mollie gestation

Question
How will I know when to separate my pregnant mollie from the other's...Will she display any signs when she is ready to deliver??? and do I need to do anything to help her???

Answer
Hi Natalie,
Actually, sometimes its really best to allow the pregnant molly to have her babies in the main aquarium. Because moving her when she is already heavy pregnant can cause still-borns and stress her. Surprisingly, many times mollies will peacefully coexist with their fry and won't be interested in eating them as long as they are getting well-fed. Providing some plant cover always helps too.

But otherwise, if you are seriously intent on keeping the baby fish safe. I'd move the molly into a small aquarium of her own (like a 2 - 10 gallon) instead of those panic-inducing breeding traps. If your fish is calmer than most mollies, however, the breeding traps would be OK. But I've seen many many pregnant mollies go into extreme panic when they feel exposed and trapped. But your individual fish may be different and some plants floated around the trap may help comfort her.

Most mollies display signs that they are about to deliver in the form of hiding away from the others, swimming slower than normal and they may sit near the bottom of the tank her belly will also be at "bursting point" and almost look "squared". You might want to catch her at the very first signs of this when she is large and the most important thing is the try to reduce as much stress on her as possible.

Most of the time, births occur during the night or early morning hours.

I do hope this helps and best of luck!

Karen~