Lyre Tail Molly Lover

Hello everyone! I have been a fish lover for ever. I love freshwater fish and keeping it as close to their natural habitat as possible. I have a female Lyre Tail black and white spotted. She is beautiful. I have a question on whether or not the fry can reproduce right away or is there a estimated time frame. We bought surprisingly two of the Lyre tail and ended up with a male and female. We removed the male as suggested 4 months ago. Now the only one in the smaller tank she has had 3 batches. And now on her 4th. In the last batch four were unable to be caught and transferred to my 55 gallon where most of the fish are. So could one of the small fry left behind til caught actually have gotten her pregnant again?

 

Hello and welcome to FishLore!
I have read that livebearers can reproduce as early as 3 to 4 months old. Female livebearers can also store sperm for up to 6 months. You said you separated the male 4 months ago, so she may still have sperm from the original sexual contact, thus explaining the new pregnancies/births.

Good luck!

 

Its been 4 -5 months. I was told they held sperm up to 4 months but 6 is sounding more correct at this point. But I'm glad to know that a week or two old they can't reproduce. Thank you so much. Cuz I have so many of these now I am giving them away. LOL

 

Welcome!

 

Its been 4 -5 months. I was told they held sperm up to 4 months but 6 is sounding more correct at this point. But I'm glad to know that a week or two old they can't reproduce. Thank you so much. Cuz I have so many of these now I am giving them away. LOL

I can imagine They are prolific breeders.

 

Almost as bad as rats and rabbits! But they are too cute. Love the Dalmatians! In my 55 you see nothing but spots. Becomes a game when they hide in the plants.

 

Female Mollies can easily store sperm up to a year. In fact, there are records of at least one female who had a spawn 18 months after her last contact with a male. However, she was not constantly dropping during that time. I would say 8-10 months of constantly dropping fry would be very possible.

Believe me, female livebearers put Rats and Rabbits to shame, because they don't even need the boys coming around for a looong time!