Hi, first of all mollies are almost always pregnant… the full size of the balloon molly is about 2-2.5 inches, seldom 3”. The usual gestation period of this fish is about 30-32 days. About the number of babies, it does really depend on how big your molly is. I got a really huge 2.75 inches balloon molly, diameter of about 1.75 inch, and got over a hundred of live fry, unfortunately, she got a lot of loads of unfertiled eggs too (probably, due to the transfer from LFS to my tank). Like what you’ve said, you got a crowded tank, thus the reason why she’s not comfortable to drop her fry. --I find this useful when she’s about to drop… (I can tell when she’s ready because of her boxy shape) …I moved the other fishes to my other tanks and leave her alone. Put plants in her tank (specially floating plants) and get ready for the upcoming babies. The more plants the more chance of fry survival. Feed her live food once a day (daphnia is the best coz the babies will eat them too). Change 5-10% of water daily. This works for me, but I would recommend it if your other tank has almost the same water temp so that your other fish is not too much stressed! hope this has helped!
-ronn
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