3 questions in one

[Kovarr]

Ok, here's the deal. I used to have black Mollies when I was little, and they bred all the time. The babies were eaten, but at the time we didn't know that! I read in another post that the mother will "care for" the babies? Is this true, or am I better off seperating the babies?
Second question, I -think- my large black female is pregnant. I'm not sure yet, but she's looking a little bigger to me. How do I take care of her from here on? Someone told me I should feed her bloodworms when she starts delivering the babies. Is this true? It seems a bit odd to me, but then I'm not a fish. And roughly how long does it take for her to start giving birth? (guess this actually has four questions! :angel5: )
Lastly, has anyone heard of a marbilized molly? I have a female that is called "Marbelized". Her head is silvery, and the pattern continues back towards her tail, but grows less as it goes. I don't think it's a sickness, I've seen several in the tank like it, and she certainly seems healthy enough. Oh, and would these Marbelized Mollies be able to breed with Black Mollies? If so there's a good chance my silvery female is also pregnant.

[MONAMLU]

YOU SHOULD SEPARATE THE YOUNG...PUT THEM IN ONE OF THOSE NET PENS YOU CAN LEAVE IN THE TANK TO PREVENT THEM FROM GETTING EATEN.
I HAVE ALSO SEEN THE MARBLE MOLLIES. THEY ARE COOL! BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THEY CAN MATE WITH THE BLACK ONES. GOOD LUCK! TELL US IF SHE'S PREGGERS AND ALSO WHAT THE FRY LOOK LIKE!

[loonyeuny]

Something else you can try is to get some breeder grass from the pet store. You put that in the bottem of the tank and when the babies are born they swim down and live there till they are to big to be lunch. The adults however are too big to get under the grass to eat the babies so they leave them alone.

Have fun with it, We used breed guppies till ended up with over 50 and we had started out with 5 3females and 2males. :-)

Eunice :angel6:

[Jeni]

Definately separate the babies. The odd fish won't eat her babies, but that is the exception, not the rule.

If the female is indeed pregnant, she will grow large enough so that there will be no mistaking it. With lighter females you can see a spot just behind her anal fin which grows larger as her pregnancy progresses. The average gestation for mollies is 30 days. If you put her into a birthing box/net wait until she starts giving birth. As you get to know her better, you will be able to predict when she will give birth, but for now, wait until she starts birthing.

Marble mollies are cute, and they are natural. they are usually a cross between two colours of mollies. She most likely is pregnant, unless she is sterile.

Mollies cross-breed very easily. The hard part is getting them to stop.

[Cate]

When our mollies bred, we initially tried a net pen, but it didn't work out very well (can't remember why). Finally, someone suggested a well washed plastic scrub thing. You know the ones used for scouring pans? They're kind of a thick mesh. They float, and the babies can hide in it but no one else can get in there. By the time they're too big to hide in the mesh, they're pretty much too big to be eaten. It worked pretty well.
Cate