# Does She Look Guilty ?



## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Okay. It wasn't that long ago that this Molly (Wiggles) came to us pregnant because she had a bunch of fry and now she is looking really fat again. She is in with one female guppy and one female platy. There is no way either of them are male, so if she is pregnant how could that have happened? Does she look guilty as charged or am I just paranoid? I seriously do not want to deal with fry again ...

*Note this is only the second thread I have ever made here so if it ends up on Mars please move it.


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## collinskev (Feb 20, 2016)

LittleStar said:


> Okay. It wasn't that long ago that this Molly (Wiggles) came to us pregnant because she had a bunch of fry and now she is looking really fat again. She is in with one female guppy and one female platy. There is no way either of them are male, so if she is pregnant how could that have happened? Does she look guilty as charged or am I just paranoid? I seriously do not want to deal with fry again ...
> 
> *Note this is only the second thread I have ever made here so if it ends up on Mars please move it.


I have read that the female fish can "hang onto" the male sperm for a long time, so that might explain it if she is pregnant again. I have never had Mollies before, so couldn't tell you if it is pregnant or just putting on a few pounds, but there's your explanation if she is pregnant.

Also, as far as dealing with fry, have you considered another fish that might eat them? It seems terrible, but keeping a predatory fish with live bearers isn't unheard of.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Oh my GA-AW-D she better not have done this to me AGAIN!

I just so totally do not want to deal with this at all.

I'm afraid to put anything aggressive in any of my aquariums let alone with a bunch of chicks. And these are already maxed out 5.5G aquariums with either 2 or 3 occupants.

Pray for me!!


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## collinskev (Feb 20, 2016)

LittleStar said:


> Oh my GA-AW-D she better not have done this to me AGAIN!
> 
> I just so totally do not want to deal with this at all.
> 
> ...


Haha, I will :lol: . But I know that my JD is always in the mood for a snack :twisted:


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

This won't make you feel better: I don't know about guilty but she sure looks cute! i don't like taking fish back to the petstore but I guess they just as much chance there as in a 5 gallon. See any fish stores will take the babies if she has any. Jack's and Petco sometimes takes fish in.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

TY I went through this with her already once and the pet stores here would not even consider taking any fry. The first time around only three fry survived and I ended up rehoming those but it was a real pain to get it done and I essentially paid for aquariums at various friends houses and begged to get them moved. I am all out of peeps who will take fry now... I am truly praying she did not do this to me again.

And thank you for the cute comment yes she is so sweet, thinking maybe more than one fish mated with her before we got her at Petco... and I had no idea at the time that fish can hold "it" and become pregnant multiple times from that??? You've got to be joking now! AAHHHH

I really prefer females because they get along with each other so well in small aquariums but this is one major down side to getting girls!


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Maybe should go ahead and get at least a 20 long and rehome any males.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Yeah? Where do you live? LOL
I will ship for FREE! 

I'm still in denial... there has to be hope. She must just be fat....

I have ten gallon I've used for this the first time around and all the components at the ready. It's all clean and dry but I really do not want to go down this road before it was a huge problem just rehoming three.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Today she doesn't seem as fat! My denial is going strong!


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Live bearers are pretty but I have avoided getting them because I can't bear to let them get eaten (babies)and I don't want an overpopulation problem.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

I managed to go years without bringing home a pregnant female anything. This Molly for some reason is my first major issue with unexpected fry. I'm also super squeamish about seeing babies getting eaten and the first time around I managed to save a few but then didn't know what to do with them. I ended up rehoming but it cost me, a lot. I have one friend I managed to convince to think of taking one miserable fry off my hands but outside of that I am out of options. 

If she is pregnant there will be two choices:
1. Put them into the ten gallon fry tank again, let them grow, keep a few, rehome the rest. This means I am going to go from 3 tanks in the house to 4.
2. Let the fish eat the fry and whoever makes it, keep/rehome.

For me unfortunately - number two just really isn't an option.
So I guess I know where I will be. In Hades.

Thanks a lot WIGGLES!!
Seriously I am praying daily.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Welp, one week later and she isn't getting any bigger. I am really starting to think she may actually have just gained weight since she had her first round of fry. Not out of the woods but more hopeful today than last week!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

732PM Thursday March 10.

The first Fry is born.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

So she was in with 1 Female Guppy and 1 Female Platy. I moved the G and P to individual fish bowls using some of my original tank water. I figured they can manage for at least a couple hours that way and they seem fine on the coffee table at present.

