So, you know how we’ve had some trouble keeping fish alive? Not anymore….. Apparently, PetSmart sold us a pregnant fish….she had two babies. Here is one of them.

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At first I was pretty mad about it. But look how dang cute it is!!!

I did some more searching on the interwebs to find out what could have happened, aside from the obvious.

Either I was sold a pregnant fish, or the Black Molly and the Guppy mated. First I searched for “Male vs. Female Molly” to determine which one of our two new fish is female. Well, turns out, they both are females 🙄.  They can birth fry 1-2 times a month…..😒

I then searched for “Black Molly mating with Guppy or Platty”. Apparently, Mollies and Guppies are from the same genus and can absolutely cross breed. The fry didn’t look like crossbreeds though so I continued my search for answers.

In an attempt to do some backwards planning to find out the time frame of which the fish could have gotten pregnant, I searched for “Black Molly gestation period”. I was met with this disturbing result:
“Gestation Period: The gestation period of a molly fish is around 60 days. Female mollies can store sperm for months and may fertilize eggs as often as every 30 days, even when no male is present in the tank. Mollies may release 10 to 60 live fish at a time.”

Uhhhh…..what? 😳 

Considering that I found just two fry, I’m guessing the internet is wrong, or the bigger fish ate the other 8-58 baby fish. I’m hoping the internet is wrong.

Upon further investigation into the possibility of cross breeding, I found out that cross bred fry have decreased immunity systems and are prone to deformities, therefore increasing their rate of mortality. I promptly prepared my excited children for the possibility that these new fish babies could die….and very soon. One of the kids made me promise to buy a fish nursery to put the baby fish in…..I ain’t got time to drive 35 minutes to the pet store to buy a netted tank for some fish that will most likely have their deformed faces eaten by their parents before I can get back home.  But, considering that these Mollies can store sperm for 30 days and use it at will, I may need to make that drive….