possibly pregnant molly

Question
i have a 10 gal. tank with 4 Mollies (1 male, 3 female). i just got them today. one of them is alot fatter than the others and the pet store guy said she was very pregnant and could have babies any day. we bought a 3 way breeder and put her in, but she seems agitated. she swims around alot and looks like she's breathing hard. i gave her some food, but she hasn't eaten any of it today. is this normal? i looked at pictures of pregnant Mollies, and she doesn't look as fat as them, so I'm not sure if she's really ready to drop fry today, but she won't eat and i think the breeder stresses her. should i take her out? or leave her in? should i get her another type of food that might encourage her to eat? what should i do?

Answer
Hi Amanda;

I would let her out into the main tank and put lots of live plants for her to hide in. Being moved to her new home is a lot of stress. The confines of the little box is stressing her out more at this point. Once she is more comfortable and feeling less stressed she will begin eating again. Too much stress can cause her to deliver early. Even if the babies are born before you can isolate her, she will have more in another few weeks. To tell if she is nearly ready, look at the bottom and sides of her belly. It will develop a "boxy" look. Each side and the bottom will get flattish. It is usually about 4 or 5 days by then.

If your tank is newly set up you have another problem to face I'm afraid. Your tank's biological filtration is just not mature enough to have so many fish in it yet. You will need to test the water for the presence of ammonia and nitrite and make water changes to keep the water safe for your fish. Here is a link to my page on new tanks to tell you what you can do to help them through it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

I hope they do okay...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins