When to use breeder box for fry

Hi! I have a dalmatian Molly that is mostly black and a fully black Molly.

Both look pregnant. One im sure already had some fry as i have seen little fry in my tank in the past couple days.

Question is- being they are almost all black, I can't see the dark spot showing how close she may be.

How do i know when to put her in breeder box to try and save the fry?? I don't want her in there for too long...

 

Once she starts become lethargic, not interested in food or labored breathing it means she will be having the fry within 24 hours (usually) so once you see her doing that I’d say she can be in the Breeder box but make sure to calmly get her in there as you don’t want to stress her out any more

 

Are they eating the fry? If not, you don't need the breeder box.

 

Are they eating the fry? If not, you don't need the breeder box.

I have 2 frogs in the tank as well so thought I better be safe rather than sorry

 

I have 2 frogs in the tank as well so thought I better be safe rather than sorry

Then I doubt it, I have baby mollies and they only stay at the top.

 

Breeder boxes are a double edge sword. I use them but don't have that much luck with them honestly. I prefer moving the female and a preseeded sponge filter into a smaller tank on her own a couple weeks before delivery. Its a lot less stressful and depending on the fry sometimes they can get out of breeder boxes. Sometimes moving mommas to breeder boxes causes stress and she can absorb/abort the babies.

You'd need a larger tank for mollies but what I did for my guppies recently is I put the momma in a 2.5g tank when I noticed her getting squared off. She delivered a week and a half later. I moved her back into the community tank after and the babies are still in the 2.5g tank.