Fighting

[Bigdave84]

I have 4 adult molly fish and 4 baby mollys. Ive had them for a few weeks now and everything has been going great. Until the other day when I noticed one of them chasing 2 of the others. At first I thought they were just playing but ive noticed a bit of fin pinching, fighting and hiding going on and it is starting to concern me a bit. Is there anything (besides removing the trouble causer to a different tank) I can do to stop it or should I just let it happen.
Please help me.

 

[ncguppy830]

well what are the sexes?
Males normally fight with each other to establish pecking order.
remeber mollies need a 2 female one male ratio.

 

[Dreamer03]

I agree with ncguppy.

 

[attibones]

Are the adults chasing the younger ones? Adult mollies eat their young, so it may just be that the older ones are still attempting to make a meal of the babies. If the chasing is between two adults, check the sexes. Males tend to fight males, but a female will often be harassed by too many males trying to breed her.

 

[Bigdave84]

As it turns out we have 2 male and 2 female. we were told in the shop that we had 1 male and 3 female. the molly on the receiving end of the bully did appear to be pregnant but recently (the past couple of days) doesn't seem to be as big but there are no more babies. The 2 males have been fighting and i did just put it down to dominance in the tank. The baby fish are fine and seem very happy.

 

[ncguppy830]

ok well its ideal to have 2 more females in the tank BTW

 

[Bigdave84]

Thanks, but in the mean time is there anything i can do.

 

[attibones]

If you have a spare tank, try isolating the one receiving the bullying. This should help ease things a bit. At the very least the bullied will not be as stressed. There's not much to be done in this situation. If you remove the bully, there is a chance that the other males will fight for dominance as well.