Do I have to separate my pregnant black molly fish ?

Question

She has not given birth yet, I know the fish will eat the babies, but I have a bunch of plants in the tank. What are the chances of them surviving with just plants,and not seperating them.

I tried to seperate her last night and she somehow escaped from the breeding container she was in.

Answer 1

Breeding traps are next to useless (unless you are lucky) in breeding fish. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, like the fish jumping out of it...as you have seen, plus the fry swimming back up through the slot(s) in the bottom of the trap to be easy food for the mother. Plus, the mother tends to get stressed out being confined in a small area like that, and can abort the fry.

The best thing to do is catch the female when you first notice her pregnant, and transfer her to a separate breeding tank. Provide lots of free floating plants for the fry to hide in (most live bearer fry tend to go for the surface when they are born, so floating plants are much better than planted ones for them). This reduces a lot of stress on the mother as well,

In your case I would leave out the breeding trap and just go with the floating plants in your current aquarium. You can try to move her into a separate tank, but it might be too close to birth now.

In any case, good luck!

Answer 2

Alot more of the baby fish will survive if it is just them without other fish (including the parents) as long as the baby fish have something to eat (powder theflake food so that it is the right size for the baby fish to eat) if you seperate the baby fish as soon as their are born chances are all or most will survive to adutlhood. I would suggest putting the small fish in a seperate bowl or tank away from other fishes so the other fish wont jump in.

Answer 3

they will definatly be eaten straight away, when thier bellys turn black they are about to drop so ive been told, seperate it straight away until its had babie fishs,you can get plastic "nurserys" (a plastic case with loads of little holes in) they clip onto the side of the tank so you can keep the eggs in the tank but with out them being eaten,
just seperate the fish now and then put the eggs/baby fishs in the breeding tank once they come
even thier own mum will eat them so make sure no fish go near them,
good luck with the new arrivals

Answer 4

I have had that happen too!! either keep putting her back in or just take your chances. loads of plants and things on the bottom of the tank that the fry can hide in will help but you will still have some predation but with luck, some of the fry will survive to adulthood to breed even more babies.
Good luck

Answer 5

tricky fishy....she may be just waiting until she is comfortable to give birth. the babies will be able to hide in the plants but as they get older and more brave, they do risk being eaten. i recommend trying to get her back in the breeding container, or you can try to fish out the babies after they are born.

Answer 6

Frankly your females probably were already pregnant when you purchased the, if kept in the same tank as the males. The mollies will get "boxy" looking in their bodies. I think it takes around 28 days from fertilization to birth..but i could be wrong. and yes, the male is pestering the females.

Answer 7

Yep, keep her out! Once the babies are born, you need to separate her from the babies, b/c she will try to eat them too.

Answer 8

yes you do in the wild you wouldnt but in the cage they can only run so far before the others catch up with them

Answer 9

yes big fish eat little fish ever use minnows for bait when your fishing duh