Mama is inside the swan with three moss balls. She has had at least 20 babies and I lost count. She isn't trying to eat them, if she ate any I didn't see it. She is starving so I gave her some fish flake and then she went back into the swan. She has the 5.5 gallon tank to herself and isn't at all stressed. 

When she is done having her babies I plan to let the other two ladies return. I can only imagine a feast of all feasts will begin. 

I have no way to take care of this many fry and none of my friends wants any more I already unloaded on them once. 

I may may MAY keep one. Or two. There are a couple that are primarily black that are so very cute. 

I have the ten gallon equipment and plenty of Betta Water (prepared fish water) on stock but its going to take a few hours to get it all ready.

Outside of that I want to throw up. And cry.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> I have read that the female fish can "hang onto" the male sperm for a long time


A female Live bearer can become pregnant for up to 6 months after just one contact with a male.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

I'm trying not to feel sorry for myself but right now its not working very well.

I am grateful its night, I can turn off the light and just see what it looks like by daybreak.

When she's done that is. She is still having babies.

And I am about to make a Long Island Ice Tea.

I got away without having this issue for years but I guess my number was up.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*No More Females For Me*

Well. I hope the forum will go easy on me. It was a rough night. At the end of the day I had to go with my instinct on what my family can handle and on what I felt was best for my original fish. I will outline this disaster:
1. Brought home a female Molly (Wiggles) from PetCo a while back. She turned out to be pregnant and on round 1 I rehomed the surviving fry to my friends.
2. She has been living in my office at home in a 5.5G with a female guppy and a female platy. Everything was going great.
3. She turned out to be pregnant AGAIN which was a shock to say the least.
4. There is no way the Platy or Guppy are male, so apparently she had been holding on to residual sperm.
5. Last night she began having babies. I have two other 5.5G aquariums in the home because I love fish and I like to see them in my main rooms. But its enough, I can't do another aquarium. I'm certain about that. Also my friends won't take any more fry and none of the LFS here will take any.
6. I moved the guppy and platy into individual fish bowls and put them on the coffee table while Molly was having her babies alone in the 5.5G. I began drinking. I contemplated setting up the 10G as I had the supplies to do it.
7. By midnight she had approximately 40 babies. I thought it was never going to end.
8. I contemplated putting the females back in the aquarium and letting them eat the fry but soon came to the realization it was going to be too traumatic for me to watch, I didn't want Molly to watch, I didn't want to see the other female fish with their bellies full of fry and I didn't want the behavior towards each other to change to aggressive because of the feeding frenzy. 
9. I knew I had to do something.
10. I moved the Molly out of the tank into a fish bowl and put her next to the other two females on the coffee table.
11. I netted out all of the fry, and euthanized them in a glass of white wine. It was over in less than three minutes. I washed the glass out in my kitchen sink.
12. I cleaned out the aquarium, freshened the water, and returned the three females to their original home. They all looked clueless as to what had happened.
13. I turned the light off and went to bed.
14. I bawled my eyes out.

So I wanted to post this in honesty of what the situation can be like if you bring home just one pregnant livebearing female fish. If you can't rehome them and can't keep them yourself then you really need to think good and hard before buying that one fish to begin with. I went years without having this issue but the nightmare I experienced last night has cured me FOREVER of having another female fish. I'm very happy with the ones I have, but this is it for me.

And to Wiggles: It's not your fault the MALE FISH could not keep their fins to themselves!

Tank 1: Girl Betta, Male Platy
Tank 2: Girl Molly, Male Platy
Tank 3: Mama Molly Wiggles, Fem Platy, Fem Guppy

No more.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*I Take That Back*

Update 2pm Friday

Either I missed a few, or she had more. There are 4 that I know of alive. 

I couldn't bare to go through what happened last night again and this is a number that so far I feel like I can manage - somehow.

So today I set up the 10G and put Wiggles and her remaining fry in it. I put all of the tank water and the media from the 5G into the 10G and filled the rest with prepared fish water (eLive). The Guppy and Platy now share the original 5G alone with a sponge filter and a brand new fish-n-cycle going although I did leave in one of the sponges for them. I hit it up with Stability by Seachem.

What a hot mess. 

Tank 1: Girl Betta, Male Platy
Tank 2: Girl Molly, Male Platy
Tank 3 Cyling: Fem Platy, Fem Guppy
Tank 4: Wiggles and her babies

She is a champion fry layer, that is for sure. And one of them is a big black one that is about twice the size of the others.


