Livebearers - There's Always A Bully

[Iron Man]

I recently got 3 black mollies (1m/2f) and 3 platies (1m/2f) for my 20 gallon tank. The only other fish in there with them at the moment is a huge female aeneus cory who stays hid most of the time until I can get her some companions.

I have had livebearers before and it always seems there's a bully, whether male or female. Is it just me?

I never keep but a few of them in a tank at a time. Is this part of the problem? Will getting more mollies and platies solve this problem? Will it matter if the platies are assorted colors or do they all have to be the same?

What about using "dither" fish in there?

Sorry for all the questions but I really love livebearers and never hear about these stories with anyone else so it must be something I'm doing wrong.

BTW - the male platie was aggravating one female so badly I had to seperate him into a 3 gallon bowl until I can figure out what to do with him. He ignored the other female.

 

[Colin_T]

it's the males. Too much testosterone. The randy lil buggars

 

[omega59]

i find i always end up with 1 bully female who pokes at the other fish haha.
mind you i alwasy get them when they are pregnant so that would explain why :\

 

[dunchp]

Hi There,

This does happen from time to time, depending upon the species.

I think you are spot on with your suggested solution and I would suggest that you buy more females. As 5teady has said before you should have at least 3 females to 1 male to save harrasment.

As a general rule, I would suggest that you buy half a dozen of the same species which makes them feel more secure and may lead to a reduction in fighting. If it does not then the bullying will be spread around amongst the other fish. Bullying is natural though, so I would recommend that you dont worry too much about it unless it is causing damage to the fish or unless the bullying is leading to obvious distress on any one individual.

I would therefore suggest that you get 6 mollies and 6 platies; preferably 1 or 2 males to 4 or 5 females of each and that you also put something else in to keep the fry under control as copious fry is an obvious problem of having 8-10 females in a tank. Maybe a couple of barbs.

I would also suggest that you buy the same variety, otherwise you will just end up with non descript strains of fry.

And last but not least, don't fuss too much over them. As long as there is no major signs of distress or damage then leave well alone.

 

[corey01]

my blue mickey mouse female is the biggest bully of them all. she hates any other fish coming anywhere near her!

 

[guppylord]

its funny but ive been keeping fish for 8 years and ive never had a bully either male or female,where am i going wrong lol

 

[LauraFrog]

All I've had was a male that seemed completely uninterested in any female except for Stryker, my best. He chased her all day, nothing I could do to stop him. I had to move him in the end because I got more fish and decided to turn it into a strain tank, and he was a diff strain.

 

[Iron Man]

Things seem to be settling down just a bit since I took the male platy out. I think I may heed advice on here and get a few more female platies so I can put the male back in. The mollies seem normal to me. The male gets pushy about 30% of the time but he doesn't harm or even seem to scare any of them. In fact the largest female molly seems to be quite smitten with him, when she's not fighting him back. lol

 

[SSC]

It's like everyone takes turns on being a bully, males and females.