Frequent Aquarium Questions

• How long is the gestation period for Mollies?
  
  
• Can I breed a green tiger barb with a striped tiger barb?
  
  
• My molly gave birth. Twenty-eight days later she gets fat again. How long should I keep her quarantined before I give up and assume that she is not going to give birth?
  
  
• We have a long finned rosy barb and three of the plain finned variety. The long finned appears to be ready to lay eggs. If I put the four of them in the 10 gallon, will they breed?
  
  
• I just bought 2 lyretail mollies. How can I tell which is male or female?
  
  
• I have had baby Gold dust mollies for a while and I wanted to know when the fry will be able to reproduce.
  
  
• I have an albino Paradise Fish and a regular Paradise Fish. They seem to be chasing each other around and are swimming in circles displaying and embracing. My regular Paradise Fish is building bubble nests. My albino Paradise Fish is getting really fat. What are the chances of her having fry? If they do, will they eat them?
  
  
• A month ago I bought two Platies,and specifically asked for a male and a pregnant female. After a week of them being in the tank the pregnant female died but the "male" platy was fine. I now think the "male" is actually a female, because "she" has a regular fin underneath instead of a pointed one. My question is this.. when I got "her" she was slim which may be why they thought it was a male, but now "she" is getting fat. Could she be pregnant? The only other fish I have in the tank are Guppies.
  
  
• I just bought a Colombian Shark and was looking on the computer for info and it said they mouth brood. What is that? The shark has lumps in its belly. Are they eggs?
  
  
• I have female and male Platys. What do the eggs look like? If they have babies, would the fry be able to live in a 2.5 gallon for a couple of weeks so the parents don't consume them?
  
  

• How long is the gestation period for Mollies?
  
  Roughly 32 days.
  
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• Can I breed a green tiger barb with a striped tiger barb?
  
  Yes. They are simply color variants of the same species.
  
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• My molly gave birth. Twenty-eight days later she gets fat again. How long should I keep her quarantined before I give up and assume that she is not going to give birth?
  
  I would give your molly another week in quarantine before releasing her back into the aquarium. Keep in mind that when females don't become gravid, they have the abiltiy to store sperm in their bodies for the future.
  
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• We have a long finned rosy barb and three of the plain finned variety. The long finned appears to be ready to lay eggs. If I put the four of them in the 10 gallon, will they breed?
  
  Hybridization of these barbs is possible. Whether or not it happens in your system, only time will tell.
  
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• I just bought 2 lyretail mollies. How can I tell which is male or female?
  
  The female will have a fuller, rounder body. If she is carrying eggs, there will be a black spot near her anal fin called a "gravid spot." The males have a pointed extension of the lower half of their caudal fin called a "gonopodium." This is the male sex organ.
  
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• I have had baby Gold dust mollies for a while and I wanted to know when the fry will be able to reproduce.
  
  Your baby mollies will have the potential to reproduce as early as 6 months.
  
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• I have an albino Paradise Fish and a regular Paradise Fish. They seem to be chasing each other around and are swimming in circles displaying and embracing. My regular Paradise Fish is building bubble nests. My albino Paradise Fish is getting really fat. What are the chances of her having fry? If they do, will they eat them?
  
  We think there's no doubt that your Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis) will breed and produce fry. They are very easy fish to breed. After the fertile eggs are in the bubble nest, the male will guard the nest and the female should be removed or he may kill her. The male will tend the fry for 3 days or so after they hatch then he should be removed or he may eat them. Fry should be fed infusoria and will grow slowly.
  
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• A month ago I bought two Platies,and specifically asked for a male and a pregnant female. After a week of them being in the tank the pregnant female died but the "male" platy was fine. I now think the "male" is actually a female, because "she" has a regular fin underneath instead of a pointed one. My question is this.. when I got "her" she was slim which may be why they thought it was a male, but now "she" is getting fat. Could she be pregnant? The only other fish I have in the tank are Guppies.
  
  Yes, she could be pregnant and the gestation period is about right. She was probably fertilized in the pet store and is now gestating. Fry should be born soon.
  
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• I just bought a Colombian Shark and was looking on the computer for info and it said they mouth brood. What is that? The shark has lumps in its belly. Are they eggs?
  
  
  
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• I have female and male Platys. What do the eggs look like? If they have babies, would the fry be able to live in a 2.5 gallon for a couple of weeks so the parents don't consume them?
  
  Platys don't lay eggs. They are livebearers like us. The fry should be fine in a 2-1/2 gallon tank but it will probably be about four to six weeks before they're large enough to be moved back in with the parents.
  
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