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pregnant dalmatian molly

21K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Radiant1 
#1 ·
i have a pregnant dalmation molly, i'm VERY new to the whole aquatic world. how do i do this? i've read to seperate her from the other fish, and when the babies are born seperate them, but i'm not sure what to buy.

we have a 20 gallon tank with her, 4 platties and 2 fancy goldfish.

i also included a picture of her, if anyone can tell me if she really is pregnant
 

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#2 ·
Well first off if she is pregnant she's not very far along. She doesn't look it in my opinion, from what I've seen females always tend to have more of a belly than the males. If she does end up being pregnant don't seperate her just place floating plants either fake or real in the tank and wait for the babies, some will get eaten but thats one of the ways to keep the strain strong and not to get over burdened.

Secondly, you really shouldn't be keeping mollies and goldfish together. Goldfish do not need heathers like mollies do. Two goldfish would also probably be happier in a 30 gallon I think, though don't quote me on that because I'm not a goldfish expert when it comes to size. IF you are worried about sizes of tanks wait for someone more knowledgeable to reply.
 
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#4 ·
Well usually you only use heaters for goldfish if you are stabilizing their temperature. You can use it, it just isn't recommended unless it's set lower. Now I'm not sure about the actual pairing, it depends on your kind of goldfish some goldfish can be domineering and I know that mollies can be too. The heater situation will probably be ok.

Back to the pregnancy, do you know if you have any males in your molly group?

PS Never trust lfs usually they don't know what they are talking about. XD always come on here and ask, now that you've found us that is.
 
#6 ·
Ah then if you do get babies just make sure you put some plants in for them, if you want to save all of them, you could seperate them by putting her in a different aquarium but don't get a breeder net/box. It's very stressful for the mama. I would do the plants, its less expensive. When and if you do get fry just feed them some crushed up fish food flakes, they will stick near the plants (if you decide to go that route) or near the top of the tank.

I do hope you get some if that's what you want, they are so amazing to watch grow up (I have a platy baby right now) they grow fast though. If you have any other questions don't forget we are here to help ^^ and also remember to tell us if you can when your babies are born.
 
#7 ·
Those LFS employees only want to make a sale. I do not trust them in advice at all. I'm glad that you found this forum as evryone is so nice and helpful. It's the only forum that I belong to. I dropped all the other ones as they were not helpful and as organized like this forum.

The Mollies and Goldfish are real waste producers so you must be up on water changes and have a good filter. I good rule is to get a filter that is made for a bigger tank. I had a 55 gal. tank but had a filter for a 75 gal. tank on it. It would be good to get a filter made for a 30-40 gal. tank size for your 20 gal. tank. It is also good to get a bio-filter instead of a reg type one.

Goldfish should not be mixed in with tropical fish. The molly even without males in the tank can be pregnate if they came from a mixed sex tank. They can have babies every 4-6 months every 28-30 days. You can not save all the babies as you will be overloaded in no time. Lots of plants at all levels will save some of the babies but the goldfish may eat them. You can always get the baby fish out and keep them in another tank of 2-3 gal. with a heater.Walmart sells cheap small tanks. They also carry preset heaters for 2-5 gal. tanks cheap.

If you recently bought the Goldfish and want to keep the tropical fish take the Goldfish back to the store and get your money back for them. Most pet store have a return policy that is good for so many days. The store employee should not have sold you Goldfish with the tropicals to put in the same tank. If the mollies came form a mixed tank the females are most likely pregnate and you will not need the male mollies you got. You can get a catfish for the bottom of the tank or some tetras in a small school of 4 to mix in with your mollies to make a nice community tank instead of just having mollies or one kind of fish.

Hope you cycled your tank before adding all those fish also. If not you will need to do water changes to keep the ammonia, nitrate,nitrite down while the new tank cycles to prevent death of your fish. You can check cycling of your tank on this forum for advice under the serch section.

Welcome to this forum.
 
#10 ·
Pregnant Dalmatian Molly

I have one Dalmatian Molly and it seemed pregnant and claimed a corner so i took an ice pick and put some holes in a Hillshire farm container and put a suction cup on the side put the molly in. and i am waiting for something. I have no clue whether it will just start birthing fries or just sit there. what should i do. :shock:
 
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