Mollies not breeding? or are they just eating all the kids?

Fishfriend1

Fishfriend1

Fishlover Extraordinaire
Dec 11, 2009
3,958
3
38
Southeastern PA
Real Name
Mr. Palmer
I have 2 male mollies and 4 female mollies. They are in a 40 gal tank. They have been there for about 4-5 months now. They still haven't had any kids. I am starting to get a little concerned about them. The other inhabitants include: 4 corys, 5 black skirt tetras, 3 minnows, 3 guppies.
BACKGROUND INFO
The 2 males were supposed to be females and when i got them they still didn't have any sailfins, which is why i thought they were female. I have since learned that males also have a large fin underneath them, thats what i use to check male/female mollies now.

The tank has a small filter, lots of snails, and a number of plants. also an airstone.

If anyone has any ideas on why i have not seen a single baby since i got the fish plz tell me.

I am currently in a free period at school so i cant give water parameters, but last time i checked (about a week ago) they were fine.
 
Just to make sure, this is the gonopodium...the male structure in livebearers.

mag50.jpg


Otherwise, I bet the fry are just being eaten as soon as the pop out.
 
yes, there are 2 fish with that. I wonder how they eat babies so fast...?
 
They usually breed about once every 4-6 weeks, depending on food and temp. The babies naturally swim towards the top (floating plants help them to hide). Lastly, all fish love to eat small fish, not just mollies.
 
There are a lot of other fish in the tank that can eat the fry. New females usually do not have that many babies. After a few births, they seem to carry more and more. Also, livebearers alone in a tank will eventually ignore fry and not go for them, this can take months, but with other fish like Tetra in the tank, the Molly may be constantly reminded by the other fish the fry are a food source. Densely planted tanks will help the fry survive. Lots of hiding places and food on the plants.
 
Thanks for the feedback. There are definitely plenty of places to hid if you a baby fish. Algae gone wild (a large clump of floating algae), floating plants, fake floating plants. About half the top of the tank has stuff floating in it. Ill check every day to see if any fry were born, im not really worried about the fry so much as the mollies themselves. I couldn't see any fry so i assumed that the mollies weren't breeding, which would be a problem for me because i have kept mollies b4 and they had so many kids i had to give them away.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
just a thought have you noticed any pregnant mollies (you can tell by them getting fatter and on lighter colored females you can see a dark patch at the back of there stomach gets darker when pregnant) also if they are balloon mollies these are usually infertile as are many hybrids IE crossed with guppies etc.
 
melv said:
just a thought have you noticed any pregnant mollies (you can tell by them getting fatter and on lighter colored females you can see a dark patch at the back of there stomach gets darker when pregnant) also if they are balloon mollies these are usually infertile as are many hybrids IE crossed with guppies etc.
Click to expand...

Erm no; they're just selectively bred mollies. They're hybrids, sure; nearly all domestic molly stocks are, but perfectly fertile hybrids of different molly species. If they can't reproduce, it'll be because of the deformity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom