You add enough salt for that bucket of water. So, if you take
out 2 US gallons, in your bucket containing 2 US gallons of new
(dechlorinated!) tap water, you'd stir in 2 x 0.5 oz = 1 oz
marine aquarium salt mix. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Pregnant
fish? 2/26/12
Hi there!
I know its been a little while since I last wrote to you about my
pregnant fish - but I just thought Id let you know since I added
the salt my fish seem soooo much more lively and active and
Thursday night I found 20 little baby fish swimming around in the
tank :) No dropsy for this fish!
Thanks for all the info you've given me.
Danielle
<Glad things have worked out well, and thanks for letting me
know. Best wishes,
Neale.>
|
Hi I've got a question do molly's change
sex ? 2/3/12
<Nope.>
my tank has about 4 molly's all female until a few days ago
she was female as i had breed her with a Dalmatian male i keep in a
separate tank is it true that they can change sex as mine has
<The idea livebearers change sex has been around for decades, but
there's no scientific evidence it happens. It's never been seen
in situations where the fish was verifiably one sex and then becomes
another sex. What usually happens is that a male develops later than
normal, so to the less expert eye, looks like a female. After all,
it's the shape of the anal fin we go on, and juvenile males have
the same shaped anal fin as the females; it only becomes its particular
shape after sexual maturity. If a male is a "late bloomer",
he might have the female-looking anal fin for many months later than he
should. What you describe would seem to be different, and I can't
explain it at face value, but my guess would be that there's some
sort of misidentification going on here.>
yours sincerely
d.Taylor
<Best wishes, Neale.>
Momma fish to be???
Hi Jacquie here again. I hope your site supports my
pictures. Sorry about the poor pictures she is very camera
shy! I was told my fish, whom I believe is pregnant, is a
Variatus Molly.
<Appears to be a Molly of some sort>
I have since discovered there is no such thing and she is a
actually a Variatus Platy. Am I right here?
<My guess is on Mollienesia...>
Any how, are there any signs in particular to watch for as
to say when she would be ready to drop her babies?
<Yes... read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/MollyReproF4.htm
and the linked files above>
Her tank is a 25 gallon and she is in there on her own
aside from a golden algae eater
<Do see WWM re Gyrinocheilus>
and a 3 week old baby balloon molly. The tank sits at
83 degrees
<Too high... see Molly System FAQs while you're
learning>
(or 28.5 how ever you read it) and the water is
perfect! It is fully stalked with plants as you can see in
the second picture. How far along do you suppose she
is?
<Can't tell much... the vent area typically becomes
clear/er, eyes/pupils of young visible if you have good
vision!>
This is her first batch, as far as I know, as I have only had her
for 3 weeks. Any advise would be appreciated
<Read. Bob Fenner>
|
|
Poecilia/Mollienesia gestation
period 1/30/12
Hi there Jacquie here. I have a question concerning how long
Mollies are "pregnant" for. I had a Dalmatian molly
that had her babies every 4 weeks.
You could put a clock to her. I bought a balloon molly and within
days of buying her she had babies in my community tank and most got
eaten. :( In my research of balloon mollies I have
found a lot of people saying its 60 days before they will have their
babies. Does "pregnancy" lengths differ between the
different breeds or are they full of hot air?
Thanks.
<The gestation period for all Poecilia/Mollienesia spp. is between
4-6 weeks, varying with water temperature (warmer water, shorter
gestation).
There's no significant variation between breeds. However,
Poecilia/Mollienesia spp. can produce more than one batch of fry per
mating, and I'd hypothesize that when people find fry two months
after a female was mated, what they're actually seeing is the
*second* batch of fry, the first perhaps being stillborn or
cannibalised shortly after birth.
Cheers, Neale.>
Mollie fry housing
1/15/12
Hi! I have been keeping mollies for a while now and I think I
know the in's and out's with them. But now I found a problem
that I have never bumped into before. I have 2 tanks one is my
community tank with adult mollies of various breeds, its a 20 gallon.
The other is a 25 gallon that I put the pregnant females in to have
their babies. Now my original fish were having babies every 4
weeks 2 weeks apart. So the babies had a chance to grow before the next
mom had to be put in 2 weeks later. Wild and confusing but it
worked! Anyhow, I bought a pair of balloon mollies and within
days of bringing them home the female had babies. I only managed
to save 2 and the rest became a snack for the community (grrrr).
I put them in my "baby" tank (the 25) and they are doing
great! Here is where my problem is......I have another molly
showing signs of being ready to have babies and the balloon babies are
only 3 days old. Is it safe to keep them in a breeder trap for 1-1 1/2
weeks while I wait for the mom to have hers?
<Likely so... as long as you pay attention to cleanliness of the
water in the trap and careful feeding>
The breeder trap is the hard clear plastic floating type with
slots in the bottom.
<Pour some system water through it a few times a day...>
The 2 babies are in it right now I have put a very small plastic
plant in it and some small stones and some duck weed like plant that
floats on the top (it came with the new fish). I have been
lifting the trap (so the old water comes out and new water comes in
when I put it down) after I feed them 3 times a day.
<Sounds good>
Is this ok for them?
<Likely so>
They are so cute, and so little, I don't want to loose
them! Your opinion would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks, Jacquie
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>
A Newby~ Question about fish compatibility for stocking a
tank, and population control 1/8/12
Neil,
<Jill,>
I have read about Mollies being unsocial, but the
group I have now of two balloon males and 4 females is very
peaceful. They hang together too at night.
<Cool. But if you peruse the Molly FAQ pages here at WWM, you'll
see we get a lot of messages about aggressive Mollies, usually, but not
always, the males. Just because things have worked out so far,
don't assume that they will indefinitely, and keep an eye out for
fish hiding away a lot while another becomes more outgoing as if
"in charge".>
The first male was super timid and hid all of the time until I
introduced the other fish to the aquarium. Now he's always
out and about.
I returned/exchanged two aggressive females, and then I
returned/exchanged two aggressive males, and came up with this final
ratio of the two males and four females that are working out well
together.
<Real good.>
My second male is more assertive than the first, but they are
coexisting very peacefully and he's definitely not high on a scale
of assertiveness.
I have two shy female fish and two more outgoing one's, but
thankfully no bratty one's like the one's I returned
before.
I'd recommend anyone wanting to have these in their tank taking
advantage of the store's return policy to find the perfect
fish. You can also observe how they're behaving towards their
many tank mates in the store.
Each one has it's own type or temperament. And funny, the
very most assertive male that I returned was just a baby
still!!!! They must be born with their tendencies.
<Very likely true. If you think about the life of a Molly in the
wild, it's pretty hard for the males. Females only mate with the
fittest males (in the Darwinian sense) so any male that can't
assert himself is doomed to not pass on his genes. The big sail fin on
the males costs energy to grow, and at the same time, the males are
smaller than the females, so more likely to be eaten. That modified
anal fin of their surely reduces their swimming ability somewhat too.
All in all, male Mollies have shorter, tougher lives than the females,
and that explains their sense of urgency when it comes to mating.
Studies on Guppies are even more alarming (for as males, anyway)
because it seems females actively seek males with brighter colours
because there y're likely to get eaten, and therefore the ones who
had to be smart and fast simply to live long enough to reach sexual
maturity!>
They're entertaining, always munching, and some of them even lick
the glass, which is amusing. The balloon males are bulky and
appear to be interested in the females but not "on a sole mission
to populate," as the two regular style males that I returned
because they were so aggressive were.
I am just sharing this for info on my own experience so far with this
interesting, very colorful little fish, and for anyone with a large
enough tank who is thinking of getting some, I'd highly recommend
them.
<Agreed. As I've said many times before, Mollies are outstanding
fish -- do check out Liberty Mollies some time -- but their very
specific needs really do mean, I believe, that they're best given a
tank of their own.>
Thanks again,
Jill
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: A Newby~ Question about fish compatibility for stocking a tank, and
population control 1/8/12
Thank you Neil. Yes, that's why I've decided to avoid
adding guppies or platies, though their commonly combined! 29
gallon doesn't feel big enough for when they reach full
size.
<Quite so. Mollies, if happy, will breed readily enough, so
you'll soon find your tank filling up. To be fair, they're
quite cannibalistic at times, but still, some will survive.>
I do worry about population control though.... Not sure yet
whom to add to eat the fry. As they are not as assertive as the
one's I returned, I worry a Knight Goby or Chromide might cause a
clash.
<Knights are pretty peaceful, if predatory and territorial amongst
themselves. The "Crazy Fish", Butis butis, is another
wonderful low-end brackish predator. Gets to about 6 inches, looks
gorgeous once mature, if a bit sinister.>
You say those need brackish too, and I am not wanting to go above 1
tbsp per 5 gallon regular aquarium salt due to the plants, so those
probably wouldn't work.
<If you choose the right plants, they're fine in low-end
brackish. I have no idea what specific gravity you have in your tank.
Tablespoons don't mean much in oceanography! But let's assume
that's three teaspoons, which at 6 grammes a piece is about 18
grammes salt total. 5 US gallons is 19 litres, so that's 18 grammes
per 19 litres, less than 1 gramme/litre. That'll be having very
little helpful effect, to be honest; it's less than you'd use
for treating Whitespot on Neon Tetras or Clown Loaches, which is 2
grammes/litre. A low end brackish tank would be running at around 6
grammes/litre, and that'd be easily tolerated by salt-tolerant
plant species, of which there are MANY. Do look at the plant list on my
Brackish FAQ for more:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/brackishfaq.html
Virtually all hard water plants will be fine at this low-end salinity.
If grammes/litre is confusing, you can use oz/US gallon (0.8 oz/gal)
for the same 6 g/l salinity, or else a hydrometer, SG 1.003 at 25 C/77
F. My Brack Calc tool can be used for these conversions and t
understand the relationship.>
I love having plants. Though, I am attracted to Brackish fish and
may someday start a separate tank for some.
<Hardy seems any point, if you have the Mollies already.>
At least these goofy balloon males are more mellow ...or should I say
"lazy," and probably won't produce babies quite as
frequently as the ordinary sort. Though..... Only
time will tell. I don't see what goes on at night or when
I'm at work or in the other part of the house otherwise
occupied. I expect they will eventually score a family of
fry.
I just hope as the males get bigger it will become more difficult and
thus happen infrequently. Balloon is like a deformity, and a
recessive gene.
Maybe Darwin will play out! That's why I chose those for the
males.
I will keep an eye out for aggression. If necessary, there are a
couple of pet stores who take a fish and give store credit.
I'm going to start a 10 gallon planted maybe for emergency
situations, if I'm needing separation if I have to leave for work
and can't return some fish beforehand. I'm not sure what
to put in it yet though ...maybe a single slow moving non aggressive
fish.
Can't just have an empty tank with no fish..... And a Molly might
go after Endler's? (which also breed profusely). I
guess I could do two FW Bumblebee Gobies perhaps.. Which I love. With
lots of shells and caves and a heavy planting. I'd use the same
amount of salt as for the Mollies. They would probably be safe
with the caves and shells and plant cover as I hope to be on top of
things enough to spot aggression developing before it has a chance to
become full blown. Having a place to put a fish who was starting
to act aggressive would be helpful.
Jill
<Good luck, Neale.>
Re: A Newby~ Question about fish compatibility for stocking a tank, and
population control 1/8/12
Thank you, Neil. That plant list is awesome!
<Glad to help.>
I have Hornwort already, and some type of Anubias and I think some kind
of crypticorn. I don't know which one's they are but the
store said they would tolerate low salt.....so they may be the same
type and if not I can probably order some.
<Indeed. Cryptocoryne wendtii is by the most commonly traded Crypt,
and the one that does best in the widest range of aquaria, including
slightly brackish water. Surprisingly to some, there's even a Crypt
that is a brackish water specialist, Cryptocoryne ciliata. This species
isn't as widely traded, but is available, and given its large size,
makes a fine centrepiece plant.>
I don't know about the poor anarchis, as I think I once read it
doesn't.
Though, I also read recently that it uses hard water minerals as
fertilizer, which could explain why it is sprouting and growing roots
like crazy!
<Quite so. Is definitely a hard water plant, and tolerant of low-end
brackish.>
I'll sit down and figure out the salinity later, and probably I can
just gradually increase it each time I do a water change.
<Exactly. No rush.>
I think I'll go with a knight goby once I hit the right salt level
and the tank is fully cycled. I love the little guys. You've
sold me on that one, and that can finish off the 29 gallon, unless a
couple Molly babies have beautiful coloring and suitable temperament
and survive the larger fishes.
But really, 6 Mollies and one goby gives everyone a little extra
breathing space... So I may just trade any surviving babies for store
credit to be safe and keep the little guys happy.
<Sounds good.>
Jill
<Good luck, Neale.>
Advice on what to do with Molly fry.
-- 1/3/12
Hello, I stumbled upon your site whilst searching Google for help, and
thought it was a brilliant resource. Forgive me if the information I am
asking is on here elsewhere, I did try to look but may have missed it!
A few weeks ago I purchased two female Sailfin mollies and put them in
my tank with my 5 Cory catfish. They seem to be doing very well, not
that I am an expert. However at least one, and possibly the other,
was/is pregnant, because on Christmas day I found 10 fry swimming
around the tank. I have separated the fry using a breeders net, with
some plastic plant attachments both high and low, and am feeding them 5
times a day. They seem to be doing well, as does their mum, all very
active and eating enthusiastically. I have purchased a new 33 Gallon to
put them in, though will of course use established filter media, and
cycle the tank before adding them, because I do not want to overcrowd
my current tank.
