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Virgin dalmation molly..pregnant?

11124 Views 7 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Bunfoo, 
B
I guess the title is a bit of an oxymoron haha.

I got some fish fry some time ago from a petsmart (they just bagged a bunch of random fry from the tank and gave 'em to me.)

From those that survived I ended with 3 male cobra guppies, 1 female dalmation molly, and one female grey molly.

The dalmation molly grew fast and quickly became pretty big. for the last month or so her belly has been absolutely huge, and recently, quite squared off. Do female's stomachs square off before birth like guppies do? If so, is it possible one of the guppies impregnated her? She's been huge and square for at least two weeks however, with nary a sign of birth. I will snap some photos in the morning, but would like opinions on it.

Is a guppy/molly hybrid possible? I know people and said many livebearers are possible to mix, but the size difference is staggering if it was one of the guppies. If they do exist, what would they look like? How long after becoming fat and square will it take until she gives birth?

Thanks!
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Geniusdudekiran
They can hold the male's sperm in them and "use" it at will, if they've been gravid before. So it is possible that your molly is not in fact a "virgin" :proud: :hihi:

Also, a guppy/molly cross is extremely possible.
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B
Alright, thanks!

She's definitely a virgin in terms of other mollies- I've had her since she was 1-2 day old fry, but I guess the guppies made quick work of her once she became breeding age. I did some googling and it seems all offspring are always male and infertile? I moved the molly into her own tank for now, and hopefully she won't have too many litters.

I do have to admit I am a little excited based on the images on google of hybrids. They are marvelous!
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B
Still fat and squared off, so that makes about 3 weeks now...
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B
4
Here are the photos, sorry, they're a bit late. She's been looking just like this for about ~3 weeks now. Is she definately pregnant, or just fat?





If yes, about how long would you guess she's due if she's been squared off for about 3 weeks? And should I move her to my guppy birthing tank? I have other female guppies in there currently due in a few days and although the tank is jam-packed with plants I'd afraid she'd decimate my guppies fry and I'm trying to breed blue cobras.

On a side note, after taking a photo of the other molly, I'm not sure that it's a molly at all, maybe you guys can help me figure out what "she" is.

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B
Bumping!

Still no babies if she is pregnant...
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D
Dunno about the ID, but google Liberty Mollie.
Many Mollies will cross, and since you got these out of a tank of 'mutts' you might have anything there.

I would not put the expectant mother in the Guppy maternity ward. Yes, she could decimate that population.

The second picture sure looks pregnant, but the first picture looks like something else. Gestation is pretty close to 1 month for most of these fish, but it can vary up to a week, especially if they are kept in cooler water.
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B
I wen ahead and tossed her into the guppy birthing tank. I've got about 70 guppy babies in a serparate tank so I guess if she eats a few it wouldn't be too bad (and the tank is very dense with floaters & rooted plants). So far she still looks the same and with no sign of babies.

all the tanks are around 79-82F. There's small fluctuations during the morning between the time the sun just rises (79F), when the sun is shining directly on it (82F) and then when it's back into non-direct sun (79F)

and thanks! I've had the other molly for the same amount of time as the dalmation, but she's maybe half the size, if that helps anyone.

This is the tank she's currently in. The guppies are all due between tonight and the 25th, give or take a few days.



not the prettiest tank but made to give babies maximum hiding space before I net them out and put them in the grow-out tanks. i'm hoping the guppies will hide well enough from her. If she doesn't have them in the next few days I'll net her back into the 20g and just assume she's just fat since she's been this way a long time.
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