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A few months ago, I purchased a trio of mollys: a black one(F), a dalmation (F), and an orenge/black half (M) for my ten gal. Just about a week ago, I noticed that my black molly's anal fin was becoming slightly more pointed at the tip. It kept getting more and more pointed and today when I looked in, I noticed it had the male anal-fin (The gono-thingy, I can never remember what that is called) and my dalmation, which had not had fry in almost two months is slightly larger, possibly pregnant. Have live bareres been known to change sexes? (I know some fish and amphibians can...)

Inky

hmm... i have not personally heard of mollies changing sexes. i've had mollies for quite a long time, and hasn't happened to me...
One thing though that i have seen is, sometimes it can take more than six months for a molly fry to differentiate between sexes. I've had a batch of babies for about that long, and was worried I ended up with all females. I waited a WHILE, they were almost full-grown before they developed gonopodiums. so that might be what happened with your little black one.

on another note.
im concerned that you have too many fish for such a small tank. mollies are pretty fish, but not made for such a small amount of water. think one inch of fish per one gallon mollies can easily grow over four inches, depending on the breed. i know its a close call, but in order for these fish to be happy, you really should look into a bigger tank.. if thats not in the budget, make sure you stay up on your water changes as not to stress them out, and watch the nitrate levels.
also mollies tend to breed OUT OF CONTROL, overpopulating a tank in a matter of days.. if you are going to keep the fish in a tank that small, stick to ONE sex... that way you don't have breeding, when you don't have the extra room.

::edit:: I just read in your other post that you have a 46 gallon, so maybe you should move the mollies to that tank?, that way you've got room for all the fun that comes with mollies...... BABIES!

Good Luck,
Chelle

Last edited by chelaine at 16-Dec-2005 04:16

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

I have been considering adding them, assuming they get along well with the other fish, but it will still be awhile (My 46 gal does not yet have a filter/heater, and I just quit my job, so I plan on adding them after New Years, along with thier fry, the dalmation and the black one are about quarter size and the orenge one is about half that, so they should be fine for awhile.) Perhaps my molly was just a late developer? I got him from a store so Im not sure how old he was when I got him.


PS This is my tank idea:
1 Butterfly fish
1 Angelfish
2 Zebra Danios (May leave in 10 gal, they seem quite content there)
3 Mollys + Fry + 2 New ones to even out new gender ratio
Some bottom dwellers

Inky

you might want to add more danios, they're schooling fish, they do better in groups, but certainly they are fine where they are at.....

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

Thats what I was thinking, but several people in my other posts said that I need to put them in a 20 gal+, but I disagree. I think that once I move the mollys out of the 10 gal that they will be fine with my plattys (Who school and are about quarter sized) Id move them into the 46 gal, but I know they are nippers and am worried about the angel's and butterfly's fins (actually, Im more worried that the butterfly would eat them) I'm really set on the angel!!!!


Thanks for the help

Inky

I just noticed ya wrote in about a group of danios and other fishies...one thing i have noticed is that if ya have a full school of danios they tend to have plenty of their own species to chase around. I have had a big crown tail betta male in the same tank and they haven't damaged him at all. I do not know if angels ot butterfly fishes are particularly fast movers....the reason i say this is that danios ime tend to go for movement the way a cat would. They find a guppy more interesting to check out than any that are really flashy, but this is only in my experience, so i wish ya luck.

All livebearers can change sex. It is a natural adaptation
to a fish whose babies gender can be influenced by water conditions. Thus, if water conditions cause a largely overexaggerated number of females, and males are lacking or unavailable, some females will become male.
I have though, never heard of a male becoming a female,
or reverting.
I think once the gonopodium is there, its irreversible.
I have had several adult female platys and guppies become males long long after sex differentiation. The last one that did it was a platy almost 2 years old. Had many litters of fry she did. Then when I lost the only two males to some unknown cause, over a period of 6-7 weeks she became a male, and has since sired many litters of fry.

On another note:
African Butterfly fish certainly would eat a zebra danio if it came within snapping distance. Any top swimming fish of edible size will be lost. However, just to clarify, I keep leopard danios with many long finned fish, and they are never nippy with others, only their own kind.


Also, if you want babies to survive, I would keep the adult mollies in the 46g, and when a female is close to delivery (taking on a box shape when viewed from behind),
then you could pop her in the 10g to deliver, and remove her after.
Between an Angelfish and a ABF, you wont have any fry survive in there.


Last edited by So_Very_Sneaky at 16-Dec-2005 16:29

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Thanks for the info! It was my female that turned male...
I may try and find another 10 gal somewheres, but I don't want my landlord getting mad at me for having too many tanks. What if I put the fry in the 10 g and simply moved them into the 46 g when they get big? I have a breeding net and currently 7 fry are in a 1 g tank, but I know they need more space to survive. Ugh....

Inky