zeebo

Hi Guys,

I can't tell if they are pregnant or just fat.
Pls kindly see the 2 videos below and advise.

COBettaCouple

I think they're pregnant. If you have males & females, then I'm sure they are.

zeebo

Hi COBettaCouple,

I have male mollies in the tank....so BOTH are pregnant

I am excited and worried at the asme time coz I am clueless since I have only set up my aquarium for only a short time.

What do I do?
How to tell WHEN they decide to give birth?
What do I do after they give birth?

Thank You.

joshthefisherman

dO YOU HAVE A SPARE TANK IF so put the pregnant molly in a it and also look into a breeder net fishlore has an arcticle on breeding

COBettaCouple

What we did for our pregnant platy was to change the gravel to flat glass marbles. Lots of plants and caves are good too.. and floating plants if you want. That all gives the fry places to hide when they're dropped. We left the mama in the tank and she just dropped her fry in there. It's the least stressful on her.

After she had a batch of fry, we'd take the adult fish out and move them to a container with tank water that we could cover, then we'd carefully take everything out of the tank - putting it all into big containers with tank water to keep it all wet.

We setup a seperate tank for the fry. The bottom was bare and the tank just had some caves and a few plants in it for the fry to swim around. We used a rubber band to secure some fish net netting around the filter intake.

We'd acclimate the fry to their tank and clean the adults tank, then put everything back in and acclimated the adults back to their tank.

zeebo

Hi joshthefisherman & COBettaCouple,

Thank you very much.

What sort of floating plants are good for fry? I have low light.
how big are fry when they are first produced?

Thanks.

miker

Water Sprite is good as it requires only low light. Any Moss plant is great for Fry to hide but can over-run the tank when not kept under check.

zeebo

Hi miker,

Thank you.

COBettaCouple

I like the Java Moss too, but be careful when taking any out that you don't accidentally snag up some fry.

The fry are very tiny when born - like fingernail size tiny.

zeebo

Hi COBettaCouple,

Thank you.

corylover

wow I've never seen flying fish before. very neat effect. yes the first one is pregnant for sure but it will be a little while before you have fry the other one I'm not sure if its not pregnant it wont be long with the way the male was after it. good luck.

zeebo

Hi corylover,

Thanks!
approx. how long before she gives birth?
a month

Yeah the black molly is really popular with the boys...hehe.

Lucy

Hehe, they do look like they are flying in the first vid.

corylover

The first one looks like a week or two but it could be more. she looks like she just developing like mine so the first batch is usually small and not a lot if any survive.

zeebo

Hi corylover,

Thank you!

corylover

now that was a week or two from the video date which was the 24th so you should be seeing them soon now. mine had hers before I got up this morning because she was a lot smaller and I saw a little black fry swimming by the heater. I tried to net it but it got away and hopefully it got away from the other fish too. good luck. I put a small flower pot in upside down that had a small drain hole in it that the other fish couldnt get through but the fry could get in there away from the fish. heres hoping and good luck to you.

zeebo

Hi corylover,

Congrats!

I am looking forward to the birth of the babies and I hope to witness the event.
I have prepared plenty of floating hornwort in anticipation.

Thanks!

corylover

I missed mine having them she did it before I woke up. my platy had hers this morning before I got up too. I now have three platy fry and one molly fry in a breeders net.
good luck with yours they should be coming soon. let us know when they come

zeebo

Hi,

Up till now my molly hasn't given birth.
I also begin to note that my 3 other female mollies also spot a belly like hers although not as large.

Could it be that they are all just fat?

I really hope not coz I so want to have the babies.

So looking forward to it.

I made a breeding net out of a mesh bag (the ones that grocery shops use to sell their vegetables in e.g garlics) and an ice cream tub (cut holes in all the sides and the lid so they look like windows; didn't cut the base coz I thought the fish will be more comfy resting on it than on the mesh material; Put the ice cream tub with the lid on inside the mesh bag). Inside the ice cream tub I placed some fake plants in there. Then I place a pebble inside the mesh bag below the base of the ice cream tub to weigh it down. Tie up the mesh bag.

Using a section not the entire surface of my tank,I peg it to sides of the tank using clothes peg. Then I drop the mesh bag + ice cream tub inside the prawn net. It sits nicely inside the prawn net. It is entirely submerged approx. 10cm below the water surface. On the surface within the prawn net, I place many floating plants.

That way I have 2 breeding nets. Most fishes can't get inside the prawn net but a few are still able to e.g Black Ghost Knife & Baby Balloon Rams. With the mesh bag + ice cream tub, no fishes can get in at all. The fry can hide in the ice cream tub when predator/s get into the prawn net.

I am still missing my adult balloon ram who just passed. Can't sleep.

Thanks for reading (listening).

corylover

hows it going with the mollys any sign of fry yet? I only got one out of my first batch but its growing big. I do have a bunch of platy fry now. one batch from the red wag tail and one from the orange mickey mouse platy and now I think it's the sunburst platy having them today.

zeebo

Hi corylover,

WOW! Congrats!

Nah no fry in sight.

corylover

too bad. they will come. some of my female fish havent given me any fry yet either but they are young yet. they will in time. I've got at least 9 platy fry if not more and one molly fry. two of my platy are ready to have more now too so I'll have more soon. good luck with your mollys. they will be having lots of fry soon.

zeebo

Thanks corylover.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

zeebo

Heyo!

We have babies!!!!!

I have been expecting the female orange molly to pop but its the female metallic grey who has given birth today.

I had read Very pregnant BLACK molly - help and today I thought it was odd that all the other mollies including the females are chasing metallic grey around which is unusual. I decided to transfer her to the breeding net I had created just in case.

Before I know it, I saw babies swimming around within the breeding net! I wasn't sure how many more she would popped. Waited a while before I scooped up the babies and transferred them into another tank.

There are approximately 20!!
I hope they all survive and grow up to be healthy mollies.

QUESTION: Now that metallic grey has given birth, should I isolate her to give her rest? If yes, how long should I isolate her?

Don't know why the female orange hasn't given birth. She is the first one that spotted a big belly. She is still big. Can't figure.

angelfish220

great!! I'm waiting for one of my platies to pop. Did you get to watch?

zeebo

Hi angelfish220,

No I didn't.

After I transferred her into the breeding net, I got off the ladder to do something else. It was less then a minute. When I got back on the ladder I saw a school of fry swimming on the surface.

I am still happy but!
Seeing fry was an amazing sight and feeling. Its my first time.

I need to replace my prawn net with a bait net instead. Fishes get stuck in them trying to get inside to the fry.

I put the female metallic grey in the ice cream breeder box so she can rest and be away from the boys. She seems to enjoy her little condominium.

angelfish220, Share the good news when they pop.

Thanks.

COBettaCouple

Congrats on the fry!

zeebo

thanks COBettaCouple!

zeebo

Heyo,

Here's video of the Mum & Fry and the DIY Breeding Net.
I can't locate the DIY section so I will just post it here.

Mum


Fry

1)

2)


Breeding Net

1)

2)


Thank You Fishlore and its members for helping me out with my fishes and aquarium.

COBettaCouple

Cool!