Molly won't give birth

My molly is huge and her scales are all sticking out and she has been swimming in the same spot at the bottom of the tank all day with her head towards the ground and her tail up. I have never had a fish have babies before and I don't know if this is worrisome or if it's normal behavior.

 

'Pineconing' scales are often a sign of Dropsy, as is a loss of balance as the fluid builds up in the tissues causing the fish to bloat, which can put pressure on the swim bladder. What are your parameters and tank size?

 

Nitrites 0 ammonia 0 nitrates 20. pH 6.8. I initially thought maybe she was sick but wasn't sure so I pulled her from her tank into a 1/2 gallon holder with some tank water. Right away she delivered 3 fry still in their sack. I researched a bit more and put her in a 10 gallon that's been fully cycled for 9 months that I keep a few dwarf shrimp in. That was Tuesday.

 

Also heavily planted tank

 

 

Looks like she has an fungus infection. She is very big. If she is pooping out fry, then she's pregnant. How is she swimming? How many fish are in the tank she was in before you moved her?

 

Looks like she has an fungus infection. She is very big. If she is pooping out fry, then she's pregnant. How is she swimming? How many fish are in the tank she was in before you moved her?

There are 15 in a 37 Gallon. She's doing the fish version of waddling. Not sideways or anything just with her head down. What clues you in to a fungus?

 

I've had the same problem with couple of platys and guppy. Usually they die in max 3-4 days. This is called Dropsy. It generally happens due to genetic problem. I'm not sure if it can be treated. Mine all died.

 

You have 15 mollies In a 37gal? That's a lot of mollies for that small of a tank. She sadly also has dropsy and she is pregnant. I have never been able to treat any fish and have them live.

 

You have 15 mollies In a 37gal? That's a lot of mollies for that small of a tank. She sadly also has dropsy and she is pregnant. I have never been able to treat any fish and have them live.

Not all Molly's . It's a community of mostly tetras 1 guppy, a blue ram & a few snails. No other Molly's. Hmmmmmm.

 

How hard is your water? Kh/gh? Is she shimmying? If so & in conjunction w/dropsy & swim bladder, she's definitely not ok. She looks heavily pregnant but it could also look that way because she's so pineconed. Since u said she's the only Molly in the community tank, the water may be too soft for her. Mollies (as well as guppies & other livebearers) require hard water, a lot of minerals. Even if you moved her to the shrimp tank, if your water is too soft it won't matter. With your ph at 6.8, I seems like your water is on the softer side. This site has plenty of info on what you could do to increase your hardness, possibly help dropsy & swim bladder issues.
It also seems like she aborted some of her fry, wish I could say that's good news but with all her issues she might not make it through labor.
Good luck & keep us posted.

 

Hello, I have a black molly that has been obviously pregnant for over a month now. I know they can hold onto fry if stressed. My water parameters are
Ammonia- 0.25 (kit always reads 0.25 or higher never get a true zero)
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-2.5

I did have her in my large 65 gal community tank and thought maybe she just wasnt finding a suitable spot due to there being a big community.
The male molly seems to prefer her over the other 2 females in the tank and harasses her quite a bit. I can't figure out why he shows no interest in the other girls. So I have temporarily moved her to my 15 gallon community. (Yes I know mollys require more space, this is temporary to see if I can reduce possible stress)

This tank only has 3 platies and 2 shrimp. I am hoping this will give her less stress than a breeder box or the community. Anything else I need to know?

 

Mollies and other livebearers can hold sperm if they feel conditions are not right to drop their babies. The ammonia not being at zero may be the problem.

 

Mollies and other livebearers can hold sperm if they feel conditions are not right to drop their babies. The ammonia not being at zero may be the problem.

Ive been told by many on here that the liquid api tests have a range of inaccuracy. No matter what I test with it the lowest it ever goes is 0.25. I think that the ammonia is actually zero and is juat reading slightly higher.

 

Ive been told by many on here that the liquid api tests have a range of inaccuracy. No matter what I test with it the lowest it ever goes is 0.25. I think that the ammonia is actually zero and is juat reading slightly higher.

Then maybe she is stressed from being in the 15 gallon? The platies might be stressing her out too. Is it at all possible to move the platies to the 65 gallon temporarily?

 

Then maybe she is stressed from being in the 15 gallon? The platies might be stressing her out too. Is it at all possible to move the platies to the 65 gallon temporarily?

I just moved her to the 15 gallon like an hour ago. I can move 2 of the 3 but one of my platies is ready to drop soon too so I dont want to stress her either. Im thinking that if she doesnt drop in a couple days ill grab a breeding net to fully seclude her. She used to share a tank with these platies and they get along well. This tank is placed next to my seating area so I can monitor her more closely and frequently.