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## Shidohari (Sep 21, 2008)

Wow no wonder you have not been on much lately. Kind of wondering if i should get a female betta or a male betta in my tank after this. 

I am glad you kept the last four. Hopefully you can find homes for them or separate them into their own tanks by gender once they get older.

Best of luck to you.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*I Got 4*

Looks like 4.
1. Primarily black
2. dalmation black/white
3. multi red/black/white (shown in pic)
4. primarily white

Wiggles is looking for her tank mates and I feel bad that she can't be with them. I'm thinking of rearranging the situation but not sure what to do yet.

I'm tired.

But I feel okay today - I know I can manage these should they make it, and I haven't given up hope of rehoming at least one of them.

Hard to photograph right now but wanted to put a nice closure on this mini-journal.

Thank you for giving me a place to implode!


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Oof, I'd take some if shipping wasn't so f**king expensive.


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## Shidohari (Sep 21, 2008)

If shipping wasn't expensive and i could house one properly (which i can't as my community tank is 91% stocked at minimum based on aqadvisor's estimations) I would love one, they sound so pretty.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Thanks for the encouraging words, I have no experience shipping fish and wouldn't dream of trying it. I'd sooner buy you a round trip train ticket lol


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Haha, you'd have to build a bridge first. >3


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## Shidohari (Sep 21, 2008)

Maybe she could swim to you?


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Nah, just gotta ride the fish to me. That'd be fun.


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## Shidohari (Sep 21, 2008)

that would be a interesting vid if that happened lol


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*Ending on a Positive Note*

Well so far so good. She is a gentle and attentive mommy. She doesn't even peck at the babies. They're in a 10G long at present. It was like doing a 50% water change since I used everything I had from the original 5G which was well cycled. My parameters are great. I have no idea how this will pan out but I'm glad I decided to split it up so that we could keep some fry, and I'm excited to see how they develop. All's well that ends well, hopefully!

My daughter made the fish nursery-theme paper for the background.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

That's so cute! I love her painting for the baby fish.



Shidohari said:


> Wow no wonder you have not been on much lately. Kind of wondering if i should get a female betta or a male betta in my tank after this.
> 
> I am glad you kept the last four. Hopefully you can find homes for them or separate them into their own tanks by gender once they get older.
> 
> Best of luck to you.


Female betta splendens aren't live bearers, so you don't have to worry about pregnancy. You can get whatever fish clicks with you!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Thank you! It's been easy going so far, my only goal at the moment is keeping their water stable and making sure they are eating. We'll see where we are in a couple of weeks!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*Starting Week 2*

Alrighty well its been one week, and I know I didn't miscount so she must have had at least two on day two of this fiasco because presently there are six babies, two of them are much smaller than the others which in one weeks time have doubled in size.

I have a friend who will take the all black one in the event it is male, and I'm hoping its female because I really want that one. Besides that I have not had any takers from friends for any of the other fry. They are still all in the 10G Long with Wiggles (mama) and they are eating what she eats, along with fry food called "First Bites" which is a dust like powder that stays on the surface and they are all sharing that mama included. Wiggles is fat(ter) again but it has to be from the food, right!?!

It's weird because some of them seem to have a rounded belly like Wiggles and others don't look like mama at all. Is that possible?


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Some of them almost look like guppies to me! Maybe they aren't eating as much as the others.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Oh I never thought of that, but a Molly can't breed with a guppy, can she?
Oh my gosh yeah I'm reading online now and apparently at least one breeder says they successfully mated and he has the offspring pics and they look like my fry! Its on another forum so I can't post the image but that's pretty wild!

I NEVER would have guessed that the father could have been anything other than another Molly but I am very excited to see what turns out now! So funny!

Says: Guppies are Poecilia Reticulata and Mollies are Poecilia Sphenops, the Sailfin Molly is Poecilia Latipinna. ALSO it says Molly can breed with Endlers!

Says: Guppies and mollies can interbreed, with the offspring being called muppies!
LOL
Another person says they prefer GOLLY if the mother is a Molly
and Muppy if the mother is a Guppy


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Oooh!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*Golly, Muppies!*

Here is the one that is almost all black. It has a tiny bit of white on it and looks like a little red. It is totally streamlined compared to the others and bigger and stronger than the rest. I have a standard hang on the back filter running in this 10G and this fry is the only one that prefers to get up in the current. I can't tell what the sex is but I'm guessing male.

