Molly is bullying Guppies

[Kirstie]

Hey guys,

I must say that i've never encountered a problem like this in the past with my fish! I recently (around december) bought a female dalmation lyre-tail molly called Oreo! She has been a very hardy fish and got along with the others seemingly well. Now, the ruling female of my tank, Felicity (swordtail), she is the biggest and oldest, died last week, and ever since then, the bullying has been getting worse. I thought it might be that the Oreo was trying to establish herself as leader, but it shouldn't have been enough of a problem for her to constantly bite them, because they're very submissive. There are another 3 male swordtails in my tank and she never bothers them and vice versa, she only goes after my 2 female guppies. I have put a divider in my tank and 75% of the tank belongs to the adult fish and 25% belongs to my rapidly growing guppy babies! Bullying never happened before I put the divider in, not that I saw anyway! I did, for about a month keep her in a fry basket, but that's no way to keep a fish permanently. I'm worried that she's going to kill my guppies!!!!!!! Help!

 

[William]

Hi there kirsty, sounds like your molly is getting a bit feisty. I reckon a male molly should help to calm her down significantly because mollies are not generally known for their bullying, its always best to keep livebearers with a few of their own species anyway.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks! I'll look into doing that. Right now, my tank is undergoing major crisis and fish are dropping dead everywhere, but i have fixed the problem, rid my tank of diseases and i expect they'll be well on their way to recovery! Here's hoping!

 

[William]

Thanks! I'll look into doing that. Right now, my tank is undergoing major crisis and fish are dropping dead everywhere, but i have fixed the problem, rid my tank of diseases and i expect they'll be well on their way to recovery! Here's hoping!

good luck!