<Good>
I plan on keeping one or two (would like a male but don't
know what I have got yet), and finding homes for the others. I have a
few questions though that I am struggling to find advice upon. I have
read male mollies are aggressive to each other, so does this mean if I
keep one in the 33G at the end I should only have one?
<Likely there is enough space here for more than one>
I do not want any more babies if I can help it so would not keep
both males and females together!
<Okay... do know that females can store sperm in their tracks for
quite a while>
Also, I know males and females have the different anal fin and
the fin on the top is bigger on the males, but at what age can I start
to tell?
<W/ your frequent feeding... likely in a few weeks>
And at what age will they get sexually active?
<Several weeks>
Is it going to be possible to separate the genders before the
females get pregnant?
<Yes>
I am trying to be responsible so I don't end up rehoming fish
that are already pregnant and so recreating the problem for other
people. Also at what age/size is it safest to start rehoming them, as I
want to give them the best chance and not stress them out or shock them
so that they die.
<At about 1-1.5 cm.>
They are growing fairly quickly (I think) are about 1cm long each
now.
Finally, when I have found homes for the majority and have one or two
left are there any species that will live well with them when they are
small as one fish in a 33G would look pretty lonely to me!
<Yes; read here re:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollycompfaqs.htm
I know I can Google that part and will, I just didn't know if
it makes a difference them being young and small mollies instead of
adults. Sorry this was so long and I hope you can help me, thank you
very much! Louise.
<Welcome! Cheers, Bob Fenner>
I think my balloon molly is overdue
12/19/11
I have a, used to be bright orange molly, but within the past month and
a half she has nearly tripled in her belly and is white and within the
past 2 days i noticed her scales on her belly are no longer touching
they look like they're overly stretched out. I've looked for
that black spot I've read about figuring it would be easily spotted
since she's white right now. But i don't see it I also can see
the vent opening like she could have the babies at any time but that
has been at least a week now. I have a boy in there and at first he
used to peck at her and now he just goes and does his own thing.
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Without any further information my assumption here is that pregnancy is
nothing to do with her swelling (though she may well be pregnant as
well).
Sounds more like she has Dropsy, a problem largely caused by poor care.
To recap, Mollies need a large aquarium (30 gallons/100 litres
minimum); hard, alkaline water; excellent water quality (0 ammonia and
nitrite, and nitrate below 20 mg/l); and ideally slightly brackish
conditions. Mollies aren't beginners fish, and when beginners try
to keep them in small freshwater tanks, they usually end up sick or
dead. Dropsy, Columnaris, Finrot, Fungus and the Shimmies are all
especially common problems with Mollies. Most aquarium books do state
that Mollies do best in brackish water, but sometimes people buy them
without reading, and that's when the problems start. So, read the
above article, find out what it is you aren't doing, and act
accordingly. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: help 12/18/11
Dear sir,
<Hello Aswini,>
I got 30 fries from my black molly 2 weeks before.
They were dying one by one from last week. There remaining were only 5
now. Could you please provide any suggestion to get them saved.
Regards,
Aswini
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Most problems with Mollies come down to the following: [1] Wrong water
chemistry; [2] poor water quality; [3] tank too small; [4] wrong
diet.
Furthermore, Molly fry benefit from floating plants, and some Molly
adults can be quite aggressive towards fry. In a large (30+ gallon)
aquarium with slightly brackish water and lots of floating plants you
shouldn't have any problems rearing Molly fry. Cheers,
Neale.>
Molly Concern, reproduction
11/29/11
Dear WWM,
<Melinda>
I have a couple of questions. The first one, my silver molly just had
her babies but she was in the "baby" tank with my Dalmatian
molly since they both were about to pop. The day the silver molly had
her babies (about 14 of them) there were about 20 dead babies on the
bottom of the tank.
<Mmm, a very good practice to move such females weeks in
advance.
Relocating near parturition is very stressful>
My problem is that the dead ones were about twice the size of the
ones that lived. I'm just wondering if the dead ones were from the
Dalmatian molly since she's been looking pregnant for almost a
month and a half now and I haven't seen any babies from her.
<Mmm, maybe... Could be that the larger ones were "from a
previous batch" though... in the one female w/ a later group of
young>
She still looks pregnant but the silver molly has gone down to
normal size again. Both are back in the 10 gallon <Mmm, a small
volume for these fishes>
tank with the rest of my fish (1 male platy, 1 female platy, and 1
female Betta). Is the Dalmatian molly going to have the babies at all
or does she just "like" being pregnant so she's holding
them?
<Can't tell>
She's had one set of
babies since I've had her (almost 3 months) but this one she
won't let go it seems.
My other question is will a green Cory harm baby mollies?
<Not likely, no>
I have him in the tank with the babies since it's hard to clean the
gravel when they're so tiny and adventurous. He doesn't seem to
go after them but I want to make sure it's ok before he decides
they're food. Both the 5 gallon tank and the
10 gallon tank have aquarium salt in them, the pH/nitrates/ammonia/etc
are all good (I do weekly tests of the water).
Thanks,
Mindy
<Do keep your eyes open for the possibility of upgrading... to
larger systems if you can. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Re: Molly Concern 11/29/11
Bob,
<Mel>
I relocated the moms as soon as I started to see them get bigger. I
allow them to swim into the nets by themselves rather than chasing them
around the tank. Should I be concerned about the Dalmatian Molly
that's still pregnant?
<Mmm, concerned? IF you think this fish is still pregnant,
move/leave her in the system to have her young>
Unfortunately I live in a tiny apartment so the 5gal tank and the 10gal
tank are the only tanks I can have and they're as large as I can
get.
My mom has a 110gal tank so when the babies get larger I give them to
her.
Thanks again!
Mindy
<Welcome! BobF>
Molly birth 11/18/11
Hi, my name is Matt. Yesterday I bought 3 Dalmatian Mollies and 2 Black
Mollies. One of the Black Mollies is pregnant and it appears that she
is trying to give birth now. However, for the past couple hours she has
had a fry stuck in her birth canal. At least I think this is the case.
There is just a tail sticking out of her, I'm not sure if she's
just "pushing" like humans do and it might take a while for
it to come all the way out? But all the videos I have seen of Mollies
birthing it looked like the fish just kind of... fell out.
<Yes.>
This is not the case with mine. Should I pull the baby out?
<Nope.>
This seems dangerous, but so does leaving it in. If I were to pull it
out, how would I do that?
<Don't. Instead, dose with Epsom salt, as here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/SaltUseFWArtNeale.htm
This is a laxative and also causes muscles to become relaxed, and could
help the baby come out.>
My tank is a 15 gallon FW that has been operating for about 4
months.
Nitrite and ammonia are 0 ppm, nitrates are usually around 5, although
it did jump to about 10-15 yesterday. Lots of plants (fake) and hiding
places, 78 degrees. Could she just be having a bad pregnancy due to
being moved so much so close to her "due date?" I did get her
from Wal-Mart (I know, the cardinal sin of fish-keeping, but I
don't have an LFS and I like to think that I am saving them from
the torture that is Wal-Mart's fish section) so maybe she was just
poorly cared for? Any help would be wonderful. I am more worried about
the mother than the fry since Mollies reproduce like mad, but saving
the fry would be great too! Thanks in advance!
-Matt
<Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Mollies need a bigger tank and are easier kept in slightly brackish
conditions. In brackish conditions you can add a Knight Goby or two,
and these'll eat up most of the fry; useful, if your tank is
getting overrun.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: lyre tail molly fry,
hlth. 11/15/11
Hi
<Hello,>
I realise this is a late reply but I'm hoping you can offer me some
further advice, My mollies in there current setup have proved to be
fairly sickly, there fine for 2 or 3 wks then come down with a fungal
infection or what I believe to be an Ich outbreak (still looks fluffy
though so may be fungal) water parameters are always stable 0 ammonia,
0 nitrite and 20 nitrate with a ph of 7.5, kH of 180 and gH of 180.
<I see. Well, as stated, Mollies are disease-prone in freshwater.
Your conditions don't sound bad at all, but there you go!>
Bearing in mind the advice given here and the same advice I read all
over the net when doing further research I realise the water just
doesn't suit them, as such I obtained a 2nd aquarium which is now
the domain of the tetra's and Apistos and gradually been softened
and ph reduced. This allows me to provide the correct chemistry for the
mollies (something I wish the shops would advise to us new fish
keepers) from reading am I right in thinking that the best option is to
use a marine salt mix giving an SG 1.004-1.006.
<Yes, but honestly, even SG 1.002-1.003 is fine. That's about
5-6 grammes of salt mix per litre of water. Not much at all, and
won't harm plants.>
The questions I have on this are: How do I go about acclimatising them
to this salt mix?
<Just do daily water changes, replacing 20% of the aquarium water
with the brackish water. By the end of the week you should be
done.>
As mollies like plants what plants can I use in the salt mix?
<Do see above. If you keep the salinity at 1.002-1.003 at 25 C/77 F,
you'll find most easy plants thrive. Amazon swords, Java fern,
Vallisneria, Cryptocoryne wendtii, etc.>
What other fish could be kept in this salt mix (thinking gobies to
occupy the lower levels and help grab any missed food from the
substrate) tank dimensions are 24*12*15?
<Any salt-tolerant fish would be good. Obvious choices are Brown
Hoplo Catfish and/or Horseface Loaches as scavengers, and Knight Gobies
and/or Orange Chromides for the middle level.>
Finally when these mollies start to reproduce could any surviving fry
be acclimatised to freshwater again, its an odd question and perhaps
goes against what I'm trying to achieve but I wouldn't want to
be over run with mollies, I'm sure it wouldn't be good for the
water chemistry and fish health and I'm not sure if my LFS would
take "brackish molly fry"?
<Knight Gobies will DEVOUR fry, so the problem goes away!>
Many thanks Brett
<Cheers, Neale.>
molly fry 11/14/11
<Hiya Aswini>I had 4 female black mollies in my tank. One of it
laid <Not exactly, but I know what you mean> 6 fries <um, fry
even> last night. But still now all their bellies are bulged. How
can I find that which one laid them?????? <No real way of telling.
If the fish are of different sizes, I would guess the most mature
female. But either way, shouldn't really matter, right? Mollies can
have fry even months after being separated from a male. Enjoy the new
additions and read up about caring for them. Hope you have given them
sufficient cover or moved them to a safe tank where they will not get
eaten. Cheers! Sugam>
How Young Can Mollies Begin
Mating? 10/25/11
I've done extensive research since my first "surprise"
baby mollie.<molly> I've had a couple batches before, so I
know how to regulate the water, the filter, etc. My question is, how
young can a mollies begin mating? <They usually mature in a few
months (2-3 months)> My black molly and her hubby, <Hehehe!> a
Dalmatian molly, have given birth to 7 babies. <Quite a small
number. Can be many many more!> They all lived, and I am about to
move them into the main tank. The last couple days I've been
noticing that 2 of the Dalmatian/black mollies are trying to mate!? Is
this healthy?! They are only about half an inch long (I'm bad with
measurements, but they are big enough to go in the main tank) Will they
be okay? <Can you spot the sexual difference yet? If so, it is
indeed likely to be mating behavior. Don't worry about it, quite
natural. As for movement to the main tank, if large enough not to be
eaten, they should be okay but do keep in mind you will still need to
check male/female ratios. Cheers - Sugam>
Molly Breeding
10/24/11
Hello :) I'm new to owning mollies. And I need your help guys since
I just go my fishes today. I got a problem how do you care for a
pregnant female molly? I knew my molly was pregnant in the first place
since my male molly was courting her. I'm not sure how long she was
pregnant but I know she was
heavily pregnant by her looks. I need some tips to care for her. She
seems calm, she keeps following my male molly. I need some tips of how
to keep her healthy and when to separate her from my aquarium and how
to car for her frys.
<Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollyreprofaq2.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
help... molly repro.
10/21/11
yesterday I bought silver and black mollies, they were 2 female and 1
male each. today morning I saw a black fry beneath the plants with a
pale yellow egg. I cant find that, which will be its mother ?? and how
to find that it will lay more fries.............
<Mollies don't lay eggs. They produce batches of quite large fry
that swim about immediately after birth, among floating plants if you
have them.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: help -- 10/22/11
Is any special method to breed mollies artificially
when we need? how to find that a molly is pregnant and going to lay her
fries?
<Is all here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Stock tank with hard, alkaline, warm, ideally slightly brackish water.
Add floating plants, ideally Indian Fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides,
also known as Water Sprite). Keep at least 2 females per male. Watch
for fry in floating plants. Remove fry to a breeding trap within the
aquarium. After 2-3 weeks they'll be big enough to release into the
tank. Cheers, Neale.>
Dalmatian Molly babies/fry Died
10/17/11
<Hello Mary, Sugam with you>Two nights ago we were surprised to
find that our Dalmatian Molly had given birth to 6 babies. <A real
joy to watch isn't it?> By the next morning, this number had
risen to 16 total. <Can be much more even. I have personally seen in
the region of 100 fry from a single fish.> I took the babies out and
put them into a small container that we use to change the water for our
Beta fish --its about 10 oz. <That is quite a small container to put
them in.> I didn't have another tank to put them in. < If
your main tank has plants (floating varieties work well) and has good
hiding places, you could consider leaving them in for a while until you
have a setup ready for them. Better yet, there are a number of
commercially available breeding traps that you can buy. Once you
identify the fish that is about to have fry, you simply place her in
the trap and move her when she is done. The fry can then be moved to
their own tank just until they grow enough so the other fish in the
main tank won't eat them.
For mollies, please get the largest breeding trap you can find. They do
need significantly more room than smaller livebearers. > I crushed
up some flakes for them to eat. <First bites of similar foods are
great for fry.
You will find they would gladly lap it up.> They seemed to be doing
fine.
I read that I needed to make sure that their water is changed
often.
