How To Tell If Molly Fish Pregnant – Molly Pregnancy Stages

A molly fish tank is often a popular pastime for fish enthusiasts, as mollies are colorful and relatively easy to care for. However, a question that frequently arises is how to tell if a molly is pregnant. Do You know “How To Tell If Molly Fish Pregnant?” Let’s find out.

Molly fish pregnancies typically last around 28 days, and several signs can indicate that your molly is pregnant.

One of the most recognizable signs is that the molly will start to swell up, similar to how a human woman might swell up during pregnancy. Additionally, molly’s colors may begin to fade as she prepares to give birth.

There are other telltale signs that can identify pregnant mollies, and even you can determine if your molly is about to give birth. Let’s learn how to identify these signs and how to take care of expecting mollies.

How do mollies reproduce?

Mollies are livebearers, meaning that the female fish can give birth to live young. The male molly will fertilize the eggs inside the female’s body, and she will then give birth to anywhere from one to 100 fry – depending on the size of the tank.

How soon can molly fish get pregnant?

The gestation period of molly fish is about 60 days. The female molly produces eggs every 30 days and fertilizes them inside to give birth to molly babies.

Fertilization to giving birth takes around 30 days. So, the total gestation period for a molly fish is approximately 60 days.

So, technically, molly fish can get pregnant again as soon as 30 days after giving birth to one batch.

How long is a molly fish pregnant?

As we said before, a molly fish get pregnant for about 60 days.

Once she gives birth, she can get pregnant again within 30 days. This is because she produces a new set of eggs in her belly during this time.

What’s interesting about mollies is that they can store sperms to fertilize future eggs. Once the female molly matures, she spawns with a male and fertilizes her already produced eggs.

The excess sperms do not die and will be stored in her body to fertilize eggs in the future.

Because of this, female mollies can continue fertilizing eggs as soon as they produce new eggs. So, even without the company of a male fish, female molly can give birth to new fish fry for about 6 to 12 months.

As a result, your female molly will stay pregnant for about 60 days, and she can get pregnant again within 30 days of giving birth.

Molly Pregnancy Stages

To better understand how mollies get pregnant and how they give birth, we can split molly’s pregnancy into five stages.

• Conception
• Embryo Formation
• Development of Fry
• Getting Ready to Give Birth
• Birthing Molly Fries

Conception

The female molly produces eggs and fertilizes them at the conception stage. She can fertilize the eggs in two ways. 

1. By spawning with a male and
2. By using already stored sperms from a male molly

It takes around a month for the female molly to produce the eggs and about a day to fertilize them.

Embryo Formation

Fertilized eggs are used for creating life. After fertilization, an embryo begins to form in each of the egg cells, and you can see this happening by observing what’s called “the gravid spot.” This usually shows up around seven days after conception.

Development of Fry

The embryos will keep growing and dividing until there are about 100 of them. This happens around days 18 to 25 after conception.

Getting Ready to Give Birth

At this point, the fries are getting ready to be born. The female molly starts to swell up, and her colors begin to fade. This usually happens around days 28 to 32 after conception.

Birthing Molly Fries

The fry is born within a few hours to a day after the female shows signs of giving birth. The fries are usually born blind and without any scales. They will also be less than 1/2 inch long. 

You must be able to identify the different stages of a molly fish’s pregnancy so you can provide the best care for her and her fry. The following section will go over the signs that a molly is about to give birth.

If you can spot these signs and behavior changes early on, you can prepare a tank and be ready for the new fry.

How can you tell if molly is pregnant?

A pregnant molly will usually show both physical signs and behavioral signs. The signs become apparent when she is about to give birth.

Pregnant molly fish physical signs 

• Swelling of the body – This usually happens a few hours to a day before the fries are born.
• Loss of color – The molly’s colors will start to fade, and she will become paler.
• Darker gravid spot – The gravid spot will become darker and more noticeable.

Pregnant molly fish behavior

Pregnant mollies show several behavioral changes, such as.

Aggressive Behaviour – Pregnant mollies are more aggressive than non-pregnant mollies. They don’t actively attack other fish, but they show aggressive behavior when bothered. Further pregnant mollies try to avoid other fish as much as possible.

Increased appetite – Pregnant mollies usually have an increased appetite and will eat more than usual. This is because they have to provide nutrition to their babies in the belly.

Seek warmth – A pregnant molly will often go near the heating system or temperature stabilizer to seek warmth. The molly is looking for a stable environment to give birth as it is pregnant.

What do you do with a pregnant molly?

When you observe your female molly’s above signs and behavior, you can be sure that your molly is pregnant.

