Molly help needed

[sailorcozmoz]

Hi everyone I'm glad that there's someone out here to help and answer questions.
I recently inherited a few young Mollies from my boy friend, as he had recently gotten big fish that would have eaten them (as was the fate of their parents ). There are five larger ones (about 2.5 cm long) from an early fry, and two little ones (about 1.5 cm). I had tried to decide which were male and female among the bigger ones for some time, and couldn't tell the difference. Then I got online today and found how to tell. It seems all five large ones are male and the two small ones are female! What's the best thing I can do for my fishies?
I appriciate any ideas

SC

 

[William]

Whats the problem exactly? What size tank are they in at the moment? Sexing young livebearers can be difficult and the only guide is after 1" when they can accurately be sexed so the small ones you've got which may appear female now but may actually be male.

Not sure what the problem is but feed them 2/3 times a day on small amounts of finely crushed flake food, you know they are tropical right?

 

[sailorcozmoz]

Well...it's a 20 gal tank. Basically, I don't really know how they'll behave when they're older...They won't be mean to each other if there are too many males? And say at least one of the little ones is female...is it healthy to have that ratio of male to female? I suppose if the males aren't competitive or anything it'd be all right...are they?

Thanks for your patience

 

[William]

Well...it's a 20 gal tank. Basically, I don't really know how they'll behave when they're older...They won't be mean to each other if there are too many males? And say at least one of the little ones is female...is it healthy to have that ratio of male to female? I suppose if the males aren't competitive or anything it'd be all right...are they?

Thanks for your patience

That ratio is a bit extreme, the best ratio is about 2 females for each male to stop the females getting over harrassed. Some of your larger fish at 1" may be taken by your lfs and perhaps you can trade them in for females or part exchange. Most fish shops aren't that keen on taking in livebearers because they can buy them in bulk very cheaply and so don't need hobbyist's fish but its always worth a try especially if they are not a chain store