<Quite right. The danger with such little water is that things can
go wrong very quickly.> So last night, after noticing that their
water contained discharge, I changed it. <Not sure you should be
seeing a discharge of any sort. The fear is more that the pH will be
unstable and that the ammonia etc. will start to build up quite
quickly.>
I didn't want them to get sick since it was such a small container.
I woke up this morning to find all the babies had died. I am so
heartbroken. My 5 year old daughter and 3 yr old son are going to be in
tears when they wake up and find that they have passed. What did I do
wrong? < I am so sorry they didn't make it. You used your
instincts to try to do what you thought was right. While even with
perfect care, not all the fry make it through, a number of factors are
likely at play here. When trying to capture fry, I prefer to get them
in a container rather than a net. I find there is a danger of damage
with the latter. Secondly, you moved them to water conditions that were
completely different from their tank and this would likely have shocked
their systems. Lastly, the water quality in the small container is
likely to have worsened over night. Add to this the lack of heating,
circulation in the container and it was all a little too much for
them.> I'm assuming its the water? I don't want for this to
happen again, so please help me! I used water from the tap and treated
it with the same thing we treat the mother's water with. <Assume
this is some kind of conditioner to remove chlorine and other
contaminants?> Water shouldn't be that cold here because we live
in Texas its still about 89 degrees.
<Aha! If the water was at that temperature, likely too warm,
actually.>
Should I have only changed a small percent of the water instead of the
whole thing? <Almost always the way to go.> Should I have used
some of the water from the mother's tank? Were they in too small of
a container? <Yes>
Did they need a filter? <Helpful. But do keep in mind that they are
really tiny and can be pulled in. I usually just tie a stocking around
the intake of the filter to prevent this and turn the flow down.>
Sorry for all the questions, we are new to taking care of fish! I
appreciate your help! Mary
<Mary, Not be disheartened. I can tell you want to learn how to
manage this situation in the future. I would suggest you use the search
feature on the site and read about caring for livebearer fry. Neale has
a great article on the same that you can find here -
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_4/v4i3/Livebearers/Livebearers.htm
Since you are new to keeping fish, I would also suggest you read about
the ideal conditions for the fish you have in your tank. Here is a good
place to start for mollies -
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
With a little bit of research and some time, I am sure you will be well
on your way to finding many more fry in your tank. Cheers,
Sugam>
Molly Fry 10/2/11
Hello, first off I want to thank you for any help you will give
me dealing with Molly fry.
<No problem.>
You have several articles, or answers, on how to care for fry
properly but I had a few more questions I couldn't find on
your website.
<Fire away.>
I only have four mollies in a 55 gallon tank (some are Dalmatian
and some pure white). I have 6 fry, white and black, and I was
wondering that due to the fact there is a ton of room for them,
do I still need to remove the fry?
<If the adults ignore them, then no, you can leave them where
they are.>
If I should remove them, I have a small 5 gallon tank I can use.
Can I just remove water from the large tank and use it for 5
gallon one?
Should I have a filter, and/or heater in small tank?
<Any aquarium you put fry into will need to be AT LEAST as
good as their home aquarium, and that includes filtration and
heating. Think about it, they're smaller and therefore more
easily harmed by ammonia, nitrite, cold, and changes in water
chemistry.>
Lastly, I was wondering if there was some contraption I can use
at home to put in the 55 gallon tank to separate the fry
safely.
<Yes. You can put fry into floating breeding traps, and keep
them there for 3 weeks or so. After that, they'll be big
enough to set loose with the adults. Obviously, as the fry grow
into adults your tank might be overstocked, so you'll need to
rehome any surplus. In addition, different varieties of Mollies
all interbreed, so after a generation or two you can end up with
a mix of "mongrel" Mollies lacking the bright colours
of the original ones, so if you plan on keeping, say, Silver
Sailfin Mollies, then you don't want to house them alongside
Black Molly fry or Orange Balloon Mollies.>
Thanks for helping, and sorry if I have asked the same questions
someone else asked. Thanks. - Robyn (California)
PS: Getting pictures of fry is hard! I tried. I will attach the
decent ones.
<Good enough for government work! Cheers, Neale.>
|
|
lyre tail molly fry
9/28/11
Hi I'm hoping you are able to offer me some advice. I'm fairly
new to this hobby and I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing
something wrong.
<Oh?>
I have a 71 ltr planted tank stocked with 2 black Lyretail mollies (1
male, 1 female soon to be 2 females as I have since learnt this is a
better number), 2 non wild local water cockatoo Apistos and 5 ember
tetra's.
Water param.s are
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
ph 7.5
kH 180
gH 180.
<Do bear in mind that Mollies do only variably well in freshwater,
and it's always wisest to choose tankmates that will tolerate
slightly brackish water if needs be, for example Australian Rainbowfish
or Glassfish. Tetras and Apistogramma, by contrast, are soft water
fish, and it's hard to imagine them doing well in the long-term
kept alongside Mollies. To be fair, Apistogramma cacatuoides is an
exceptionally tolerant species, but still, it'll do better in
fairly soft, slightly acidic water, and such conditions will sicken
Mollies. We're talking about success over the long-term here, i.e.,
years rather than months. You may well be fine for a few months, even a
year.>
All fish are behaving as normal bar my Apistos which I believe are
about to start breeding. I perform 2 40% water changes a week which the
fish seem to enjoy.
<Indeed. Low nitrate levels are crucial to both Dwarf Cichlids and
Mollies.>
15 days ago the molly gave birth to 21 fry, I placed them in a floating
breeder box and have been feeding the 3-4times a day on a normal flake
food crushed up fine.
<Sounds okay.>
All has been fine up until this last wknd day 13 I lost one molly fry,
day 14 3 molly fry and today on day 15 I see at least 2 maybe 3 molly
fry that don't look so healthy.
<Could be a variety of factors. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Do note what it is Mollies need, then compare your water chemistry
against their requirements. Do also consider temperature and water
quality, as well as circulation of water in the trap. On top of this,
Mollies can miscarry their fry, and prematurely born fry rarely
survive, even if they seem alive. Such fry tend to swim weakly, if at
all, and are obviously in trouble from the moment they're
born.>
My original observation was that these fry were not developing like the
rest, they were keeping the new fry shape with smaller eyes and not
developing the fish shape as the others were. The fry that died seemed
to be fairly thin. Just checking on the fry now I see more that are
looking thin (could just be me being over critical) I also noticed one
that seemed to have his tail bent at 90 deg on the bottom of the
breeder box but he swam off after a bit and the tail is not bent. Am I
feeding these fry wrong as I read these symptoms can be related to
vitamin deficiency's or is there a chance I need to dose the tank
with meds for an internal protozoa
<Unlikely. Mollies will produce countless fry, so the best approach
is to be open minded about environmental conditions, make adjustments
as necessary, and if needs be, transfer fry to their own, slightly
brackish aquarium for growing on.>
Many thanks
Brett
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Very Pregnant Black Molly
9/27/11
Good Evening. Hope all is going well with you. This is Anita again,
with yet another question. I have a VERY pregnant black molly. I bought
her from the pet store at the end of August or the first of September
where they told me she was pregnant at that time.