What do you do with a pregnant molly? It depends on what you want to do with the fish fry. If you’re going to keep the molly fry and raise them, you will have to move the pregnant molly into a breeding tank.

If a separate tank is not an option, you can use a breeding trap and move your pregnant molly when she is about to give birth.

The reason for doing this is that mollies tend to eat their own fry, mistaking for food. To avoid this, we have to move the pregnant molly from the main tank.

Once the mother has given birth to all her fry, you should move her back to the main tank as she may also eat the fries.

If you don’t want to raise the fries and want to get rid of them, you don’t have to do anything as nature will take care of the rest. Since mollies practice cannibalism, they will eventually eat all the fries.

How much should a pregnant molly eat?

A pregnant molly should eat more than other mollies to provide enough nutrition to her fry. You can give her a high protein diet rich in vitamins.

If you are used to feeding your fish twice a day, you will have to increase the feedings to three times per day to make sure the pregnant molly gets enough to eat.

However, keep the old rule in mind. Feed no more than your molly can consume in 3 to 5 minutes per meal.

Do molly fish eat their babies?

Yes. While it can be heartbreaking to see, mollies do eat their fry.

This happens because the fry looks like food to the adult mollies. This is why some people choose to move the pregnant molly into a separate tank to avoid this from happening.

How do you know when a Molly is about to give birth?

Pregnant mollies become more noticeable when they are about to give birth. Their appearance and behavior significantly change when they are about to give birth. You can expect the following changes.

• Swelling of the body – This usually happens a few hours to a day before the fries are born. Specifically, the area under their gills will become rounder than before. This is a sign that your molly has come to full term.
• More visible gravid spot – The triangle spot near the anal fin becomes more prominent and darker when the molly is about to give birth. It will become more visible than before.
• Fry’s eyes are visible inside the belly – If you observe the stomach of the pregnant molly, you can distinguish the eyes of baby mollies inside the mother’s womb. They will look like black dots that move around the belly.
• Pregnant molly fish tries to hide in the tank – Pregnant mollies will try to avoid other fish and hide in the tank. This is because they are uncomfortable with their body’s changes and don’t want to be bothered.
• They don’t eat – Pregnant mollies stop eating when they are about to give birth. This is because they don’t want to waste any energy and resources that can be used to provide for their fry.

Once you observe these changes, it is time to prepare for the fry’s arrival. If you want to save the fries, you have to move the pregnant molly into a separate tank as soon as possible.

Ensure that the breeding tank is prepared to provide a comfortable environment for the pregnant molly.

The breeding tank should have plenty of hiding places such as rocks, caves, and plants such as java moss, java fern, and Christmas moss.

Keep a sponge filter in the tank to help keep the water clean. The temperature of the tank should be around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you are not going to save the fry, you don’t have to do anything as the fry will be born and die within a day. The mother and other adults will eat all of them.

Molly fry care

Now that you have decided to save your molly babies and keep the pregnant molly in a separate container, you will need to know how to care for the babies.

First of all, remove the mother fish soon after giving birth. Otherwise, she will eat her own fry.

You should feed your fries multiple times a day with high-quality fish food such as brine shrimp, daphnia, and cyclops. You can also give them crushed flake food or micro pellets.

The fry should be kept in a tank with a filter and heater. The water temperature should be around 78F to 80 F. You must use a sponge filter as other types of filters can suck the fish fry.

Fill the tank with some live plants to give the fry some places to hide. You can also add some small rocks and caves.

The fry will grow and become more independent at around 4 to 6 weeks old. At this point, you can move your fish babies to a community tank.

What can I do with unwanted molly fry?

If you have already raised the molly fries, you can sell them away or give them away to friends.

You can also put the fries into a fish pond. Just make sure that the pond has enough food and shelter for the fry to survive.

If you don’t want to do anything with them, you can always euthanize them. This can be done by adding clove oil to the fry’s water. The clove oil will make them unconscious, and they will eventually die within about 10 minutes.

If you don’t want to do any of those, you can always place them back to the main fish tank before they grow up. The adult fish in the tank will most likely eat them.

Conclusion

Molly’s pregnancy can be easily identified by changes in their behavior and body. The most common sign of molly pregnancy is the enlargement of the abdomen.

If you observe these changes, it is time to prepare for the fry’s arrival. If you want to raise the fries, you have to separate them from the main tank as soon as possible and keep them in a comfortable environment to live in.

The fry will grow and become more independent at around 4 to 6 weeks old. At this point, you can move your fish babies to a community tank. 

Read Next : 
Do Molly Fish Eat Their Babies? ( Unfortunately, Yes )
Does Molly Fish Give Birth All At Once? ( Surprising Answer )

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