Black Molly baby fry

[bella535]

I'm not really sure where to post this but here goes: my black molly gave birth and either the fry are premature or they have birth defects. pretty much they are lying at the bottom of the tank with a 'bubble'. the bubble i think is the exposed abdomen. I'm not sure if they are dead or not. anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Diogenes]

i don't know. All the livebearers I've ever had that reproduced, the offspring was eaten by my other fish right away. One thing I can tell you for sure is that it's not an egg sac, because they are livebearers, so most likely they're dead.

 

[tscharf]

keep an eye on em, if theyre dead remove them. the mother hasnt eaten them yet? thats kinda strange.. if could just be that theyve managed to eat something as soon as they were born and the bulge you see is there stomachs, i know my one fry that managed to escape death from my bumble bee cats would get a bulge after eating

 

[MonsterMinis]

pre-mature birth.. not rare at all but usually the fry get eaten fairly quickly. If the female is young, sick, kept in poor condition, or recently introduced (aka Stressed). Poor genetics is also possible. But generally it is one of the other 4. if possible take a magnifying glass and look at babies. you should see gill movement.

Edit: and Yes that is likely the egg sacs you see. a bulging stomach looks very different then an egg sac. and the egg sacs look very much like a "bubble" and will quickly deflate.. Generally the sac is fully absorbed or so nearly so you would have a hard time seeing it w/ the naked eye. If the fry are ready to be born =D

 

[Quagmire]

I breed guppies and mollies all in the same tank, and not once have I seen either fish eat their own young. I have seen premature fry still attached to egg sacs all over the bottom of the tank before, I've even seen 2 fish sharing the same sac.