Mollie Being A Bully

[the_lock_man]

I have a mollie who was bullying the other 2 in my tank, and also my pair of bronze cories. I found one of the mollies dead yesterday. She didn't appear to have been ill (not that I'm an expert in such things), so I'm wondering if it's the stress of being bullied that killed her.

The bully is currently leaving the zebra danios and the platys alone.

Obviously, I'd rather she didn't bully any more into an early grave, so what is my best course of action?

Thanks!

 

[razer121]

i have a male molly who is a bully, killed my 1 of my females he harrashed her so much also lost 2 guppys which i swear is down to him constantly chasing them....either way im unsure how you can "train" him out of the behaviour other then removing him from the tank all togther, ive tryed the whole moving him to his own tank then reintroducting him and it didnt work, did for a few days but then he when back to his old self, so moral of the story here.....i dont think you can stop him from being a bully

 

[the_lock_man]

Went to my LFS on Saturday, mentioned the problem, they suggested putting a male in to try to keep the bully-girl in check. Seems to have worked, as well.

 

[razer121]

untill your male becomes aggressive over the female lol, good luck with that one mate

 

[the_lock_man]

untill your male becomes aggressive over the female lol, good luck with that one mate

He has two females as company, and so far, well, let's just say I'm expecting some awkward questions from the kids......

 

[Jenste]

haha....any idea what you will do with surviving fry?

 

[the_lock_man]

haha....any idea what you will do with surviving fry?

I'm assuming I won't get any surviving fry - I haven't with my female platy, I've never even seen any fry from her (I am assuming she's pregnant, she's a platy and she's a fatty). If I do get any, then I'll give them away.

 

[OldMan47]

If the approach has worked for you, that is great. I have often had a molly, either sex happens, who was in a mixed tank to start with. The aggressive male or female did not seem to be affected by the fact that the opposite sex was present. Compared to most livebearers, mollies can be quite aggressive and are very tolerant of wide ranges of the water's mineral content.
They are the only ones I know of that can go from straight fresh water one week to pure ocean salt water the next week. None of the "salt water" fish can do that and it will kill most freshwater fish, including the other common livebearers. I have seen some advice on some gobies being brackish fish but do not know if even those can handle such a rapid and large change in mineral content.

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanks, Oldman.

She has definitely calmed down a lot - except at feeding time, when she'll chase both the other mollies (m & f) and the corys. She completely ignores all the other species though.

 

[OldMan47]

That sounds typical of a dominant molly expressing itself.