 

I just moved her to the 15 gallon like an hour ago. I can move 2 of the 3 but one of my platies is ready to drop soon too so I dont want to stress her either. Im thinking that if she doesnt drop in a couple days ill grab a breeding net to fully seclude her. She used to share a tank with these platies and they get along well. This tank is placed next to my seating area so I can monitor her more closely and frequently.

Moving the 2 platies might reduce the stress a bit.
If you only put her in an hour ago she will still need to get settled in the new tank. I would wait a few days and see if she starts dropping.

 

Moving the 2 platies might reduce the stress a bit.
If you only put her in an hour ago she will still need to get settled in the new tank. I would wait a few days and see if she starts dropping.

Awesome. Thank you. Do you have any insight as to why my male molly is so picky about his girls? He has 3 females and only cares about the one. Poor girl cant catch a break lol.

 

I know my ammonia reads .25. Also my mollies looked heavily pregnant for a while before they had babies. I’m no expert but that def happened. One I was concerned about bc she was slow moving and it looked painful how large she was and she had babies that day. P

 

Awesome. Thank you. Do you have any insight as to why my male molly is so picky about his girls? He has 3 females and only cares about the one. Poor girl cant catch a break lol.

I have heard of this happening with lots of live bearers, especially guppies. Sometimes they are just like that.

 

for what its worth my female molly looks significantly bigger than yours so hopefully she drops them tonight or tomorrow. I am not too worried she will drop them since this will be her third batch in the last two months so looking forward to having my tank just completely overrun with black mollys. ;P

 

Awesome. Thank you. Do you have any insight as to why my male molly is so picky about his girls? He has 3 females and only cares about the one. Poor girl cant catch a break lol.

Has your molly dropped the babies? My female had 3 batches so far and now theres around 90 baby black mollys in my tank.

 

Has your molly dropped the babies? My female had 3 batches so far and now theres around 90 baby black mollys in my tank.

No she still hasnt. Shes been getting bigger.

 

No she still hasnt. Shes been getting bigger.

Yea i bet shes getting bigger mine got really big right before she dropped hers. I think mine dropped all 3 batches at night so idk where you have your tank but try to completely dark it out and maybe that could help her relax and drop her babies.

 

Yea i bet shes getting bigger mine got really big right before she dropped hers. I think mine dropped all 3 batches at night so idk where you have your tank but try to completely dark it out and maybe that could help her relax and drop her babies.

I moved her to my smaller calmer tank an shut it down around 7pm. She seems very happy. Im thinking I just was rushing her timeline. I get a feeling she may drop in the next week or so. I read it could take up to 10 weeks which is quite different than my platies who birth about every 5 weeks.

 

I moved her to my smaller calmer tank an shut it down around 7pm. She seems very happy. Im thinking I just was rushing her timeline. I get a feeling she may drop in the next week or so. I read it could take up to 10 weeks which is quite different than my platies who birth about every 5 weeks.

Honestly when my Molly gave birth the first two times i didnt even know she was pregnant but this last time i def knew but since it was her 3rd batch in less than 2 months thats prob why she dropped them so fast. I originally got 3 mollys but i didnt realize two were males so i had to rehome one of my males to my community tank because poor guy he was getting really bullied and backed into a corner by the alpha male. Now hes a lot happier and swimming all over my 55 community. FYI i feed the baby mollys Hikari First Bites and they seem to like it and are still alive so yea.

 

Here is Shadow, still pregnant, and my male Spots will not let her be. There are 3 other femal mollies in this tank and he doesnt care. Water is a bit cloudy from a bacteria bloom.

 

Here is Shadow, still pregnant, and my male Spots will not let her be. There are 3 other femal mollies in this tank and he doesnt care. Water is a bit cloudy from a bacteria bloom.

oh yea my male would do that to the female when she was pregnant. then i noticed that the male would be pulling strings out of her abdomen at first i though it was the babies but then i did some research and it turns out it was actually her stringy poop. She was constipated and the male was literally helping her get her s.hit out so yea.

 

Welp she finally dropped her fry. I did not have her in an isolation tank as it seemed to stress her out a lot. So far I have only found 1 fry. Im thinking the rest may have been eaten. But I am excited to see thia little dalmation grow up!

 

Welp she finally dropped her fry. I did not have her in an isolation tank as it seemed to stress her out a lot. So far I have only found 1 fry. Im thinking the rest may have been eaten. But I am excited to see thia little dalmation grow up!View attachment 721648

Nice if its her first time having babies than maybe she had a few. My molly in her first batch only dropped about 7 or 8. And then her last batch was over 40 so who knows maybe she is just getting warmed up. i suggest you have lots of plants if you want the frys to survive not getting eaten that tends to help them hide out at least mine did.