Aggressive Black Molly, Help Please!

[Slohr]

I'm fairly new to fish in general...before all I had was a Betta...so Im a little confused.

I have three mollies, 2 females and one male (silver*male*, black, and dalmation) two glass fish, and a male platy. I was told that it should be ok, but I don't tend to trust pet stores too much.

Anyway, the problem is- is that my female black molly is being terribly aggressive to my dalmation molly in particular but also to my silver male molly on occasion(only when eating with the male). I was just wondering if maybe my tank is over-crowded or perhaps if my black molly is just jealous. If that is the case how can I fix it? My tank is only 10 gallons since I just started about a month ago. Thanks for any advice!

 

[waterdrop]

Hi slohr and welcome to TFF

I don't know the best answer to your problem but maybe some members will be along eventually with ideas.

Your female black mollie is probably not jealous. Access to food and mating is a life and death thing for fish, so she is probably behaving in a way that instinct tells her will maximize her genes in the future. Any fish that can claim more food for itself or its offspring will increase the chance that its genes will be around in the future. Likewise, if she can keep the other female away from the male, that may help her chances too.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[jonnyf84]

mollies are generally quite aggressive fish but if all the fish in your tank are full grown then yes i would say it is overcrowded, if theres nothing you can do about this then provide plenty of cover and hiding spots. If all the fish are new to the aquarium then just give them time to settle in and create a hirachy, it is quite strange for the female molly to chase the male, she is clearly the dominant fish in the tank in which case it might be possible that she won't back down until there is a.) more space b.) bigger fish