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I have 2 pregnant mollies I bought yesterday and the assistant at the fish store said both are ready to give birth.Both are in seperate breeding nets.1 of them is so fat she'll sink to the bottom, it's funny.This is my first time having pregnant fish.So i'd like to know when they'll give birth?(ive heard some fish give birth in the morning ect ect)And how do I know theyre about to give birth?(do they have some sort of behavioral ritual?)

Hobby Experience: Parents breed discus,I got my 1st frewshwater tank 6 months ago.
Current Tanks: I have 3 goldfish,4 tiger barbs(2 male 2 female) and 2 mollies(female)
Interests: freshwater fish

Basically it comes down to this. THey will give birth when they feel comfortable and ready. i could be days, it could still be a couple of weeks. And she could do it over night!~ you jsut dont really have any sure fire way to tell unless you see a baby comin out before your eyes!!!! I hope this is of some info for you.

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

actually there is a way you can spur them to have their fry, you can do this by raising the tank temperature a few degrees.
also alot of mollies refuse to eat when close to giving birth, however since you just bought the fish, i would imagine you havent observed their normal behavior rituals. pretty much, once they start having fry, they wont finish until about 9 hours later (so im told) IMO its only taken a few hours. just be careful as the adult mollies and tankmates will eat the young.

also giving birth is a very stressful thing for all animals, so i would leave the tank lights off for a few days just to make sure they are comfortable. which brings me to my next point:

the mother mollies can also choose to hold in the fry if they are frightened or stressed out.. this can cause death in the fish, so try not to move them around too much.


hope that provides you with some info!

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

Accidently deleted my post....


I wouldn't recommend keeping them in the breeder nets. As mentioned before, they could give birth, tonight, in a couple days, or next week. You can't always trust the LFS man. Many times they are uneducated, and by 'ready to pop' he probably is saying that as something like 2 weeks or so. It's easy to make a sale like that, and that could quite possibly be what the seller tried.

EDIT: The reason i recommend taking them out is because it causes alot of stress which is negative to the fishes health. As for the temperature raising thing, I wouldn't recommend it. If it's near birth, just wait a couple days more. If it's far from it, there's no point.

IMO, almost anytime you buy a mature female live bearer from a mixed sex tank there is about 90% chance shell give birth soon. It is usually quite easy to tell when a female is pregnent.....their belly usually gets rounder Anyway, I think you should leave them out of the nets as well. I've tried nets once and it just caused a lot of stress on my fish. With mollies, you will have fry at least once a month and you can easily scoop them out of the tank. Another option is to get a bare 5-10g (depending on your mollies size) and have them give birth in there, and afterwards put them back into the community tank. Also, Im not trying to be rude, but do you have the 3goldies, 4 barbs, and the 2 mollies in the same tank?

Inky