Mollies: How old is too old?

[Jivan]

I understand that female mollies can store sperm for a significant period of time. If I'd like to purchase a female mollie and make sure not to have unexpected babies, how old should she be?

To tell the difference between male and female mollies, it seems that the males have a slightly to significantly more decorative fin and tail. Any other tips for telling sex, especially for young ones?

[Betta man]

With guppies and platies, my females gave birth until they were 2 years old. I don't know about mollies, but they are live bearers too.

[Jivan]

Originally Posted by Betta man With guppies and platies, my females gave birth until they were 2 years old. I don't know about mollies, but they are live bearers too.

Hi Betta man, thanks for your reply. To clarify, I'm interested in not breeding to start out. I'd like to know how old a young female can be and be sure that she won't surprise me with a batch of babies.

[TheOldSalt]

Well, anything over two months old is probably already preggers.

[Ladayen]

They will have babies there is no way around it. You'll just have to deal with it until it runs out of sperm. They will eat the fry though so you shouldn't really wind up with a bunch of extra fish.

As to sexing, I'm not 100% sure it applyes to mollies but with guppies and platies you can look at the anal fin(The last fin on the bottom of the fish just before the tail.) If it's pointed it's a male, if it's rounded it's a female.

[iheartfish:)]

If buy a young enough fish whose gravid spot isn't dark, you should be okay. Chances are that even if she has sperm stored, it'll be less than a larger, more experienced female.

Don't look for a small fish, as it can be stunted. Look for a healthy fish with a very light/ next to nonexistent gravid spot, but also look for a gonopodium. If it has one, then the reason there is no gravid spot is because it is male.

If you do end up getting a gravid female, just leave her be. She will most probably eat her young. If you catch her before she drops and put her in a barren tank, that will probably happen. Also, underfeed a little before she drops so that she's hungry. Pretty much the opposite of what you would do if you wanted to save the fry