pregnant mollie

Question
hi my mollie gave birth today but unfortunately the other fish ate them,before i could get her out into the breeding tank.Should i still put her in the breeding tank or wait till she,s pregnant again.How long does she still give birth for? 1 day or longer?

Answer
Hello Martin,

She is still able to birth a month after being removed from all other fish.

In fact, a few months ago, I had a molly I got from a petstore who came with Dropsy.  My cure for that is a saltwater environment and since these are brackish water fish, I put her into a full marine aquarium.

Well, a month after that, without any males present, she birthed a litter of babies.  About 3 weeks after that, she popped out another baby.  Remember, there's no way she was impregnated.

This is the Molly's ability to provide survival when no males are present, after being bred once.  They can literally store the deposit for when their body requires it, up to a point.  After a couple months it is no longer possible.

I have six large fry and one teeny little critter. :)  They are all sisters and brothers, however.

So, my advice to you is not to worry.  If you leave her in the tank, she will be impregnated again in a few days.

In a week or so, you can take her out and put her in a breeding aquarium for the fry (set one up now) and she can birth in there.  Once she does, she will most likely not eat her fry, if she's fed on time every day.  If she's not hungry, she has no reason to eat them.  Mine were raised with the mother present.

I hope that this has been helpful.  Good luck with the Molly.  It's fun, isn't it!?

Happy fish-keeping.

Renee