Hi everyone,

I have a question about getting Mollies to breed.
I have a 170l (45gal) tank. The pH is between 7.5 - 8, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10mg/l so the water parameters are good as far as I can tell.

I have 4 tiger barbs, 3 adults mollies (one male, two female) 2 juvenile mollies (4 months old) 3 gouramis and one rainbow shark.

Some of the female mollies that I bought 4 months ago were pregnant when I bought them. They dropped their fry about a week later and I was able to save some of them, the 2 juveniles I have are from that batch. Since then one of those females dropped again but Iwas not able to save any fry that time but since then there has been nothing. I see that sometimes the females look very plump but then get a bit thinner. I think that they are just over eating sometimes but there have been no more batches of fry, they never get so plump that they look pregnant. I was told by one store clerk that they may not want to breed because I have tiger barbs in the tank. Is this true? The tigers don't eally bother the other fish, they pretty much keep to themselves and chase each other.

Should I just wait and see?
Any advice?

__________________
45g pentagonal
4 Swordtails, 2 dwarf Gouramis, 5 Mollies, 1 Rainbow Shark, 6 Molly fry 6 zebra danios

88 gal Malawi tank
4 Yellow labs, 1 Baenshi, 2 Borleyis, 3 Trewavas, 2 Livingstonis, 1 Venustus, 2 Green Terrors

If your up to it, Make a grass patch. Get a fine gravel so the fry cant fall between the rocks,Check your LFS for micro grass or something similar and separate it into little plugs let it fill out for a bit.

By the time you have a nice little grass patch the Mollies would feel more comfortable and start breeding again. Plus the grass makes a pretty dramatic effect when it fills out.

Frequent water changes to increase the water temperature, feeding a little more but not too much would also help.

Personally, I wouldn't want fry in a tank with Tiger Barbs.

Thanks for the replies everyone but it seems as if the one Molly is in fact pregnant, she is starting to swell and get that pregnant looking belly (she is pooping alot though so it could also just mean that she has eaten alot lately). Anyway, I'm gonna keep an eye on her to see if she progresses.

Can someone give me an idea of what to look for when she is ready to drop, besides a swollen belly of course? I know some people mention that you can sometimes see a gravid spot just in front of their anal fin but I've never seen this before. Is there any kind of behaviour I should look for? I would really lie to put her in a breeding net before she drops. The last two batches that were dropped were in the main tank and most of the fry were picked off (1st batch I managed to save 8 and the second batch none).

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

__________________
45g pentagonal
4 Swordtails, 2 dwarf Gouramis, 5 Mollies, 1 Rainbow Shark, 6 Molly fry 6 zebra danios

88 gal Malawi tank
4 Yellow labs, 1 Baenshi, 2 Borleyis, 3 Trewavas, 2 Livingstonis, 1 Venustus, 2 Green Terrors