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Post by cashay on Dec 14, 2008 11:24:24 GMT -5
Does this Mollie look like she is holding? or do I just haved a fat male? If it is a female that is holding I need to know if I need to seperate her from the other fish? I have been keeping my 2.5 gallon cycling, but I dont think it is quite finished yet. But I wanna be safe then sorry, any idea's? guesses? if yes or no? compared to these she is fat!
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Post by Carl on Dec 14, 2008 15:15:11 GMT -5
I cannot tell from this picture. Since she is relatively light in color, you might be able to tell from the gravid spot that female livebearers develop (you cannot see this in dark fish such as black mollies). See this female guppy picture: From this article: Aquarium Answers; Sexing FishCarl
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Post by kagome on Dec 16, 2008 15:34:18 GMT -5
If this is a pregnant female Molly then yes she needs to be separated if you want the fry to survive. Otherwise the other fish will eat the babies. The best thing to put her in is a net breeder, basically it's a cube-shaped frame covered with netting that hangs on the inside of the tank. They cost about $4 maximum and should be available at most pet stores. To get her into the net breeder you should dim the lights and carefully net her or chase her into the net breeder. You want to cause as little stress as possible because if she is stressed it can cause her to expel the babies prematurely and they won't make it. Once the babies are born they can be fed either liquid fry food or finely ground up floating flake food. Once they are big enough they can go into the tank with the adults. The only big problem is that with livebearers you will quickly be overrun with baby fish that you won't have room for. Honestly, I know this sounds terrible but a lot of people just leave the gravid female in with the regular population and let the adults eat the fry. Sometimes you can even be hard pressed to even give the young away to LFS's because they are so readily available. I wish you luck with these guys.
warmest regards, kagome
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Post by cashay on Dec 16, 2008 16:26:03 GMT -5
Well I wish I knew for sure if she/ it is.. dont even know if it is female, It is just getting fatter then the rest, fast, I don't remember her/him being that fat when I got it. But I will keep an eye on it. Dont see any spot underneath so it may not even be female, MAY be a fat male! lol But if it does get any fatter I will seperate her just for a while to see if she does have babies usually takes about 4-6 weeks right?
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Post by Carl on Dec 16, 2008 17:22:48 GMT -5
Well I wish I knew for sure if she/ it is.. dont even know if it is female, It is just getting fatter then the rest, fast, I don't remember her/him being that fat when I got it. But I will keep an eye on it. Dont see any spot underneath so it may not even be female, MAY be a fat male! lol But if it does get any fatter I will seperate her just for a while to see if she does have babies usually takes about 4-6 weeks right? You can tell the sex positively in livebearers via the anal fin, the female holds it out and the male holds it against their body.. See this picture from Aquarium Answers; Sexing FishThe general time period for gestation is 4 weeks. Carl
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 16, 2008 17:40:47 GMT -5
The male fish will have a pointed anal fin (it barely looks like a fin) and the females have one that looks more normal. Your platty may be pregnant even if you can't seem to locate a gravid spot. When I first started keeping guppies, even with descriptions, I had trouble verifying if the dark spot near my guppies' anal fins were just coloration or actually a sign that they were pregnant. If you need to, you can seperate the females from males. Good luck! Hope that helps.
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Post by murdock6701 on Dec 16, 2008 18:42:06 GMT -5
sorry Sherry for not posting earlier - never saw it til today - on the old MSN EA it didn't bury topics like this format does....sorry, anyway, you would have to pick Dalmatians! they're hard to tell - males have a more streamlined underside, a smooth curve as opposed to a pregnant female (big belly down and out to the sides as well - the gravid spot near the anus will turn brown for the most part prior to a hatch - as pointed out earlier, the males have a gonopodium, a horizontal "fin" parallel to the body, the female has the more typical anal fin of a fish - if she hides in the plants and is surrounded by the other fish, you know for sure she's having fry - I agree w/ Kagome as far as a separate birthing box, but the net ones don't separate the mama from the babies and she will eat them as well - they make a plastic live bearer birthing box w/ a removable slotted "V" shape that mama goes on top and the fry slide down the "V" into their own area - they can and will swim up sometimes and may get eaten - the net ones are targets for the other fish - they can and will attack the net to get at the fry and may kill or injure them, which is why I like the plastic ones better - have had very high success rates raising platys this way - good luck and hope you're in the right place at the right time
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Post by murdock6701 on Dec 16, 2008 21:33:13 GMT -5
just posted an update under freshwater fish profiles (w/ Carl's help of course) under platys - I know you have a mollie but hopefully some of the information will help - John
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Post by babygeige on Dec 16, 2008 22:09:36 GMT -5
It's hard to tell for sure, but in that picture, the fish sort of looks like it has a gonopodium.
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Post by kagome on Dec 17, 2008 14:39:45 GMT -5
Murdock's right about the plastic 'V' birthing separators and I don't know why I had a total brain fart and recommended the net kind. Those are good for separating fish that are getting picked on so they can heal up sometimes. I think I took too much cold medicine yesterday, I hope I didn't type anything stupid enough yesterday to offend someone. But yeah, get the "V" kind and that way mommy won't eat the babies and when she's done you can just put her back with everyone else.
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Post by cashay on Dec 17, 2008 16:14:04 GMT -5
lol see, Im confused, on the fins they all look alike to me, OK I looked at the picture in Carl's article, the pictures of the mollies which is female and which is male?
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Post by babygeige on Dec 17, 2008 17:20:48 GMT -5
Here is a great picture that shows a male and a female. The male is on the bottom. He's got a pointy gonopodium under his belly instead of a fanned anal fin like the female. www.bio.txstate.edu/~gabor/caito/f2.jpg
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Post by murdock6701 on Dec 17, 2008 17:21:49 GMT -5
cash, there is a distinct possibility you may have all the same sex fish - if you cannot visibly see a difference on any of them, you could have all males or all females.....females could have been pregnant when you purchased them - they can store sperm for up to 2 months after they are impregnated - my guess if you can't tell the difference "down there" you have all the same sex fish.....
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Post by Carl on Dec 17, 2008 18:58:15 GMT -5
cash, there is a distinct possibility you may have all the same sex fish - if you cannot visibly see a difference on any of them, you could have all males or all females.....females could have been pregnant when you purchased them - they can store sperm for up to 2 months after they are impregnated - my guess if you can't tell the difference "down there" you have all the same sex fish..... Excellent point! I second this thought Carl
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Post by murdock6701 on Dec 17, 2008 21:53:30 GMT -5
great job steph! that about takes the wonder away I would think but I bet all her fish are the same sex......they should have told her at the store where she bought them one would think....
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Post by cashay on Dec 18, 2008 8:39:16 GMT -5
Well after investigating my fish more , I have two female and the one I was asking about is the male, lol It was perfectly noticeable after I actually looked, and was told the difference was the fin, I just have a very FAT MALE... thanks for telling me differences, And thanks for the picture of the difference!
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Post by murdock6701 on Dec 18, 2008 9:46:01 GMT -5
congrats! mystery solved and you passed livebearer sex ed 101!
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 18, 2008 16:49:55 GMT -5
Good job on finding out. Just make sure he doesn't reproduce with them. Otherwise you could expect 20-50 fry or more every 3 months.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Dec 18, 2008 19:31:54 GMT -5
lol...renee is being conservative....could be way more....mmmmmmm..sushi...lol
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Post by cashay on Dec 19, 2008 7:29:24 GMT -5
Yeah I passed sex ed 101! whoo who, It was nice being able to tell the difference, WHAT GREAT TEACHERS I HAVE!!! ;D And lets hope he is sterile! lol
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