Is this a MUPPY?!

Is it possible that some can look like Wiggles and others like the father or do they all turn out the same with fry?


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Hate to tell you; but from here it looks like a guy. Not 100% sure, but still.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Yeah that would be my luck. But right now I'm so excited I may opt to keep all and change up my aquariums. I am looking at all of them closely with reader glasses on and with some magnification they all look like they have that rounded fan shaped tail and not the type of tail Wiggles has. They all look the same except some have more rounded bellies but none of them look like a balloon Molly to me now. May just be my excitement but I do believe these are Muppies! That is pretty rare right? That is wicked cool!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Here is a video I just found of guppy/molly fry and it sure looks like mine especially the eyes. https://youtu.be/iy0qBBXDY3U

They almost look like little puffer fish!

Thank youuuuu Sadist for pointing this out, I had no idea this was even possible. I really want to keep these and hope Wiggles will stooooop now and not have a new surprise for me in thirty days!

And here is a cute kid explaining the sexes and she says the bigger ones are females!
https://youtu.be/WydEHbxFkqo


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I would have never have thought that these breeds could cross at all. They don't even look remotely alike. I was looking at pictures of some of the crosses some but not all of them are really pretty. You might get some takers for muppies (I like that name) on the marketplace.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I didn't know they could cross breed, either! I suppose they might still grow up to be mollies but not ballooon ones? Time will tell.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

They look just like these Muppies:
https://youtu.be/iy0qBBXDY3U

I haven't been able to find a pic or video of Muppies full grown though.

This forum has discussed them in the past I just found this:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/livebearers/what-muppy-66900/


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*Feeding Time*

I don't know if something like this is already available on the market but I devised a feeding house for the fry. I used a hard plastic cup, took a lighter and melted 5 little smooth doorways into the edges, and one entry through the top (inverted). I weighted the cup down with a crystal rock, and inside is a crystal dish so food doesn't "travel". Now they can go in and out and eat when they want. I put one all purpose pellet in there in the morning and in the afternoon one bit of algae wafer. They still get their "first bites" fry "dust" in the morning, but its a big difference because Wiggles can't get at their pellet food any more and I no longer have to worry about it. She is a non-stop grazer, pecks around sun up to sun down and keeping her from eating their food was becoming a challenge. 

It's kindof like an ashtray with a hole in the bottom, but anyway -

Solved!


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

*Moving Things Around*

Sharing a couple pics - today we moved them to our daughters desk in the office room and changed from the old 10L to a 10T so it would fit there. Everyone is happy with the arrangement. Tomorrow we are tackling the other two aquariums, trying to make sense of it all and find our comfort zone again. :cheers:


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I love it! I really love that mommy/baby picture with the algae ball.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Thank you! Well its funny to watch this unfold. Wiggles was in a 5G prior to this second batch of fry, and in the 10G she seems lost. She keeps to one side of it mostly, and looks out at us for a lot of the day. The babies are now all together in unison riding the wake of the filter current and then ejecting themselves out of it one by one. They are nothing short of hilarious to watch. We have given the fry names: Freckles, Sandy, Coral, Sugar, Gidget (in pic with Wiggles above) and Ginger although we are not sure of their sexes yet but we think at least three are female. Coral is the black one, so very cute, like velvet, (he) wades in place and looks out at us like Wiggles does. That one is the biggest and fastest. 

It's an experience I'm really glad that we didn't miss. Whatever the sex of these fry we will be keeping them, we will sort accordingly. 

The only thing I pray now is that she is done and won't have any more batches! : )

Other tanks: 5G with Ruby the Betta and her boyfriend Star, a male Platy
A long time relationship between two amazing fish.
and the 10Long is now in the Den with: Molly, Platy and Guppy all female and Emit the snail.
One male Platy has been rehomed to a good friends aquarium.
That *broke my heart* but we had to in order to make an all female tank.
So that got rid of two 5G tanks and now we just have the 10L plus one 5G
And of course the 10G Tall.

Taking it day by day.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

So hard! I bought what I thought looked like a female guppy that was not pregnant, but the fry that survived has completely different coloring and tail type than she or the male I bred to her. I'm not sure if they were such mutts that had that tail type in the genetic line up or if she got pregnant at the store a few days before I picked her up!


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