Needing Help with Mollys

[lynn31]

Hi all :) We got some Mollys the other day ( not sure exactly what kind , they were in a tank labeled assorted Mollys ) . After getting them I found they should eat flake food , and as a treat can be given bloodworms and things like that . They have not been wanting to eat but are active . We thought they would eat tropical fish flakes but arent really that interested in them , they have ate some bloodworms , but I was told they cant survive on this as their regular diet . Does anyone have any suggestions on what they may eat better than tropical fish flakes ? Also the bigger one acts agressive toward the others one its chases more ....are they doing this maybe as part of the breeding process or do we just have a bully molly ? Thanks all for any help you can give :)

lynn31

[KarlTh]

Mollies are mainly vegetarian so if there's no algae in the tank they will need vegetable suppliments.

[Bethany1979]

What size tank do you have and how many mollys?

[lynn31]

I have 3 Mollys ( not sure the sexes of each fish , or if that may have to with the agression ) in a five gallon tank , they are each aprox 1 inch long , 2 of them are black and a silverish color and one is black with redish orange tip fins . I also have 2 Golden Mystery snails wich Im getting ready to move int oa 10 gallon tank today . I have been putting algae discs in the tank for the snails but they seen to just nit pick at that also ( not really showing any interest in that eathier ) . Could it be that when we put aquarium sal in the tank we used the kind that is good for fresh or salt water ( that was what was suggested to us that we buy when we got previous freshwater fish 9 wich is what they sold us the Mollys as , But they said they use the aquarium salt that is for both fresh and salt water in their tanks where we bought them from . The only one that is aggressive is the black one with the redish orange tip fins , and his aggression is getting worse especally toward one of the other Mollys .

[rich311k]

5 gallons is way too small. Let them settle in they should start eating in a few days. You need to sex them. Three males will be a problem as will one lone female with two males. they will harass her to death. i would take these guys back to the store and get a betta or some other more suitable fish for a 5 gallon tank.

They prefer warm, hard water. What are your test readings?

[Bethany1979]

I have 3 Mollys ( not sure the sexes of each fish , or if that may have to with the agression ) in a five gallon tank , they are each aprox 1 inch long , 2 of them are black and a silverish color and one is black with redish orange tip fins . I also have 2 Golden Mystery snails wich Im getting ready to move int oa 10 gallon tank today . I have been putting algae discs in the tank for the snails but they seen to just nit pick at that also ( not really showing any interest in that eathier ) . Could it be that when we put aquarium sal in the tank we used the kind that is good for fresh or salt water ( that was what was suggested to us that we buy when we got previous freshwater fish 9 wich is what they sold us the Mollys as , But they said they use the aquarium salt that is for both fresh and salt water in their tanks where we bought them from . The only one that is aggressive is the black one with the redish orange tip fins , and his aggression is getting worse especally toward one of the other Mollys .
Lol, I started in almost the same way. I had a 5 gallon with 2 mollys and 1 mystery snail. Now up to a 40 g and a 10 g. Anyway. The reason for the aggression is most likely that the tank is too small for all the inhabitants. A general rule is 1 gallon per 1 " of fish. Mollies get to about 2-3 inches, so your overstocked already. Brigs (mystery snails) I'm not sure if they go by the same rule. I'm sure it's a bare min. of 1 gallon per snail. As for your fish not eating, it's probably due to some kind of stress. Mollys are normally voracious eaters. They will eat almost anything you put in the tank. They really enjoy brine shrimp. How much salt did you add to the tank? What are your water parameters? Bare in mind, that mollys are live bearers. If you have a male and a female you will get babies and lots of them.

[lynn31]

Thanks , I plan on getting a bigger tank in about a week or two ( will they be ok in the 5 gallon for that long ) ? Im not sure how to tell between male and female . When we ask them before we buy them if they can tell the sexes of the fish they say no ( this has happened every time we have bought fish ) , so we just pick out wich we like . One of the reasons we picked Mollys other than I think their pretty is that they are live barers. I used to have a Neon Tetra but they didnt tell us and we bought a Dinosaur eel ( those two are not in the tank with the Mollys ) that it was aggressive and it ate my Neon Tetra . We plan on getting more Mollys but want to wait till we get our bigger tank . I am still fairly new to having fish , just started toward the end of last year . Thanks for ya'll help .

lynn31

[StarStruck8]

Mollies need a tank larger than 5 gallons..I have found that some can be rather territorial and 5 gallons doesn't give them enough room to get away from the 'bully'. Or if the bully is a male, then the females won't get a break from his advances. This is especially true if any are a Sailfin Molly..I have one that is about 4 inches long and she sometimes picks on the others.

You can tell males from females by looking at the anal fin...

Rounded fin is a female
78039

Pointy one is a male
78040

Pictures shamelessly stolen from liveaquaria.com :)

[lynn31]

I m not sure of our water parameters , I have to get another test kit wich payday isnt for about a week and a half . One of the thimgs that has me confused though is the tank already went throught the cycling process but about the last 3 days the water has benn cloudy and I have had to do about 3 or 4 partial water changes and Im not sure what would cause this . It may be that we were told to use cycle everytime we do a water chang and it says on the bottle that it may cloud the water . But I still change it incase its not because of the "cycle " that way our fish dont die . I have to do another partial change today and vacum the dravel from where their not wanting to eat , along with putting the snails in our other tank .

lynn31

[lynn31]

Thanks for the pics , they helped ALOT . From what I can tell I think the black one with the redish orange tiped fins is a male , one of the black and silver is a female and the other black and silver Im not sure it hid when I tried to look at it , but I think its a female also . Thanks so much for the pics :)

lynn31

[Bethany1979]

Mollies need a tank larger than 5 gallons..I have found that some can be rather territorial and 5 gallons doesn't give them enough room to get away from the 'bully'. Or if the bully is a male, then the females won't get a break from his advances. This is especially true if any are a Sailfin Molly..I have one that is about 4 inches long and she sometimes picks on the others.

You can tell males from females by looking at the anal fin...

Rounded fin is a female
78039

Pointy one is a male
78040

Pictures shamelessly stolen from liveaquaria.com :)
I'm glad you posted those pics. I was just try to take some pics of mine and they weren't cooperating.

[lynn31]

Thanks ya'll for all ya'll help :)