Black Mollies

[Galaxy]

I have a 40 Gal(UK) tank which is currently cycling with fish. I have 5 mollies, one of which is a black female. The other four fish interact well together however the only time the black molly swims with the rest is during feeding. At other times she tends to swim or "hover" alone at the bottom to the back of the tank. She also likes hiding below the filter out of sight.

I was wondering if black mollies tend to have different behaviour patterns from other mollies?

 

[fruity]

I am no expert, but the behaviour you describe sounds more like a stress issue, than personality. I had until recently, 2 dalmation, 2 silver and 2 black. One of the black is the male in the tank..... the dalmation were horrendous bullies, the 2 silver greedy and the female black quite cute. The male black is a better colour than his female companion, and the most active fish in my tank (Mr Sex beast).

Although hardy fish, I guess your cycling with fish could be upsetting the black molly.

In her latter days my fav dalmation used to hide behind the filter, under ornaments and generally mooch about not joining in with the others until her death last week.....................Fx

 

[Filadara]

I have a female black molly, and she has always been quite active.

It sounds like your fish is stressed. When a fish gets stressed, her immune system becomes less effective, so be careful. Parasites (for example ich) often take advantage of stressed fish. Check the water conditions.

I hope she gets better.

 

[Final Dynazty]

yeah your fish probaly is stressed. and might want to keep a close eye on it.

 

[Never2Bknown]

Another thing you should know about black mollies is that they are more prone than other fish to get fin and tail rot due to the greater amount of melanin (coloring). I'm not sure why this is, though; still, it's another reason you don't want to get it stressed out, which would make it even more prone to disease.