caitlynn21

How do mollies usually act right before they give birth?

Taku

They will typically seek out a dark corner or a plant. Watch them very carefully if you plan to keep all of the fry. If you see another fish directly behind the pregnant fish, and it appears to be nipping at her anal fin, chances are it is eating the babies.

Martinismommy

Someone posted recently that they get in the verticle position .....I never experienced this though..

platy ben

I had a dalamtion molly and when she gave birth, she swam to the top of the tank, and swam around the surface like she was gasping while dropping her fry, meanwhile, im following her around with a net catching all of them .

Taku

I am sure it is different for each fish. Although, i have kept mollys for a long time. I have never seen any of that behavior.

KyWildFish

My mollies are pregnant and I dont know if I will be home when they give birth, I really am debating a birth box, but then what do I do with the fry?

Taku

Most LFS accept them. If you know for a fact you probably wont be home when they are born. Provide lots of cover for them.

Taku

OMG.
I just looked at your aquarium info. You are terribly over stocked for a 10 gallon.

biscotti

Two of my mollies who seem to be constantly preganant, hang out at the bottem of the tank for a few days, or hide. Sometimes they look like they're trying to squat in the gravel lol. They never have babies during the day. Also, I seem to injure and kill more babies when I try to catch them than when I just leave them alone in the big tank.

Rainsong

My Mollies took to trying to hide behind the intake valve/filter box in my tank, staying up near the surface. They'd lurk there and make me think they were sick for a few days, just sorta hiding and all- then when they were finally starting to give birth, they'd be swimming around and just sort of stop and pause while they had the babies.

I can well recall trying to catch this little sqiggly black things with my itty bitty net. I ended up almost cross-eyed more then once, making sure I had them all. I only ever really injured one of them - two were injured during their tank cleanings. In the end only one survived, but it was my first ever attempt at raising fry of any sort, and I was not in the least prepared!!

Good luck! I used the net breeder box with my molly when I caught her popping and knew which on it was. She didn't seem to care at all when I plunked her in it, but she was also already giving birth all over the tank- I think she was distracted. It does stress my platies a bit when they get put in it, but they seem to settle fast until I wander over and stare at them!

brianl78

i got pregnant molly also and mine she has been hiding in the back and close to the bottom sometime actually sitting on the bottom i want to keep the fry i have another tank for them i got a 20 g tank for them now i want to put in a net but it seems like it stresses her out and she is not happy and looks like she is having a hard time breething also how long does it usually take for them to pop