Agressive Mollys

CDB

Registered Member
Jul 2, 2007
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Got a stupid idea a while back to put a couple of bettas in seperate vases with bamboo in it. Which turned into 2 one gallon tanks wich turned into a 10 gallon with filtration and a divider. Both Bettas eventually died. So now it has turned into 2 Mollys and some guppies. I think the Mollys are killing the guppies. They tend to be a little aggressive. I thouhgt they were a peaceful fish. What gives? The wife is mad and wants to get rid of the Mollys, I want to just take the guppies out or just get a bigger tank all together. I am not totally new to fish, I used to have a nice 55 galon tank with cichlids in it. I am in the military so when I moved I decided to sell it. I knew getting the 10 gallon was a mistake because it would make me want another 55+ gallon tank. Oh well a little late now. So what is the deal with the Mollys? Also the rule is 1 gallon of water per inch of fish right? I have added air going into the tank via decoration and such, but it is not the fine air bubbles like from a air stone, but it is constant air bubbles (2-3 streams of bubbles). How much oxygen transfer would I get from the air bubbles as far as adding fish beyond the X gallons per inch of fish formula? Sorry got a little long and turned into a rant. Thanks in advance.
 
:welcome: TO AC!!

Since you have a filtration system already that is causing surface agitation. The air stones (bubbles) give a bit more oxygen along with the filtration that you have. If you like the bubble look, then keep the air stone. If you don't like that look, then just MAX OUT your filter output and that should create enough oxygen for the tank and the mollies.

As for Molly aggressiveness: I agree, they can be aggressive at times even though they are community fish (I have three females and they chase each other around at times) , but usually it depends on the sex of the Molly. When I had two males in one tank, they fought. Tail-whip after tail-whip. It was cool to see, but I'm sure it wasn't making the fish happy. Find out if the fish are males, maybe they're just being aggressive to show the other "whose boss".
 
MY MOLLYS did the same thing, The molly that killed my guppys is preg and do any time now, If they are females they might be preg I would watch out. Mine was preg when i got her and didn't even know it. But other people have their own opinion on this. I think that they don't belong together my self they are alot bigger then the guppys.I would stick with one type of fish for a while and see what happens.
 
Please don't rely on the one gallon/one inch of fish rule. It is basically false.

There are many issues that need to be taken into consideration when stocking a tank...

Diet
Sex
Schooling
Male/Female ratios
Agressiveness
Habitat
Free swimming space
Shape of tank

It is often best to post your plans and get some feedback from the members here.
 
MY MOLLYS did the same thing, The molly that killed my guppys is preg and do any time now, If they are females they might be preg I would watch out. Mine was preg when i got her and didn't even know it. But other people have their own opinion on this. I think that they don't belong together my self they are alot bigger then the guppys.I would stick with one type of fish for a while and see what happens.

Poor water conditions could have caused your molly to be agressive to the guppy also.
 
mollies can be nippy with other fish, especially when they are crowded (10 gallons is to small) or when there are not enough fmeales to keep the males distracted.

That's the reason why I house females only, if I can help it.
 
ya i had females only too and look what they did too my guppys, the water was fine and they had a enough room, but you know it could be thousands of things for them to do what they did.
 
I got a couple of mollies a few weeks ago. The largest molly is every bit as aggressive as the cichlids I used to have. When I was feeding, it would always chase the other fish off and keep the food to itself. Even if I put food in both sides of the tank, it would go back and forth doing the same thing. And when it's done eating all the food I put in for the normal fish, it dives down to the bottom and pushes my cories out of the way and starts in on the cory pellets I drop in. It's not as aggressive towards the cories as it is to the other mollies. But if there's food involved, it will bully the cories.

I also currently have molly fry in a breeding net. When I went to bed a couple of nights ago, all the fry were fine. When I woke up the next morning, two were laying on the bottom and looked dead. When I went to extract them they moved. So I left them in for a bit to see if they'd recover. While watching them, one of the other fry would dive down and attack one of the two laying on the bottom.

I'm not sure if I just have an overly aggressive fry. Or if it's survival of the fittest, and the the stronger are pushing that along by killing off the weaker. But in any case, even the fry can be aggressive towards each other.
 
see my preg molly wouldn't let any of the other fish eat, I know what i was talking about, I think it's best just to have the mollys by them selfs.
 
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