Pregnant molly!! Urgent, updated - more help needed!

Help! Big concern... Joyce, my pregnant gold dust molly... She's been in the 5 gallon all day today and doing pretty well besides being a bit frantic. I just noticed that she is frantically swimming around the tank, and has very labored breathing. In other words, breathing very heavy!!

She is normally in the big tank with 3 other mollies, but I isolated her because she looks close to birth.

This is my first time breeding any fish!

Someone, I need advice. I don't want her to abort the babies, but if I put her back in the big tank and she gives birth the fry will all get eaten!!

When will molly drop her fry? | Breeding Fish 452649

 

Ok, first, calm down. You won't do your Molly any good if you are freaking out. Now, mollie abortions are rare, but mollies can in fact stop labor if they feel unsafe or stressed. You might have freaked her out by putting her in an isolation tank that she's unfamiliar with. I suggest putting your other two mollies in the isolation tank and then putting the pregnant one back in the main tank. You want her to feel comfortable. Next the fry will drop to the bottom of the tank and start swimming as soon as momma mollie drops them, so you need to provide lots of coverage for them to hide, and I cannot stress this enough, cover the filter intake, these babies will be tiny, and assuming this is your mollies first batch, there will only be a few of them. They can and will sneak into the filter and cause you lots of panic and problems. Now after momma mollie has finished giving birth, you need to put her in a separate tank until you can get the fry into a fry tank. They will not survive if left with the adults. Once you've separated the babies and adults you should be all good! most fry can eat the powdered version of whatever their parents eat, but there are specific foods for fry at pet stores.

Now, last thing you need to know...... Please don't freak out. But your Molly can give birth several times from 1 breeding. Mine gave birth 5 times after 1 encounter with a male. Also don't be surprised if the number of babies increases after each birth. The last time my Molly gave birth she had 23, her first birth was 2.

 

Thank you so much for the advice, and I'm sorry for panicking. It's just my first time, and she is my most beloved fish so I don't want to lose her

I actually have 3 other mollies and 2 kuhli loaches, so I cannot put them in the smaller tank sadly.

I'm going to do a small (25% to 30%) water change as the isolation tank has not been set up as long as I'd like and I want to mantain it and her well.

 

Thank you so much for the advice, and I'm sorry for panicking. It's just my first time, and she is my most beloved fish so I don't want to lose her

I actually have 3 other mollies and 2 kuhli loaches, so I cannot put them in the smaller tank sadly.

I'm going to do a small (25% to 30%) water change as the isolation tank has not been set up as long as I'd like and I want to mantain it and her well.

No problem. I was actually in a very similar situation so I completely understand the panic, you did the right thing and got help though, and your Molly should be fine.

 

Ok. Thank you again and I'll try to keep you updated as things progress

 

Ok. Thank you again and I'll try to keep you updated as things progress

Awesome! I'm gonna see if I can find pictures of my first guppy fry for you though. they are veryyyy tiny

 

That would be awesome! I've never had guppies before but I for sure want to.

 

Ok, I couldn't find pictures of the babies themselves, but I got a good picture of my favorite guppy and my Molly just before I learned she was pregnant.... I should also note that I learned she was pregnant when I found two fry swimming with her in an otherwise empty tank

 

Such precious babies! I have quite the collection at the moment, lol. I have a male-female pair of gold dust mollies, 1 orange sailfin molly, and one dalmatian molly along with 2 black kuhli loaches who are oddly active!

Do yours have names?

 

Such precious babies! I have quite the collection at the moment, lol. I have a male-female pair of gold dust mollies, 1 orange sailfin molly, and one dalmatian molly along with 2 black kuhli loaches who are oddly active!

Do yours have names?

Well, the guppy in the photo is unfortunately no longer with us. She and her friends died due to "fish safe" algae remover when I was still new to the hobby. I still have the Molly and her babies. The Molly is named CC, short for cookies and cream. Her babies are named thing 1- thing 18 except for the one guy in the lot who I've designated as goth guy, cause he's completely black. it's actually really cool. I have had to give several away, but as long as there are no more births I can keep the one's I have rn.

 

Aww what a cute name! So sorry about the guppy though my first time with a tank I had 2 dalmatian mollies, 2 sunburst platies, 1 oto, and 1 dwarf gourami... all died within 3 days. Still don't know what happened.

My dusties are Joyce and Hopper, the orange is Syd, the dalmatian Dina, and my loaches Eugene and Zion!

I'll try to get pictures, but they are all fast

 

The best ones are!

 

So, my female gold dust molly (I refer to them as dusties) has been pregnant for a while now *I'm assuming*.
I moved her into my 5g nursery/isolation tank, which she isn't totally unfamiliar with. She was just in there for 3-4 days getting treated for ich. The tank is filtered and heated, and has a fake plant as well as a plethora of polished precious stone (ruby, quartz, labradorite, etc) to create crevices and hides for the babies once they are born.

Today, however, I was looking at her and she seemed much slimmer, almost normal? There are no babies in the tank. When I fed her, she got the massive pregnant belly again. Is it merely severe bloating and not pregnancy at all? When I look at her belly now, however, it almost looks like there are eggs or something visible through the skin. Or maybe the eyes of the fry? I don't know. I'll try to get a picture.

In my main tank, I have my male molly and 2 other females (I have a 1M:3F ratio) but it is the strangest thing... the male is a gold dust, like Joyce (preggo girl) and the other girls are an orange sailfin along with a dalmatian. All are lyretails. But, ever since the other 2 females were added, he just ignores them. it's like they don't exist. When Joyce is in the tank, he is always chasing her and pecking her repeatedly, but he never even touches letalone acknowledges the other females.

Now Joyce is separated and blocked, he can't see her, but he is still ignoring the other females? Sometimes they'll even chase him, but she shuns them and swims away.

When Joyce was being treated for ich, the way I had them set up they could see each other through the glass. During this time they both frantically chased each other through the glass and never got much rest. Why are they like this? I can't find anything about it online. The male should be breeding with the others, no? I just don't get it.

Any advice is welcome.

 

My male molly has a favorite too but does breed with others if she's hiding, I guess yours is a romantic one. Also, my females do start "showing" again a day or two after giving birth, so yours isn't the only one.
My mollies refuse to eat their young, but my platies do give birth at night and eat them all up in the morning, then get fat again the next day even though I haven't had a male for months.

By the way, quarantining your fish won't help with ich, it's already infected your main tank so you'll need to treat the whole tank or it will come back.

 

That was previously for ich, a while ago. No one else has it and quarantining got rid of it as it hasn't come back. Also, I was treating the whole tank with pimafix at the time for fungus, and API pimafix+ich medicine can't be mixed according to my LFS.

She didn't give birth yet as far as I know, as I've been watching her like a hawk until late at night. I'll make sure to give updates.

 

Can you post a photo of her? I'm curious to see what she looks like compared to the last photo you posted.

 

She looks practically the same now, because I fed her. Beforehand, she almost looked like she wasn't pregnant. Slim.

 

She probably dropped her fry and they're either hiding well or she's eaten them. They're very tricky about it and can be very fast once the lights are completely out.

 

The thing is, She still looks pregnant. There are these small spheres within her that look like eggs or eyes or something... and I've been staring at the tank with the lights off for a while. No babies.

I really hope she didn't eat them all, as I have plans to exchange then for store credit with my LFS.

 

Try to include some pictures. That should help us figure out what's going on.

 

Hello everyone. Yes. posting about this again.

My dustie Joyce is still isolated, but I'm still debating whether or not she is really pregnant, or not.

On the other hand, my orange sailfin molly, Syd, has gravid spots!!! She just developed them today. I'll try to get pictures of both her and Joyce.
I'm hoping that the father is Hopper, my male dustie, and not another sailfin as I really want hybrid babies!!!

I'll keep everyone updated =>
Any advice is welcome!

 

Congrats, I don't know ur plan but I found my platies would reabsorb their fry if i put them in isolation before birth or maybe I was just too early. Just wondering, why do all the beginners get mollys in their smallish tanks, not platies. It seems to be a reoccurring trend on this forum.

 

Congrats, I don't know ur plan but I found my platies would reabsorb their fry if i put them in isolation before birth or maybe I was just too early. Just wondering, why do all the beginners get mollys in their smallish tanks, not platies. It seems to be a reoccurring trend on this forum.

mollies are probably even worse at this then the smaller platies or guppies, reabsorbing or premature birth from stress.

