navyscuba

Hey there. Have a quick question. We bought two very gravid creamsicle lyretail mollies about two weeks ago. The same day we bought them one dropped her fry. The other is still just as bloated, not more, not less, and is in a breeder tank alone. She looks like she swallowed a small lego... Any ideas why she hasn't dropped yet? Seems that a week should have been enough if she is that large and hasn't gotten any larger, but two weeks which I thought was about half of their gestation, seems a little extreme... If you have any ideas I would love to hear them.

nitrate - 0
nitrite - .5
pH - 7
ammonia - 0

kra-z-fishmumm

I know it sounds funny, but they wait till they feel the time is good to drop! What is the tank temp.? Sometimes a small change will encourage them to drop. Just an idea.

navyscuba

Water temp is 79f. Even the platy that was on the other tank drop first.

KyWildFish

Salt the water and feed her a little more than usual. Make sure she has a good hiding spot and she should drop. She might have aborted the pregnancy and is absorbing the babies too, you will know if the spot fades and she doesnt drop.

Edit: When I say salt the water add some aquarium freshwater salt. They are a brackish fish so salt makes them happier.

navyscuba

We already have it salted but not as much as is recommended because we keep Angels in our community tank as well and they are sensitive to the salt... Trying to keep it in a neutral environment as much as possible. She is fairly opaque in color so it is hard to see if her spot changes but it is still dark as of now... Should I add a few small plants in the breeder tank?

KyWildFish

Yeah, they like cover to hide in when dropping. Try and put them at the bottom and make a little shelter if you can.

navyscuba

Yeah, I will try that. It would have to be at bottom because it is one of the split plastic breeders since she is small enough not to need the net... Thanks. I will let ya know!

kra-z-fishmumm

snap,,hiding places great idea! Careful on the extra food,,,don't want to constipate her! Good Luck!

MaddieLynn

Nitrite of .5 and Nitrate of 0 are not good. Nitrite should be 0 and Nitrate should be around 10.

navyscuba

She drop the babies about a week or two now. Thanks everyone. Now I have about 80 fry. I'm going to start selling or trade them in like a month.