Mollies Bred

Question
Greetings,
We have just had two mollies in our tank for a week now and they are both thriving - in fact we now have three little mollies swimming around our tank in addition to our two adults.  How did this happen (well, I know the obvious answer), but what is the gestation period of mollies?  Was one of these fish pregnant when I got them or did they create the "boom" after we put them in our tank?  One adult mollie is black with sliver spots and the other is silver with black spots.

The most important question is . . . Do I need to do anything special for the little ones?  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hey Bradley,
The gestation period for mollies is about a month and a half. The female was definatly pregnant before hand. She is most likely still pregnant as well. Females can store sperm in their body for up to six litters of fry, and each litter can have up to sixty or seventy babies.


Things you will need for babies if you want to raise them is either a seperate part of the tank that the adults can't get into (adults eat the babies...that is probably why there were only three) or a seperate tank for them. If you get the seperate tank, make sure it is heated and has a temperature of about 75-80 degrees farenheit. Also, don't put in a filter until they are six weeks old. another option is to just keep them in the tank with the adults and see if they make it or not. some will probably, but most won't. if this is what you want to do, consider fake plants and a rock wall. this will help shelter your fish.
food wise, you will need to have crushed up flakes in a fine powder (make the powder a little less fine as they get bigger) and other good foods are baby brine shrimp(sea monkeys). Also, "wardley liquid" fry food works well. it is in sort of a toothpaste tube and has a brown and orange label. It is good because it doesnt sink or float, but stays in sort of a cloud in the middle. this lets all of the fish see it, whether they are on the bottom or surface. What I do is put flakes on top and then put in the drops.

I hope everything goes well with your new babies! you will have more coming on the way, I can guaruntee you. Especially if the other fish is a male, then they will be breeding as well. feel free to ask questions in the future.
best wishes, chelsey