<These (molly) species and other livebearers can/do store sperm in
their tracts... for successive generations at times>
Now she is huge and has the boxy abdomen. About a week (or so) ago, I
noticed a tiny, white tube-like thing barely sticking out of her anus
area.
From what I have read and understand, this is possibly a birthing
tube?
<Mmm, okay; yes>
If this is true, how much longer should it be before she frys?
<Fry is both singular and plural, unless we're chatting re papas
fritas (fries); a fave>
I check on her several times a day and the "tube" has not
moved in or out any but appears to be open when I check on her. (She
passes feces through it too). I have also read about a white ball with
a black ring that will appear before frying?
<Is this summat to do w/ a type cooking ahead of watching
sports?>
That is a little confusing to me as I have not noticed anything
resembling a ball shape on her.
<Not likely to be such>
She appears to have what looks like possible whitish stretch marks
running lengthwise on her abdomen due to her huge belly too.
<Good observation>
She still has an excellent appetite and is aggressive with food,
especially when I feed algae thins. She will run all the other tank
mates away from it. She is still quite active as well. I know that they
are pregnant for about 30 days, right?
<Mmm, okay... more a matter of more or less, than black/white... A
chance/opportunity for you to gain understanding re
calculus/universe>
She looks and acts great, very active, has regular BM, great appetite,
with this white tube coming out for a week or so. Is there anything I
need to be concerned about or do you think she is getting ready to fry
soon?
<Nah.>
Thanks so much for all your help/advice. It is greatly appreciated.
Anita
<Just keep doing what you're doing Anita. Bob Fenner>
Mollie labor signs 8/30/11
Hey there! I have a pregnant silver molly in a 30 gallon tank.
According to Merritt I have everything set up right for her. I had her
sectioned off with a sheet of Plexi glass but decided just to let her
go.
<Whoa! Anything that stops water flowing in the tank is bad. Egg
crate or mesh are good; solid panes of glass or acrylic are
bad.>
She is in the tank with 10 2-3 week old babies (to big to eat) and
seems quite happy eating and is very busy most of the time. I turn the
filter off to feed the babies their crushed food so the filter does not
get it all.
<Do try Hikari First Bites, an excellent food for baby fish.>
When I do this she goes to the top and just floats around by either the
filter water intake or the heater (after eating her fill, which seems
to be less lately). Are these signs of possible labor or is she
stressed by the filter turning off? (As she only does it then) She is
very box like and has the gravid spot.
<"Gravid Spot" is meaningless with Mollies; their abdomens
are much thicker than Guppies, and in any case, it's a completely
misleading term.>
What are some signs of labor?
<They don't have labour. Mollies are ovoviviparous; the eggs are
retained inside the uterus but there's no connection between mother
and embryo.
She's basically a swimming nest. The fry emerge very easily if all
goes to plan, and oftentimes the females barely seem to notice.>
I would love to see her give birth this time. I missed it last time
with my Dalmatian molly. I have done some research on this, some say
rubbing on the stones (that's a parasite problem I think). Some say
hiding or lack of appetite (didn't ever see that in the Dalmatian I
would have noticed that, that sound more like stress or poor water
anyhow). So I figured who better to ask than the people who know
better! Thanks in advance....... Jacquie.
P.S. I love this site!!!!!!!
<Do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Mollies need a spacious tank with warm, hard, alkaline water. Slightly
brackish conditions make life much easier in many ways, especially if
you use marine aquarium salt. If all you're keeping is Mollies,
then not using marine aquarium salt at 3-5 grammes/litre is a
no-brainer. The cost is minimal, the benefits enormous. Cheers,
Neale.>
Re Molly Reproduction (Neale) 8/30/11
Hi Wet web crew I know these emails go to the site in general but this
comment is for Neale in general.
<Here I am!>
I asked about molly reproduction in general as it is the only thing
about mollies that confuses me.
<Okay.>
First off there were holes in the Plexi glass and lots of them was not
asking about that.
<Was not stated. I can't see your aquarium, so have to work from
the data you give me. If you just say you use a piece of acrylic to
divide the tank, I'm playing it safe and stating that the thing
needs holes in it or it won't work.>
Second I did not ask about brackish water and water conditions.
<And yet these are by far the commonest reasons people kill their
Mollies. So again, I play it safe for your benefit.>
My fish live in a slightly brackish tank and there water is
perfect.
<That's great, but you don't tell me that, and I certainly
can't remember your previous messages.>
I know about all that. Third your comment, ""Gravid
Spot" is meaningless with Mollies; their abdomens are much thicker
than Guppies, and in any case, it's a completely misleading
term." makes no sense to me and actually u contradicted yourself
with the link u gave me as they quote "Otherwise, look out for an
obvious swelling of the abdomen, and shortly before the fry are born,
there is usually a dark patch around the vent known as the 'gravid
spot'.".
<Precisely so. The gravid spot is something visible on Guppies and
other small livebearers like Mosquitofish. The bigger the livebearer,
the less obvious this gravid spot becomes. The crucial misunderstanding
some beginners have is to assume female livebearers "turn on"
this gravid spot when pregnant, perhaps thinking it's a way the
females tell the males they're pregnant. In fact the gravid spot
isn't a spot of colour at all, but darker tissue inside the body
pushing against the abdomen wall because the embryos are getting larger
and pushing outwards. Once you understand this, you place less faith in
the gravid spot. Yes, it can be helpful, but it's not foolproof by
any means, and there are other reasons a Molly might appear swollen:
genetics, overeating, dropsy, tumours.>
You Neale seem to know a lot about the Mollies,
<Yes.>
ok, but when people are asking questions on a certain topic try to keep
focused on that u always go off on water conditions and never or barely
or sarcastically answer my questions.
<Hmm'¦ not my intention to avoid answering questions. In
fact you'll notice that my answers are usually very long and
detailed. What I'm trying to do is educate and inform the
recipient, so that they *understand* what's going on, and from
that, draw their own conclusions based on their *better* overview of
their fish and aquarium. I won't have all the data needed to give
you a point by point analysis, but if you understand the proper way to
think about your Mollies, solving problems becomes easier.>
Long story short you always make me feel stupid Neale and I'm not.
I know a lot about these mollies now, some thanks to this site. The
other members of this crew are so positive and helpful, there is never
even a hint of know it all comments, you should take note of this and
try to be a little more positive. We are coming here for help not
ridicule.
<I think you're overreacting here, but if you feel offended in
some way, I apologise, and you're welcome to solicit help from
anyone else here that you feel gives you better advice. I already
volunteer about an hour a day at WWM, and won't mind having my
inbox lightened a little.>
Thanks Jacquie
<Cheers, Neale.>
"Fish Help" 8/27/11
Hi Jacquie here.
<Hi! Merritt here!>
So I have a 30 gallon tank that has become my baby tank holding 10 baby
mollies that are about 2 weeks old. I have a white or silver molly that
is due soon with her batch. I have cut a piece of Plexi glass, and
drilled holes in it to allow for water flow, creating basically a clear
plastic wall between her and the babies in the other section. I can
estimate that her section is about a 10 gallon area. Is this enough
area for her?
<Sounds like the perfect nursery for her, you have separated her
from the other fry while also providing water flow.>
I have floating plants on top and large rocks and more plants on the
bottom. ( In my experience with the babies I have they prefer to hide
in the rocks and plants on the bottom.)
<And you have added hiding spots! This will work out well.>
Jacquie here again sorry I pushed send by mistake hopefully this comes
close to the other one! Lol. I am curious if my set up will work and I
am curious of your opinion on it. It works for me but I am not a
fish!
Eagerly awaiting your reply....Jacquie
<Your setup will work fine. Just keep an eye on her and make sure
she is getting enough water flow through the divider. Good luck!
Merritt>
Mollies breeding with Guppy??
8/18/11
Good Day to You All,
<Hello Tracy,>
I just came across your site, and I am pretty new to having an
aquarium.
Hopefully it's an easy answer for you.
<We can only hope!>
I have 2 Golden Balloon Mollies (what I think are female) and 1 Fancy
Tailed Guppy, male. Any chance they can mate and have fry that
live??
Because just this morning, I found a new baby fish living under the log
in our aquarium! He is often all over both of the Mollies. Thanks so
much for your help!
<Yes, Guppies and Mollies can cross breed. It's fairly common in
fact, but the offspring are usually infertile, so nothing much comes of
it in the long run. The offspring might be called Gollies or Muppies as
you prefer!
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies breeding with Guppy??
Thanks so much for the quick response! So do you think there was many,
but were eaten??
~Tracy
<Hard to say. Guppy/Molly crosses don't seem to happen as often
as you'd expect them to, so it might be such crosses produce small
broods anyway.
But in a community tank situation many fry will be eaten, so even if
the female releases 50 fry, you might only see one or two by the time
you get around to looking for them. Adding floating plants helps a lot
by providing cover for newborn fry. Once you find them, remove the fry
to a floating breeding trap for 2-3 weeks. After that, they'll be
big enough to set loose with their parents. If you have predatory fish
like Angels or large tetras, then "trap" the fry for longer.
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies breeding with Guppy??
Thanks Neale!!! Your knowledge and help are much appreciated!
Cheers!!
~Tracy
<You are most welcome. Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Mollies breeding with Guppy??
8/18/11
Ok, I apologize for this dumb question, and I promise it's the last
one.
How do I get this little thing out without hurting it?? It's
currently hiding between the rocks and the log we have in the aquarium.
Do I just use the net??
<Yes, that can work. But often it's easier to use a net to drive
very small fish into a small container like a Dixie Cup or similar, and
then decant the fish from there into the breeding trap.>
Thanks in advance, and I won't bother you again about it!! ;-)
~Tracy
<Is not a problem. Good luck, Neale.>
Mollies, repro.
8/2/11
I was reading the information on your website about mollies, and I
wanted to tell someone about the large litter that my Dalmatian molly
just had early Monday morning. I first found 5 fry swimming around in
our large tank, so I got out both of the little net enclosures that
hang on the sides of the tank. One was for my female molly, and the
other were for the 5 fry that I had found so far. I had her in the
enclosure for about 5 minutes when she started pushing out more babies,
about 4 at a time every couple of minutes. I took a small net and
starting putting them in the other enclosure, and this went on until
about 3 this morning, when she finally stopped. After she rested a
little while, I put her back in the tank. I then decided to divide up
the little ones so that it would not get too crowded in the one
enclosure. I took them out a few at a time, until I stopped at 60.
There are still more in the 2nd enclosure, so I am estimating that we
are at 125+ fry right now. I know that mollies usually have between
30-40 fry at once, but this is one of the most amazing sights I have
ever seen.
Kimberly
<Hello Kimberly. Thanks for your message; all very interesting. A
quick look through my books on livebearers suggests that Mollies can,
at times, have up to 300 fry. So while your brood is remarkable, and
I've never seen anywhere near that number of fry from one Molly,
you're not quite in the Guinness Book of Records yet! You might
want to try asking around at the Wet Web Media forum to see if anyone
there has kept Mollies that produced large numbers of fry. If
you've not visited, the forum is a great place to share
observations with other aquarists and to get lots of feedback.
http://wetwebmediaforum.com/
In any case, good luck rearing all these hungry mouths. Cheers,
Neale.>
Poecilia/Xiphophorus hybrids, or not, as the
case may be... 7/27/11
Hey there!
<Hello!>
I sent you a message a while ago about Platy/Mollie breading together
and u said it was not possible nothing will come of it.
<Indeed not. So far as I know, these fish are too distantly related
to breed successfully, though the male may well try to mate.>
" Ok" I thought, you know more than me about this stuff that
will be it then.
<Indeed I do.>
WELL!! She is for sure pregnant and here is the kicker, she was very
young when I got her (small) about 6 weeks ago. And in that time she
has grown quite a bit. My other male Mollies pay her no mind
<Don't bank on that.>
they don't even stop to look (too busy with the other Sailfin and
Dalmatian) I am sure they will soon. The only one who has ever even
touched her was my plucky male red platy.
<Quite possibly.>
She is a silver molly who came from a tank of silver mollies. Now I
know what your thinking mollies can store sperm for months on end so
technically she could be carrying another males young.
<Yes.>
But being that she was very young when I got her, won't a male
ignore them until they are basically the right age, like mine are
doing?
<Nope. The males are sexually competent at about 2 months, when
they're about, what, 2 cm long, a bit under an inch in old money.
Females need to be slightly older and bigger, maybe 3 months of age,
but there's no much in it. Mollies, and indeed livebearers
generally, can/will produce young from a very early age.>
I have seen some info on POLLIES but nothing more than individual
experiences and some opinion that the resulting fry would either be not
viable or born sterile.
<Indeed. When distantly related fish try to breed, the result is
either a lack of fertilised eggs completely, and therefore no fry, or
else fry that are so weak or deformed they quickly die or simply fail
to thrive. Either way, Platy/Molly hybrids are extremely rare, and when
they do happen, the fry die within a few days.>
So given this info from me is it possible?
<Possible perhaps, but unlikely.>
She is almost 4 weeks in so I will be putting her in the momma tank
soon. I have a method to do it which reduces her stress. No net!
<Hmm'¦.>
Awaiting your reply Jacquie Brown
<Cheers, Neale.>
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
<Why do we get all these messages now where people tell us what
Smartphone they use? All very strange.>
Never ending pregnancy?! 7/27/11
Hi there! Ok so I think I have done my homework but this fish is
puzzling me! She is in a 5-7 gallon tank with pristine
water.
<A Molly, I take it? This tank is too small except
for the shortest period of time, days rather than weeks. Mollies get
stressed in small tanks, and miscarriages are common when that
happens.>
The heat is sitting at 81/82F. She has lights out for at least 16h as
they like to give birth in the dark.
<Do they? Never heard of that. They do often give birth among
floating plants, so that's what I'd recommend. Floating plants
provide cover for the fry and also remove some of the ammonia and
nitrate directly, improving water quality.>
She is well fed with a high quality food. I took a section of the mesh
bag from a NEW BioMax rocks filter insert and put it over the intake of
the filter so the fry can't be sucked up, but will still allow for
normal filtration. (Which mind you I take off to clean now and again).
There are lots of hiding places for the fry so they can hide
<Fry hide at the TOP of the tank, so rocks, caves, etc. are
pointless.
Floating plants, even plain vanilla clumps of "Elodea" type
pondweed work best.>
and maybe not get eaten, which she will likely do anyway. She eats very
well is very social with me (following me as I walk by and my finger on
the tank)
<Begging for food; livebearers generally learn this trick very
quickly.>
and seems very happy being the only one in the tank as needs to be. Now
the tricky part she has been in this tank for over 4 weeks now and she
was pregnant quite a while before I put her in. Her gravid spot has
always stayed black and has never disappeared indicating premature
birth or abortion and re absorption of the babies. So what could be
happening here?
<What's the father? Is this the one you think mated with a
Platy? I will make the observation that when Halfbeaks hybridise,
sometimes the female fails to deliver the young, and the young die, the
female swells up, and eventually she dies. Just one of several reasons
why I warn people against hybridisation. In any event, Platy/Molly
hybrids are very rare so we might discount this theory. What you
can't do is "fix" this in any meaningful way. If she CAN
deliver the young, she WILL deliver the young, though some fancy
varieties are prone to birthing problems as well as fertility problems.
Optimising water chemistry, for example by adding marine salt mix, and
either raising or lowering the water temperature for a short period
might trigger release. High-fibre foods including cooked spinach and
sushi Nori should be used instead of flake, in case constipation is the
issue here.>
She must be going on 6 weeks now at least. I thought molly gestation
was only 4 are Lyre tails longer?
<4 weeks is normal for Mollies, but it does vary.>
Its hard to find specific breed details in good detail. (Especially
with a blackberry).
<Try visiting a library. Lots of books, and the information is often
BETTER than what you get online because it's been edited.>
Here is a little video u can see the spot quite clearly when she swims
away. Hopefully it works for you. Eagerly waiting your reply, Jacquie
Brown
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: Poecilia/Xiphophorus hybrids, or not, as the case may
be... 7/27/11
Hi Jacquie here again. Thanks for getting back to me so quick.
<No problem.>
The Mollie that has been pregnant forever coupled with another Lyre
tail and a Sailfin and when I got her she was with several different
breeds of mollies so lord knows what she is carrying.
<Indeed. Mollies will hybridise with each other, as well as other
Poecilia species, such as Guppies.>
The little platy had no chance in **** catching her!
<Optimally, you wouldn't keep Platies and Mollies in the same
aquarium anyway. Platies prefer slightly cooler water than the farmed
fancy Mollies most shops sell, ~22 C vs. ~26 C.>
I was going to set up my 30 Gallon tank so maybe I will just put her in
that by herself for now and see what happens. I will keep you all
posted about the Platy/Mollie breeding with the silver molly, I am
curious about the outcome but being realistic too.
<Cool.>
And as well as far as the "Sent from my BlackBerry device on the
Rogers Wireless Network" that pops up with the messages. It is
something that the phone does automatically with every sent message, it
is not something we are doing ourselves. Thanks again Jacquie
<How strange. Free marketing for Research In Motion, I guess.
Cheers, Neale.>
Platy/Mollie
crosses 6/30/11
Hey in my community tank I just got a small (young I think)
female silver Mollie. I have noticed my Male Red Platy mating
with her and no one else is! (3 other males in tank). Can
anything come of this?
<Mmm, in the way of progeny? No... there are other possible
cross species crosses... Platies w/ Xiphophorus helleri,
others... Mollies w/ Guppies, Endler's...>
I would love to see these hybrid fish! Should I take her out to
stop any further breeding with other males. Here is a picture of
the male.
<Ahh, very nice. Bob Fenner>
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Molly repro.
7/17/11
Hey there! I love this site I am constantly coming back to it, it
answers lots of questions. I have a Dalmatian Mollie that gave birth to
about 10 babies prematurely (all were still born). She is still quite
big is there a chance there are more in there?
<Yes... Poeciliids/livebearers often have young/drop for a few
days...
i.e., not all at once>
She is currently in a well cycled 5 gallon baby tank by herself. Thanks
for this site it is great!
Jacquie Brown
<Thank you, Bob Fenner>
Re: Identify turtle type and am I doing this
right? Now... molly repro. 7/6/11
You guys are great,
<Actually, we're better than that!>
so I'm going to bug you some more.
<We do fish & turtles, we don't do bugs>
I bought my son a black molly on June 4th, it's in a tank with one
fancy goldfish. Today, July 4 I came home from a weeks vacation to have
4 more baby mollies swimming in my tank.
<Congrats!>
I'm assuming mollies don't breed with goldfish,
<Well now '¦ you get Mollie drunk enough and she'll
mate with just about anything '¦>
I guess it's just at least a month long gestational period?
<More or less>
Also, 3 of the mollies are black and one is completely clear.
<The next evolutionary step after "clear" will be
"invisible">
I put some floating grass into the aquarium today to give them a place
to hide,
<smart move>
but they are kind of on their own.
<I agree>
I have my hands full with 2 small boys, 2 dogs, a turtle and now 6
fish. Is there anything specific I should do besides buying a new tank
for the babies.
<Hmmm .. try to find some personal time for yourself?>
<seriously, why not just get a breeding net? It's a 4 sided net
that hangs on the inside of the big tank. They sell them for pregnant
fish (which is a really BAD idea) but they will keep the fry safe for
the few weeks that it takes them to reach fighting weight>
Thanks!
Poecilia/Mollienesia;
repro. 7/2/11
Hey Jacquie here again I have been watching this fish seems
forever. I think she is pregnant, what do u think? How long, its
like Christmas for me! I am soooo impatient!
<Mollies produce offspring about 4-6 weeks after insemination.
However, those fry are often eaten by the adults or other fish in
community tanks, and it is quite common for this to be the reason
why inexperienced
fishkeepers never see the baby fish they're expecting.
Secondly, Mollies are easily stressed, for example by the wrong
water chemistry or aggressive tankmates (including male Mollies)
in which case fry can be born stillborn.
Obviously these will fall to the ground and get eaten by other
fish. Do read about Mollies and make the appropriate changes to
the aquarium necessary to provide the right conditions for
breeding:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/mollies.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
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Note: CAE
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