MommyOf3Boys
Mostly New Member
Hi all!
We have a 38 gallon tank with 5 gold mollies, 4 tetras, 2 emerald catfish, 1 african dwarf frog, and one guppy. I do not remember the exact guppy, but it is very very tiny, half inch at best.
When we bought the gold mollies back in April, one was quite tiny compared to the others. There were only 5 left, so we bought the last 5.
Since then, all the fish appear to have grown a bit, except this tiny molly. I would say its barely an inch. He does not appear ill, as he eats and tries to swim. But often he struggles to get to the top of the tank. Sometimes he will lay in the gravel and appear to rest, but that's not often. He tries to swim with the rest of the mollies, and will come to the front of the tank when I am there, but when I watch him from far enough away that the fish are not "greating" me, he just looks like a little runt that will never grow. I worry only because he will put his whole body into swimming (noticeably different from the others) just to get around the tank or to the surface. I just figure if he were ill he wouldn't still be alive. Can a molly just be the runt of the litter?
My second question is the tiny little guppy I put in there, was done after the tank had been up for awhile. When I first brought him home, I realized how much I under estimated the size of the other fish! When he was introduced to the tank, for about a day the mollies chased him quite aggressively, and I was thinking I'd have to take him out (we have a 5 gallon tank incase we need to seperate someone). The tank is planted so he hid a lot. Then after a day or so, the mollies stopped chasing him. Now its been weeks, and I've noticed that he chases and nips at the mollies! They are much bigger than him. I'm guessing he is a male and the mollies he's nipping at are females. But I'm amazed that he is chasing down fish that are much bigger than him. It doesn't seem like he's harassing them to the point of it being a problem. I *think* all my gold mollies are female, because there has been no aggression or chasing among them at all, and no fry, but I'm not sure. If that's the case then I would have one male guppy with 5 females, and via internet searches I've read that make guppies will sometimes chase female mollies.
My question is have you ever seen a tiny tiny fish chasing and nipping ones that were much bigger?
We have a 38 gallon tank with 5 gold mollies, 4 tetras, 2 emerald catfish, 1 african dwarf frog, and one guppy. I do not remember the exact guppy, but it is very very tiny, half inch at best.
When we bought the gold mollies back in April, one was quite tiny compared to the others. There were only 5 left, so we bought the last 5.
Since then, all the fish appear to have grown a bit, except this tiny molly. I would say its barely an inch. He does not appear ill, as he eats and tries to swim. But often he struggles to get to the top of the tank. Sometimes he will lay in the gravel and appear to rest, but that's not often. He tries to swim with the rest of the mollies, and will come to the front of the tank when I am there, but when I watch him from far enough away that the fish are not "greating" me, he just looks like a little runt that will never grow. I worry only because he will put his whole body into swimming (noticeably different from the others) just to get around the tank or to the surface. I just figure if he were ill he wouldn't still be alive. Can a molly just be the runt of the litter?
My second question is the tiny little guppy I put in there, was done after the tank had been up for awhile. When I first brought him home, I realized how much I under estimated the size of the other fish! When he was introduced to the tank, for about a day the mollies chased him quite aggressively, and I was thinking I'd have to take him out (we have a 5 gallon tank incase we need to seperate someone). The tank is planted so he hid a lot. Then after a day or so, the mollies stopped chasing him. Now its been weeks, and I've noticed that he chases and nips at the mollies! They are much bigger than him. I'm guessing he is a male and the mollies he's nipping at are females. But I'm amazed that he is chasing down fish that are much bigger than him. It doesn't seem like he's harassing them to the point of it being a problem. I *think* all my gold mollies are female, because there has been no aggression or chasing among them at all, and no fry, but I'm not sure. If that's the case then I would have one male guppy with 5 females, and via internet searches I've read that make guppies will sometimes chase female mollies.
My question is have you ever seen a tiny tiny fish chasing and nipping ones that were much bigger?
