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All Mollies are the same species, so all the various colors and shapes of Mollies are the same species, and any female can breed with any male. For example a Gold Sail Fin Male
Molly can breed with a Dalmatian Pot Belly Female Molly, even though their shapes and colors are very different.
Almost all female Mollies are pregnant. The females are usually plumper than males,
and you can determine the gender of Mollies by the shape of their anal fins. Click here for more information about how to
determine the gender of Mollies.
Mollies are livebearers, which means the female Mollies do not lay eggs, like most
female fish, but release live baby fish.
Here is a list of conditions that will help your female Molly produce babies.
1. Mollies do not do well in fish bowls and small aquariums. They need an
aquarium with at least 15 gallons of water and 29 gallons is much better. Be sure the aquarium has good water. Click here for more about good aquarium
water.
2. Mollies like warm water at about 78 to 82 degrees F. So your aquarium
should have an Aquarium Heater. Click here for more about Aquarium Heaters and Thermometers.
3. Add one Tablespoon of Aquarium Salt per each five gallons of aquarium
water. So for example, add 3 Tablespoons of Aquarium Salt to a 15-gallon aquarium and 6 Tablespoons to a 29-gallon aquarium. Click here for more information
about Aquarium Salt.
4. Feed your female Molly lots of good food including floating
flake food and freeze dried blood worms. If you can obtain live or frozen brine shrimp, feed her a few of them each day. If you can get live Black Worms, feed her about three live Black Worms
each day. Click here for more about live Black Worms. Click here for more about Feeding Fish.
5.
Change 20% of the water in her aquarium each day. Click here for more about changing water in aquariums.
6. Be sure your female Mollie is not being stressed by other fish, such as being
chased and annoyed by a male or several male Mollies. Remove the males or be sure there are lots of female Mollies and just a few male Mollies.
With all of these conditions most
female Mollies will release babies about once a month. Female Mollies can deliver several batches of babies without a male in the aquarium. So once your female Molly is pregnant, you don't
really need a male Molly for several months, and male Mollies will often annoy female Mollies. Click here to
see the types of Mollies for sale at this web site.
If you want to have a few baby Mollies, get two or three plump female Mollies. If you want to have lots of baby Mollies, get
at least three male Mollies and about twice as many female Mollies. Each adult Molly will need about 3 to 5 gallons of water. So 8 adult Mollies will need an aquarium with about 24 to 40 gallons
of water.
How can you tell when your female will release babies? That is very difficult to describe, but you can
learn by watching your females, and after they have released babies a few times, you will be able to recognize the change in a female's appearance a few days before she releases babies.
When your female Molly is big and looks like she’s about to release babies, gently move her to
another aquarium or put her in a contraption to protect her babies, so they will not be eaten by larger fish. |
