Tropical Fish Forums

[Indiaqualover]

Hi,

I saw my molly ejecting some transparent orangish/yellowish balls a little while back. She is in a tank of other live bearers. I saw the other mollies gobbling it up instantaneously.

Are these eggs? but, I'm aware of the fact that mollies are live bearers. Does she feel threatened inside the tank or something?

Do they at times lay eggs like this? I pulled her out and put her in a separate bowl just in case.

Any information will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Prakash

[Indiaqualover]

More information - She just laid another 12 balls into that bowl...

[Darkblade48]

They sound like babies to me. As you have already witnessed, other fish will not stop to think about it being food and will eat them up rather quickly.
_________________
Anthony

[Indiaqualover]

Darkblade - They are clearly not babies. The 12 eggs she deposited on the secondary tank did not hatch or move around.

Are these eggs expected to hatch later? Does that happen generally or do they require nourishment from the mother to actually develop in the egg sac and come out alive?

[diademhill]

They are aborted eggs - could be through stress or deficiency.

What are the tank details please?

[Indiaqualover]

Hi,

The tank holds 200 litres of water at 27 degrees celcius. The pH value is any where between 7.7 and 7.10.

The tank has only live bearers.

5 Sailfins - 3 female 2 male
3 guppies - 1 male 2 females
4 platys - 1 male 3 females

It is pretty decently plated with very dim lighting. The brighter light is turned on only when guests come home and want to take a look.

I have been handling this tank for over a year now. Apart from the initial fish deaths when the tank was setup the inmates have all been the same.

A couple of weeks back the same female was being chased by both he males continously (which was definitely a new behaviour I've noted during the molly's pregnancy) and people were saying thats pretty normal phenomena. Also the same female has delivered babies in the past without any issue.

Could this constant chasing be the cause?

[diademhill]

[Indiaqualover]

I use only artificial plants and they are pretty much sunk into the tank. None of the plants reach the surface.

The planting is pretty much in the background. There is a lot of open space in the front for the fish to swim around.

This egg laying thing happened in one of the corners of the tank near the plants where the males were just gobbling up the eggs almost as soon as they dropped off her.

[diademhill]

Stress related abortion.
Female livebearers need areas they can hide in -both to prevent being bothered by males and to feel secure whilst gravid.
The easiest way is to have plants,they can be plastic, reaching the surface in several locations.

[Indiaqualover]

Thank You.. That makes a lot of sense