Is my Molly pregnant?

T

TatteredOcean

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Jan 25, 2017
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Hello! About an hour ago, I got what I believe is a female black sailfin Molly from the pet store because I wanted a new addition to my Molly tank which had only two. When I got home, I noticed she was a lot bigger than my other two. Could she be pregnant? (Sorry for bad photo)

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With female mollies, it's never a question of if she's pregnant. Unless the males and females are split up and a female has never had contact with a male, she is sure to have been fertilized. Mollies, like many other livebearers, can store sperm for up to 6 months, and males will chase and fertilize any female in their area as well.

What are the genders of your other mollies? I would not recommend having a single female with 2 males. They will chase and harass her and may kill her. It's always best to have 2-3 females per male with most livebearers.
 
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I guess she probably is pregnant, she was in a tank with 14 other Mollies and from what I could tell, there were only two other females. The Mollies in my tank are both females.
 
Thank you. Here are some (hopefully)better pictures. Is there a way to tell when she'll give birth? Also my silver lyretail molly keeps trying to eat bubbles and she pecks at the glass & heater like she's hungry even though she just ate, is that normal Molly behavior or should I worry?

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Mollies are grazers. In the wild, they eat all day long, filling up on algae which is low nutrient. That means they need to eat a lot. In our tanks, there isn't as much algae, and the foods we provide tend to be much higher nutrient, so they get what they need to survive, but still have the behavior.

If you are hoping to have fry survive, you will need to provide hiding places. The other mollies will eat the fry otherwise. Java moss is a good option, if it can be contained.
 
Hey, I have a gold panda molly in a tank with all males and she's very fat and I think she's pregnant. And there's a little super tiny white opening between her anal fun and the other one(I think this is a granvid spot, but it could just be her butthole). She's is swimming normally and yes, I know there are way too many males for just one female(I'm working on it). But I need to know how pregnant she is someone please help!!!!!!

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Its really hard to tell from pictures, or even looking at the fish in person. You can only tell if they are within a few days based on wobbling in the water and their eating habits.
 
Tifftastic said:
Its really hard to tell from pictures, or even looking at the fish in person. You can only tell if they are within a few days based on wobbling in the water and their eating habits.
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Thanks for the advice and she eats ALOT, way more than she used to and she goes to the bottom frequently but only for a couple seconds or a minute, and she's hides more than she used to. But I have to watch from afar because everytime I walked over they reconize me and swim up to the surface for food, soooo cute! But I don't know how far into development she is. She is my first pregnant molly ever so I'm just hoping the babies don't get eaten.
 
When she starts to not come to the surface for food she's probably close. Or when she wobbles on her way up. Unfortunately there is a very good chance you will lose some, but if you have a lot of plant cover you can likely save a few. In reality you don't want them all to survive, you'll end up overrun quickly that way.
 
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