I have a male and female Molly in my community tank. I noticed this morning a baby fish in the tank and the female seems to be thinner. I placed the female in a small birthing tank. My question is, how long does it usually take for a Molly to discharge all it's fry? If it drops no more fry in the next 10 hours, would it be safe to release her back into the community tank?

To tell you the truth they all might be slightly different.If someone says to you it takes about 11 hours and then you leave her there for 11 hours, she might still have to release more eggs so its kinda hard to tell.

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Be afraid of the unknown

congrats on your new babies! I have Mollies that are having babies like crazy but I still haven't had the luck of actually seeing one giving birth but I do know that they will eat their young so you need to get the babies out of there. I friend of mine told me today that if there are anymore babies, they will sometimes come up to the surface when the light is off, so look for them at the surface, and look thoroughly since they are REALLY small and hard to spot! I had the problem of a couple giving birth in the molly tank I have and most of the babies got eaten so check carefully and you might want to gently stir the gravel up since the fry hide in the gravel. Glad to see there are more Molly people popping up!
btw: the females can give birth I think it is every four weeks if I am not mistaken and they can hold the males sperm in a sack for up to four pregnancies( I think but don't quote me. I know they can hold the sperm in the sack but not sure how long they can.) also they have between 20-100 babies the least being the in the first pregnancy, just in case you didn't know that.


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BB

Usually a mollie will deliever most of her fry in a period of three to four hours. So if she hasn't had any more you might want to release her.
Be careful and watch her when you do go to release her as the male Mollie might bother her so much that she will become exhausted and sometimes will die from being chased around so much after giving birth.
Congratulations. Also a breeder is not the best option for fry. try the nets they work better and let water pass through more thoroughly.
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I guess i was right that mollies can be different right?

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Be afraid of the unknown

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. This forum is a great place when you need help.. Thanks again.

[Mrsjess926]

last night my 2 pregnant mollies had babies, i went in to change the air pump and saw a few , then i saw more, and this morning theyre still acting like they are having more, thats at least 12 hours, but i wanna get em out asap so i can save the babies, im also gonna buy some more plants today, and a small nursery tank.

[SHUEZQ]

DON'T PANIC IF YOU DON'T GET ALL THE BABIES--THERE'S PLENY MORE TO COME. In fact, I think it is only natual and even healthy for some to be eaten--it's a good food source especially for the birthmother that encourages future broods. This is why chickens eat up broken eggs and other animals consume the birth sac. When your molly looks like a large-breasted chicken, she is probably ready to "pop." Her anus may even gap open a little. I witnessed two being born once--totally awesome! I tried to put a fish in a plastic breeder when I saw babies the first time. It was a big chase and I left her in there for 24 hours with no results. Five minutes after release, babies were popping up everywhere! THE POINT? THEY CAN CLAMP SHUT UNTIL THEY ARE IN A COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT. You can add a tank divider with just her, and net her to the other side after birth (usually done within a day or so). Live hornwort or bushy plastic plants will hide the babies. This is the easiest with one tank. OR you can put a pregnant female into an empty tank with plenty of bushy plants and transfer her back--but the water differences is an added stress. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]I am up to my ears in babies, so now I just leave plants floating in the tank and scoop babies up into a hook-on container. They do tend to surface shortly after birth and when the netting session is over I transfer the newborns to a "baby tank."