 

What would you guys recommend I do then? I can't leave her in the large tank because the male will most likely bully her to death, and if she does give birth in there, the fry will inevitably be eaten and I want them to survive.
really need advice here I'm at a loss =/

 

How big is Syd's stomach? Joyce's? Like on a scale of 1 to 10

As mentioned in your previous thread, pictures would really help us. If you absolutely want them to survive, I recommend getting a 5 or 10 gallon. Get a cheap heater, a sponge filter, and some easy live plants like hornwort, anubias, java moss, java fern, etc. Seed the filter with the media from your main tank. Just don't stress too much--it is difficult to care for fry, especially the first few times you are doing it. You're going to want to be doing water changes at least three times a week. Mollies do reproduce rather quickly; my molly gives birth every two months. And each time she gives birth, there is more and more fry! So if you're first batch dies, just know it's not the end of the world!

Priority: Pictures.

 

Hugooo

Here are some pictures of Joyce. As you can see, her belly is noticeably smaller than before. I included a few pictures of her odd belly with the sphere-things circled.

Syd is just now getting gravid spots and isn't too far along. Pics of her, shes the orange one. (Sorry for the poo)

As for the fry, I have a 5g set up (joyce is in it) and it has a fake plant along with a large assorted group of polished precious stones (ruby, labradorite, etc) to create crevices. I have some guppy grass being shipped to me now and a few fake plants a friend is giving me. Luckily I already do about 2 water changes a week, so yeah.

Joyce is odd. I don't know if she is pregnant or not, but because of her black tail, I cant see any gravid spots.

For the 1-10 scale, I'd say that Joyce is a 5-6 and Syd is a 3-4.

The 5g has a basic 5g betta filter and betta heater, and when I filled it I took water out of the main tank and filled 75% of the 5g with it. If Joyce isn't pregnant, or is less far along than I/we originally thought, I may move her back to the main tank.

I have some sand that I intend to put in the 5g instead of having it be bare-bottom. Is sand ok for mollies?

Also, another question-
how early in the mollies pregnancy should they be isolated? Or should they be isolated at all? If i want the fry to survive but they will be eaten in the main tank and isolation isn't good, what do I do?

Bump 'cause I'm really worried ^^

Really hoping someone sees this... I need advice for Joyce. Any molly experts out there?

Update: I put Joyce back in the main tank. Figured it would be better. Of course, Hopper (the male) was on top of her immediately and wouldn't leave her alone. He was chasing her, pecking her, messing with her anal area. She couldn't get away and seemed very stressed. So, I did some more research and ended up isolating Hopper. He is now in the 5g, but he seems very odd and disoriented.

Why is this so hard? If I leave him in Joyce might die, if I isolate him I'm afraid he might die. It seems like an everlasting problem that just gets harder.

Hugooo sorry for tagging but I really need someone to answer... stressed and worried out of my mind. I've already lost 6 hecking fish... I can't bear to lose more.

Would it be better for me to buy a breeder and put the male in it instead?

 

Ok, first, calm down. You won't do your Molly any good if you are freaking out. Now, mollie abortions are rare, but mollies can in fact stop labor if they feel unsafe or stressed. You might have freaked her out by putting her in an isolation tank that she's unfamiliar with. I suggest putting your other two mollies in the isolation tank and then putting the pregnant one back in the main tank. You want her to feel comfortable. Next the fry will drop to the bottom of the tank and start swimming as soon as momma mollie drops them, so you need to provide lots of coverage for them to hide, and I cannot stress this enough, cover the filter intake, these babies will be tiny, and assuming this is your mollies first batch, there will only be a few of them. They can and will sneak into the filter and cause you lots of panic and problems. Now after momma mollie has finished giving birth, you need to put her in a separate tank until you can get the fry into a fry tank. They will not survive if left with the adults. Once you've separated the babies and adults you should be all good! most fry can eat the powdered version of whatever their parents eat, but there are specific foods for fry at pet stores.

Now, last thing you need to know...... Please don't freak out. But your Molly can give birth several times from 1 breeding. Mine gave birth 5 times after 1 encounter with a male. Also don't be surprised if the number of babies increases after each birth. The last time my Molly gave birth she had 23, her first birth was 2.

I agree with this 100%

buy a breeder box and put her in it

 

buy a breeder box and put her in it

I would, the only problem is that when she is separated she gets insanely stressed and frantic, and she never rests. I'm afraid that by doing that she may get too stressed out and either abort her babies or die. Would putting the male in the breeder work so he isn't harassing her?

From what I've read on other sites and this forum- putting the female in the breeder box is bad and can cause a miscarrige/abortion. Would putting the male in a breeder so he doesn't harrass her work?

For anyone who may be able to help, is Joyce pregnant at all? She has these odd things you can see through her belly- are they the embyros eyes? (circled in pics)




I figured filling this out might help everyone-

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?
10-15 gallons, unsure. I usually say 13g

How long has the tank been running?
a little over 2 months

Does it have a filter?
yes

Does it have a heater?
yes

What is the water temperature?
75-82 degrees farenheit

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
2 gold dust mollies, 1 orange sailfin molly, 1 dalmatian molly, 2 black kuhli loaches (total of 6 fish) molly ratio is 1M:3F

Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
twice weekly

How much of the water do you change?
25-30%

What do you use to treat your water?
Top Fin water conditioner

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Just the water

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
yes, for about 2-3 weeks

What do you use to test the water?
API parameter kit

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Recently ran out of materials for testing, but previously it was...
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: usually around 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
twice a day flakes, 1 algae pellet/1 shrimp pellet at night for loaches

How much do you feed your fish?
one flake at a time until I think they are good

What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Top Fin tropical flakes, Omega One shrimp pellets, mini plecowafers

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
very few and far between frozen bloodworms

Pregnancy
How long have you had this fish?
Almost a month

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
a little over a week ago

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Assumed pregnancy, unsure.

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
Slightly elongated belly, slightly frantic behavior

 

I would, the only problem is that when she is separated she gets insanely stressed and frantic, and she never rests. I'm afraid that by doing that she may get too stressed out and either abort her babies or die. Would putting the male in the breeder work so he isn't harassing her?

yes put the male in the breeder net

 

Neither of them look particularly gravid right now. That does not mean they aren't pregnant - they most likely are - but neither of them are close to birth right now.

Deep breath! This is nothing to freak out about. Even if you get fry eaten in the first batch, they have plenty more to offer you in the future. Freaking out isn't helping out you or your fish or the people on here trying to help you.

Again, the gold dusted might have dropped her fry and they got eaten, or re-absorbed from stress. It's very possible to see a gravid spot forming the same day after they give birth, so that is no true indicator of anything. However, she is colored quite solidly so you can't see her gravid spot very well. The black spots on her belly are just her coloration. You can see the gravid spot on the orange sailfin, but like I said, she's not very large either.

I wouldn't put any female in the breeder box, no matter how close they are. That only causes stress. At most, maybe the male for a temporary time-out (fish don't think that way, but it can help them de-escalate their chasing).

The best thing you can do is get lots of plants - either fake or real - and put them in whichever tank you feel is best for the girls. Some floating, some near the substrate is the best. It will allow the fry to hide and make it easier for the females to distance themselves from the male.

 

Thank you so much for the advice, I'm going to be adding some guppy grass to the tank soon, and hopefully some dwarf sag + valisneria. I'm just going to let nature take it's course and hope some fry survive.

As for the male, any tips there? When I put him back in the tank, he is constantly on her, nipping and pecking and messing with her anal area. She can't seem to get away from him as he chases her a lot.

 

As for the male, any tips there? When I put him back in the tank, he is constantly on her, nipping and pecking and messing with her anal area. She can't seem to get away from him as he chases her a lot.

Unfortunately that's just how male mollies are (although yours seems to be especially picky). You can try adding decorations or plants to block line-of-sight so she can hide. If possible, looking into getting a bigger tank for them is a very good idea too; mollies love having lots of swimming room, you'll have more room to make hiding spaces, and the fry will also be less likely to be found by the adults.

Floating plants like duckweed, water lettuce, water sprite, anacharis, etc (or even fake ones). are a very good hideout for fry because they usually hang out near the surface and those plants get dense very quickly.

