Mollys

[This Old Spouse]

I have two male and one female molly. I know, I know, I need more females. But it's the dead of winter and I need to find a temporary solution to keep the female from getting harassed to death. I've tried putting her in with my female guppies and she harassed them terribly. Then I put her in a 5g tank by herself and she went crazy, so now she's back in the 55g getting nipped at constantly by the males. Should I try putting them in the 5g by themselves until I can get some females? Please help, as I don't want to lose her. She's a red albino.

Thanks!

 

[lilfishie]

could you not divide part of the tank off temperarily until you can get more females?

i personally have found mollies do alright in pairs so maybe try removing the more aggressive male and see if that helps

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'd love to find a new home for the more aggressive male. We bought 6 mollies at our LFS (an all-day trip) and when we got home discovered 2 dead males and one injured female. Found out later it was due to the one male. The injured female later died, and then we discovered one of the two remaining females was actually an immature male. He just follows the other one everywhere.

So do you think I should put the aggressive male in the 5g for now? Or will he go crazy in there?

 

[lilfishie]

got to be worth a try, he probably won't like it, but if its the only solution for now he will have to like it

 

[This Old Spouse]

Nothing short of amazing. I put the aggressive male in the 5g last night, and it's as if someone flipped on the personality switches for the remaining fish in the 55g! Everyone has come out of hiding! The only fish who seems to be suffering is the other male molly. The poor little guy doesn't seem to know what to do without the big one. I may end up putting him in the 5g as well.

It's just wonderful seeing the female molly out and about without a care in the world. Even the tiger barbs are more active and not hanging out by the heater. The best news is the corys ... they were all but invisible prior to the move but now I can see them snuffling all over. LOVE IT!!!

 

[OldMan47]

Why ruin a nice male molly by letting him copy a less desirable one? Leave the young male with the other fish. He will be fine.
Corydoras are among my favorite fish, aside from my rare livebearers. They are very entertaining in groups of 6 or more. I like to keep mine in groups of at least 10 in my larger tanks. There are few other fish quite as playful. I shy away from tiger barbs because they can prove a bit too aggressive for my peaceful tanks. Many people love them though, as I do when they are in a single species tank.

 

[This Old Spouse]

This may all be moot. My female looks like she's developed white spot. I've never had to deal with this before. What should I do? Do I need to remove her from my 55g?

 

[OldMan47]

I have a link in my signature area to some ich info. I find the methods suggested there are quite effective on the rare occasion that I must deal with ich. The real benefit of that location is that they take the time to explain what ich really is and how its life cycle works. Once you understand that you will no longer make any of the most common ich treatment mistakes.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I don't know that she had white spot (Ich) at all. But she's dead and I'm keeping a close watch on the rest of the fish. So far so good. Just did a 25% water change.

 

[OldMan47]

Please read through that linked article on the skeptical aquarist site. If you indeed had ich in the tank, it is still present. Understanding what you are dealing with is the first step to effective treatments. The fish industry loses more fish to ich each year than to any other cause.
The problem is simple, large scale fish breeders cannot afford to make the effective treatments that we hobbyists can use in our homes. How do you raise the temperature of a half acre pond by several degrees? How can you use salt to treat the fish for a 7 to 10 day period and then reduce the salt content gradually over a period of time on a pond that size? A fish tank is far easier to deal with and simple antibiotics do not help with ich.