Thinking her mollie is just a little bigger..

[PinkOrchids]

I'm not sure if i'm posting this in the right spot (plz forgive me on this, i do not usually post on forums).

I have a female mollie in my 20 Gal. I had bought 3, but only she survived. This was over a month ago that they were purchased. The one that survived, well, i always just thought she was bigger. I bought 1 more mollie from the same pet store, not realizing it was a male. This was about a little less than 2 weeks ago. They get along fine, but i was just wondering if my female could possibly be pregnant from when i bought her at the pet store. I can not for the life of me, see the little dark spot on her belly, because she is mostly a black dalmation mollie.

I am hoping that she will have fry eventually...but mainly, ièm wondering if anyone has had a female that is just bigger around the waist and never had any fry at all?

 

[beckyd]

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, your female molly was likely pregnant when you got her. It would be quite a challenge to see a gravid spot on a black dalmation. Just observe her and you'll get good at predicting when she is really ready to drop a brood. Some females get enormous, some barely get fat. Since you lost two others purchsed with her, I'm guessing they were either ill or really stressed. Glad she made it. However, this could cause her to hold off a bit on delivering a brood. Just because she doesn't drop within a month or so doesn't mean she wasn't pregnant. Mollies are quite amazing. They store live sperm for a very, very long time. They will fertilize some eggs and keep the rest of the sperm alive. Once they have mated, they can deliver brood after brood without getting near a male.

Yes, the females are naturally a bigger around the belly than the males. It is likely that she will have fry. Like any animal, there is a chance that she is infertile. I had one female that never gave birth to my knowledge in over two years, but this is pretty rare. My mollies have historically given birth about every 6 weeks or so once they deliver their first brood. However, I moved in June. It was obviously a major stressor on my fish because I did not have fry for at least 8 weeks-from any of my livebearers, not just the mollies. They need to settle in a feel safe before their instinct will tell them its a good time for babies.

Make sure you have hiding places for the fry too, or you may never see them.

Good luck

 

[PinkOrchids]

Thanks Becky!

I've been trying to get a good picture of her, but she's being camera shy....lol...she is usually a little ham for attention, but not today. I was out tonight at walmart , and seen they had some female mollies which were roughly the same size as mine, but not nearly as "chunky" in the belly. I also noticed my mollie's belly is kind of squareish...??
So, I'm leaning towards that yes, she is going to have some little ones.

Also, my male mollie, may he R.I.P. I found him stuck to the filter this afternoon. He was fine last night and this morning...so, i have no idea what happened. Is at at all possible she could have done something to him? I haven't seen anything anywhere that has said a female would get aggressive while pregnant...but thought maybe you would know.

*sigh* she is again, the only survivor.....

 

[OrangeCones]

What are the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank? If you do not test the water, perhaps the fish store you go to could do it for you. The results will better help those here to help you with the fish die off. To have 3 out of 4 fish die is definately not right.

 

[PinkOrchids]

Hi Orange,

My fiance checked last night, and said everything was A-ok with the levels. (He does the testing and stuff like that) But i will ask him after work what they were. I was upset that my male mollie had died so yep, that's why he tested. I've had the female molly since the start of the tank, and she is consistantly the only survivor...she isnt gasping for air, she's a happy big gal....she's pooping normally, nothing abnormal anywhere on her or around the tank.....so, it's really baffling.

She's the only one in her 20 gallon.....(i have another one with the two mysteryfish i had posted about)....and i have a 10 gallon that is fishless right now because it's cycling.
I'm wondering if i should maybe move her to the 10 gallon before i purchase a few more mollies? Just to see if she is actually the cause ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[jamiejay09]

my mollies had babys last night

woke up this morning to find 31 lil sailfin mollies , i fished them all out and put them all in their own 10g tank lots of colours, orange,silver,black and white cant wait for them to grow up ......

jamie