Groups Of Mollies ... Can A Group Of All Males Live Together?

[Maxine-R]

I will begin with water info.

PH - 7.2
Amonnia - 0
NitrIte - 0
NitrAte - 40
Temp - 24c to 26c


I had 2 Mollies. 1 Male & 1 Female.

The female was pregnant but passed away a few days ago (reason unknown, with no signs of illness)

The male is now on his own and seems a little lonely, I only say this because he has not been as active and lively as he was when the other Molly was around. He still eats as normal and moves around the tank etc, but he doesn't seem to play any more and I am assuming it is because he does not have another Molly to play with.

After going online I have seen that a healthy grouping of Mollies is 3 females to 1 Male. I already have a smaller tank with Molly fry in and i am not particularly keen on the idea of potentially having 3 pregnant Mollies (meaning more fry)

Is it possible to have a group of male Mollies who get along (like having a group of male guppies)

I want my Molly to have company but I know that getting 1 Female isn't a good idea. So thought one male would be best. But I've heard that they fight.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Thankyou

 

[Matt68046]

I don't know a lot about mollies so I'm not 100% on this but they do fight. Heck even my females fight. They do establish a pecking order...so the more space and food the better, they will fight over food space or mates.

 

[Maxine-R]

He seems to be struggling on his own.

I'm assuming that with Mollies being community fish that he will suffer in the long run being the only Molly in the tank?

 

[Byron]

It would help to know the tank size (volume, also dimensions).  Mollies are not small fish, with males reaching three inches, and females five (some sources report six inches not uncommon).  So they need space.  Provided this is given to them, males are fine without females present.  If females are present, then the ratio should be high in their favour, hence the one male/three females idea, to avoid over stress to the females as the males will drive them very hard.
 
Another issue occurs to me, and that is your water parameters.  A pH of 7.2 is on the right side of neutral but barely.  But more importantly is the hardness, do you know the GH of your source water (presumably tap)?  This is crucial for mollies, as they must have minerals in the water or they will not last long.  This might be the issue with your dead female, and waning male.
 
The nitrate is also high, at 40 ppm.  Mollies are especially sensitive to any form of nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) so I would aim to lower this.  Applies to most fish actually; 20 ppm is the high to be at or preferably below.  If the nitrate is due to the source water, that is one issue; but if it occurs from within the aquarium, then more frequent and larger water changes, along with fast-growing plants, should help.
 
Byron.

 

[Maxine-R]

Thankyou for your post.

After getting the reading of NitrAte 40ppm i did perform a 50% water change. I had not considered the possibility that NitrAte may be present in my tap water so I will test that to see.

Up until my female passed away my manly Molly seemed quite OK, He just looks to have calmed down considerably since her passing.

I will endeavour to increase water testing from once a week to twice a week and carry out larger water changes to combat the NitrAte levels. I will also test tap water.

Thankyou.

 

[Byron]

Thankyou for your post.

After getting the reading of NitrAte 40ppm i did perform a 50% water change. I had not considered the possibility that NitrAte may be present in my tap water so I will test that to see.

Up until my female passed away my manly Molly seemed quite OK, He just looks to have calmed down considerably since her passing.

I will endeavour to increase water testing from once a week to twice a week and carry out larger water changes to combat the NitrAte levels. I will also test tap water.

Thankyou.

 
You're welcome.  The nitrate test of the tap water will tell you the source.  And once a week water changes should be sufficient, providing a decent volume of water is changed.  I tend to do at minimum 50%, usually closer to 60%, once a week.  But I would want to know your test results (tap vs tank, if different) for nitrate as well as GH and pH.  You can get the GH and KH from your municipal water supplier, check their website.  This really is critical for mollies.  You may have that issue to deal with, but the numbers will tell us.
 
Byron.

 

[Ch4rlie]

As Byron already asked, the tank size / dimensions would help greatly as well as the gH and kH as this may well have played a part in your female molly demise as the male lacking in energy perhaps.
 
I would add one other point, whera re you going to put he molly fry once they have grown in your smaller tank?

 

[Beginnerbreeder1]

I have tested the theory about male mollies fighting when the 1 male to 3 female ratio is not being used. They do fight. I started off with 2 silver mollies and they fought I added one more and they still fought when I added the 4th one they continued to fight. When I added the 12 female mollies they stopped fighting and grouped into 4 schools with the ratio being 1 male 3 females. Now I have 2 pregnant silver mollies how exiting