 

Hi again! Sorry I haven't been on in a few days so I didn't see your earlier posts. I totally agree with what everyone else on here is saying. First tip, keep calm. If you feel yourself start to panic then step away from the mollies and the tank, they'll be fine for a few seconds, and close your eyes, take some breaths and calm down. Stressing out will not help you or your fish. (This is not me berating you at all, just saying it like it is, you're doing really good for your first time.) So, keep the ladies together in their normal tank and just cover it with hidden holes and places to hide. A breeder net in your main tank is a good way to keep your male Molly safe and within reach of your females if they are reacting negatively to his removal, but it also prevents the male from bitting the female. When your female goes into labor, I suggest putting your other female in the breeder net with the male. If the male is an some breeders come with dividers, so use them. It's ok if the mom only has a few babies, and a few or most of them don't make it, that's fine and completely normal. Don't panic. The best thing you can do is calm down, let your fish do their thing, and stop hovering. Fish aren't to bright but they do notice change. The kinda stress that change is making means your momma fish are more likely to abort or reabsorb the babies. Basically let the fish be fish, they have been giving birth for way longer than we have, so they know what they're doing.

 

KAitlynn Robi thank you... i'm working on staying calm and letting them do their things. I'm just about to get some spiderwood, guppy grass, and java moss to create more hiding places. I'm going to the LFS soon, and I'm going to get a net breeder.

The male will go into the breeder and I'll leave my girls out, and hopefully some babies will survive.

Thank you again, you've been a big help.

My LFS sadly is not getting barely any shipments due to COVID-19 and therefore had NO breeders. Do you think I'd be ok with putting the male back in for now even if he messes with her? He is so sad alone in the other tank

So, problem-
I went to buy a net breeder from Amazon to put my male in, and my mom got mad at me. She went off telling me that I need to put the female in the net, not the male. When I tried to explain that putting the female in the net can cause stress and premature birth, abortion, etc, she yelled at me.

She says that if I don't comply and work this out, she'll get rid of my whole tank.

She isn't giving me any other options. She says if I don't put her in the net, she'll get rid of the tank. If I do put her in the net, she may die.

Any advice as to how I can lower the stress for Joyce in the net? I'm planning on adding plants (guppy grass).

I don't have any other option, I have to.

Hugooo KAitlynn Robi wishuponafish johnbetta SM1199
I'm sorry for tagging but this is really a bad situation.

 

How about you just not buy a breeder net at all so she can't force you to do/not do either?

Edit to add: What if you kept the females in the main tank and put the male in your 5 gallon?

 

How about you just not buy a breeder net at all so she can't force you to do/not do either?

Edit to add: What if you kept the females in the main tank and put the male in your 5 gallon?

The thing is- I'm not old enough to have a bank account/amazon account. The account is hers. She can order it whenever she wants.

And actually, as of right now, the male is in the 5g and the females are in the main. The male is really sad and depressed, though... he just stays in one spot and isn't really eating. I don't want him to die either

 

The thing is- I'm not old enough to have a bank account/amazon account. The account is hers. She can order it whenever she wants.

And actually, as of right now, the male is in the 5g and the females are in the main. The male is really sad and depressed, though... he just stays in one spot and isn't really eating. I don't want him to die either

It sounds like she's going to do whatever she so pleases. There's nothing around that. Just wait, let her order it if she really wants to, play along. She has a few days to cool down before the net ships in the mail, if she orders it at all.

 

It sounds like she's going to do whatever she so pleases. There's nothing around that. Just wait, let her order it if she really wants to, play along. She has a few days to cool down before the net ships in the mail, if she orders it at all.

SM1199
Yeah, I figure that I should just go along for now... Sadly I think she may have already ordered it, but it is also prime. Prime means 1-2 day shipping...

 

Thats a sucky situation. If your mom is prone to anger, perhaps just don't tell her whats going on in the future. The female should be okay in the net I think. If the babies do die though, she will get pregnant later. Perhaps write a paper about molly breeding, so she understands,

 

SM1199
Yeah, I figure that I should just go along for now... Sadly I think she may have already ordered it, but it is also prime. Prime means 1-2 day shipping...

Unfortunately, the best thing to do in this situation is nothing. Trying to disagree or fight back will only make things worse. In the future, I just wouldn't involve her in your fish endeavors, as Canacullus suggested.