Tim

Well, when I bought the three Dalmation Mollies, I asked to have 3 females. Well, Tammie turned out to actually be a Tommy upon closer examination. I have 2 fry in a breeder box but can't tell which one of the two females they came from. Neither one has cut down on food intake or wants to rest at the bottom. I think I caught the fry soon after birth... they are really tiny. We're talking pencil point here. I put the suspect Mom in the box, but she really didn't seem to happy about that. She kept hitting the walls. I was afraid she would get stressed or hurt so I took her out and put her back in the main tank. Any other tells as to which one may drop some more? Or could she be done with 2? From what I've read, that sounds like a pretty small batch. Another question. Has anyone ever noticed that the tank community gets more or less excited with a birth happening or about to? My scissor tails are more active than normal and even my 2 Cory Cats are swimming about 3-5 inches off the bottom. Very unusual for them. They almost always are on the bottom or maybe 1/2" above. Water conditions are right on. Had just began my weekly water change when I found the fry.

Jeff M

You don't say what size the adults are so its hard to tell how many fry they should have had although it should be a lot more than 2. The rest might have gotten eaten which is another reason why the other fish get more excited when another fish is starting to have babies.........lunch time.

Jeff

Tim

Hey Jeff,

The three of them are about the same size, and I estimate them to be 1 3/4"-2". The suspect female still looks pretty fat compared to the other one. LFS said it may be more fry or sometimes it takes a few days after giving birth to lose the weight. I had thought about lunch time for the others. My scissors would be my prime suspect. They don't get excited about flakes in the morning, but for dinner, I alternate between brine shrimp and blood worms. They look like sharks when they go after the good stuff. I bet they would make short work of tiny fry. The 2 I found were hiding behind the filter tube intake. Some may have been sucked up. Survival of the fittest and all. Any new thoughts?

Tim

Well, it seems all of my questions have been answered. I just got a phone call from my wife and announced that I am a new Dad. She counted between 25-35 small fry. Last night she didn't eat dinner and was hanging out near the bottom. I put her in the breeding box around 12:00 am, EST. Thats a 12 hour labor! What a champ. One thing I did notice, was last night she was... ahem... pooping almost non-stop. Way more that normal. I figure clearning things out in preparation. Now I have to wait 5 hours until I get home to see them. I'll try to post some pictures later this evening.