Dalmation molly gives birth…finally!

At last, it has happened! A few hours ago, my dalmation molly gave birth to a number of babies.

When her belly started getting bigger, I set up a second aquarium for her. Then I watched. And watched some more. Nothing happened. Today, when I’d just about given up hoping, she gave birth.

I moved her back to my main tank when I saw her trying to eat the fry. She is back swimming around with the other dalmation mollies like nothing happened.

The fry are all grouped together at the top of the tank. There is perhaps 20 babies but they’re difficult to count as they don’t stay still for long! I have given them some TetraMin Baby powder food. They are tiny like little tadpoles and measure approximately 7mm long.

Is my dalmation molly pregnant?

Apologies for the picture quality, but I wondered if anyone could tell me if my dalmation molly could be pregnant? She has been a little agressive towards the other mollies. However, most of her time is spent under a leaf in a quiet part of the tank. Sometimes she swims into the ship wreck and just stays in there for a while. The other fish haven’t been having much to do with her. Any ideas?

Ship Wrecked

I’ve added a model of a ship wreck to my tank. It has lots of holes in it which allow the fish to swim through. The dalmation mollies were first to venture inside. The gourami followed shortly after. Here is a picture:

The dalmation molly takes an interest:

New fish

Following the recent loss of one of the biggest characters – the balloon molly, the tank was looking decidedly empty. However, thanks to the Aquatic Design Centre on Great Portland Street, we have some new additions: dalmation mollies and red robin gourami. The tank is reinvigorated and the existing inhabitants have responded with a healthy curiosity.

Here are a couple of pictures of my red robin gourami: