Lovely Little Platy Tank!

[LyraGuppi]

Oh, gosh, this tank.
 
This is the tank I had troubles cycling with (cuz ize a noob XD), but hey, ya gotta start somewhere!
The tank is a pentagon(?) corner 45 gallon tall tank. It's right about ready to be done cycling, and has a heater filter etc.
I won't be posting on cycling updates, because personally I hate reading through pictures of test tubes....sorry.
 
The tank is meant to be a molly tank, I hope to have a harem of assorted mollies. These guys were the fish I grew up with, and my mom's favorites.
 
So...bad intro, yeah, but I have some questions.
How many mollies would go in a tank like this? I hope to have a solitary male and a group of females. Yes, I know they breed.
How many cories?
Do cories of different breeds school?
Would it look best if the "harem" wasn't assorted mollies?
 
I'm getting in some new lights, T2 Fluorescent. YUM! So the lights in the pics aren't permanent.
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's an interesting scenario. To answer the question regarding stocking... it would be best to have the dimensions of the tank, rather than the volume.


Also, if this is a tall tank (which is sounds to be), you'll be more limited in stocking options. Cories are air gulpers, and appreciate a shallower tank. If this tank is more than 2 feet deep, I'd suggest that maybe you should look at a different genus. Also, be careful with the species of cory as well, as many cories really do best in soft to very soft water, and the mollies have a need for moderate to high hardness in their water (but not salt).


It might be something to look into shrimp species as the 'bottom dwellers'. Depending on the shrimp you might decide to go with, they could also help in 'culling' the young from the mollies. And that's something that you definitely need to have a plan in place for, since one male would be able to 'service' all these females and you'll be quickly overrun, without a plan.

 

[LyraGuppi]

I'll get the dimensions, and look into shrimp.
I think I may decide against a male, and go for a group of females.

And my water is as hard as a rock, so no problem for mollies.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Here's a picture of the tank from the top, and some other measurements.

And how the tank looks for now...more plants will come on the weekend.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's a fairly small footprint for a tank of that volume, so you are going to need to be fairly conservative in the stocking levels.


Is that a sponge filter you have running on the tank?

 

[LyraGuppi]

Yes, I find them very nice
 
Sorry, but I barely slept last night...what do you mean by the "footprint" statement?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The area of the base is what I am referring to in terms of the 'footprint'.

 

[LyraGuppi]

So would mollies be suitable? Or should I find something else?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Its a little smaller swimming space than ideal, certainly. I wouldn't say that it can't work... just that its not something that I would do. (Although, I also came up in fish keeping on mollies and they are my favorite fish, even to this day. And I'd be disappointed if I couldn't keep them... so I won't say 'No'.)

 

[LyraGuppi]

Okay, thank you.

Here are some ideas I have, sorry if I'm bugging you...
1: One male molly and *maybe* some smaller fish?
2: Swordtails!
3: Some other livebearer.... platy?
4. One of the Three-Spot Gouramis?
5. Rams?
6. Tiger Barbs?

 
Any other ideas?

Its a little smaller swimming space than ideal, certainly. I wouldn't say that it can't work... just that its not something that I would do. (Although, I also came up in fish keeping on mollies and they are my favorite fish, even to this day. And I'd be disappointed if I couldn't keep them... so I won't say 'No'.)

I would like them, but if it's too small I'll hold back.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Bugging me?!

No... that's what this forum is for!

1: One male molly and *maybe* some smaller fish?
2: Swordtails!
3: Some other livebearer.... platy?
4. One of the Three-Spot Gouramis?
5. Rams?
6. Tiger Barbs?

Well, the sad news is that the footprint of the tank would be small for almost all of the fish listed here.

2 - swordtails can grow even bigger than mollies.
3 - here's a thought. Platies are a bit smaller than mollies.
4 - gouramis prefer softer water, and you mentioned having hard water... plus the larger gouramis would need more space horizontally.
5 - Rams are soft water fish as well, and need a much larger footprint than you have. Generally a 20 gallon LONG or a standard 30 gallon are the minimum sized bases for them.
6 - tigers are extremely active and in such a confined space their regularly boisterous behavior could boil over in that small a swimming space. (Remember, full grown tigers are every bit of 3 inches when full grown and quite chunky.)




Your best bets would be:

Black mollies (these guys are smaller than many of the other species of molly) The males of this species (Poecilia sphenops) only grow to about 3 inches.

Platies... lots of color varieties here. And they DO NOT cross breed with mollies, so having a male molly and female platies (if you decide to go that way) would be ok.

Guppies. The male guppies certainly would be the way to go here for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is their coloration is far nicer than the females (sorry ladies!). Also there is the remote possibility of cross breeding with mollies, so avoiding females would be the safest bet.

Endlers. As with guppies... the males are more colorful.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Asking my mom if she likes that....

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If not... we can also keep looking for alternatives.


What are the specific water parameters you are dealing with?

 

[LyraGuppi]

Just hard, alkaline water.
 
But hey! My dad really likes the endlers, so do I, so we are considering Class N endlers from here:
http/orchidendlers.com/product-category/orchid-endlers/
 
Excited, thanks so much for all your help. And patience.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Great!

These are livebearers, so you will end up with the same fry issue as mollies... only worse! Endlers and guppies rarely eat their own fry. Mollies will eat their own fry.


It might not be a bad idea to mix in a platy or 3... males would be best. These could act as 'natural cullers'. (Sad I know, but with endlers and guppies you'll be over run before you know it.)


And if you are still thinking about shrimp... some shrimp will also help to keep your numbers of fry down a bit. You don't want the biggest shrimp (like Amano Shrimp) with endlers, because the endlers are so small themselves. But, others might help out, even cherry shrimp might help, as the endler fry is so very small at first.