I have potbellied mollies, how do I know if my girls are pregnant?

Question

The mollies I have are called "Pot bellied" and so all even the males have fat little bellies. I want to seperat the females befor they give birth but dont want to keep them in the tiny breeder tanks for long periods of time. How do I know if my girls are pregnant and when they are about to give birth? Any tell tell signs?

Answer 1

With almost any livebearer, a gravid female will develop a spot (called the gravid spot) near her vent,as this spot grows larger watch for the eyes of the developing fry. Now, when to remove the female,I'd say if you can discern eyes in the gravid spot you are a little late. Be patient,be observant,you will loose a lot of fish at first.Once you learn to save the fry,you will need to learn how to successfully rear the fry to full size. Oh yeah, be sure to have some plants in the breeding trap for the fry to hide in,(from their mother) or she will solve the second stage problem for you. Good luck,PeeTee

Answer 2

Males have gonopodium, although it may not develop until the fish is nearly a year old. females tend to be plumper than the males.
As pregnancy progresses, you may be able to see a gravid spot on the female if she is of a light color. as delivery draws near, the female may also begin hiding or hanging out by herself in plants in the tank. Fry are typically born early in the morning. Females tend to be stressed when confined in a breeding tank, so move her to a tank of her own shortly before birth or permit her to deliver in the main tank; the fry can then be netted and transferred to a rearing tank.
note: the brood size can be as many as 100, but a brood of 30-50 is more typical.

Answer 3

If you have a male in your tank, they're pregnant. There are no definite signs - these are only fish. When the gravid spot is quite dark, they're close.

Answer 4

as a vet i think that it may be hard it the dogs smock is bigger than the males than shes pragnet