she has got very fat recently, and has started hiding in the plants. she is not really swimming just kind of hovering and pecking at the plants. she has been doing this most of today. cant see a gravida spot as most of her is black splodges
is my dalmation molly in labour?
- Thread starter siang
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Yep. Sounds typical for a female about to drop. Just leave her alone and you'll have fry pretty soon. Just a matter of who gets to eat them after that. 
well as she is in the plants i am hoping they will hide in there. i dont mind too much not having loads of babies, but i would like about a dozen ish. any idea how many to expect in a first breeding?
Depends on temperature, age of the fish, salinity of your tank, diet and so on. I could guess but it's really just going to be a guess. I can say fewer than future batches if this is really her very first time dropping fry.
ok, i got the fish about 2 months ago and she was about 1.5cm long. she is now over 2 inches long, so would guess she is 3-4 months old. temp is 25 degree celcius. diet is flake food twice daily with frozen food as a treat once or twice a week. she is in a 21 gallon tank with 17 other fish all smaller than her.
Sounds like a pretty good environment. You can probably expect ten or more fry. But you never know. She might only drop three or four her first time. Genetics also play a role.