Possibly Stressed Out Molly?

[chrisdenyer]

Hi all, was wondering if anyone has any insight into some strange Molly behaviour? I moved two of my 4 month olds into a temprary 30L as my main 90L tank was a little crowded (my first four mollies, who were supposed to all be female, weren't...population now under control!) They seemed pretty happy at first but one of them has started obsessively nosing the glass near the bottom left corner, rubbing it from side to side fairly energetically, so much so that she wore a crater in the sand! I wondered if it was just lack of space at first, so swapped it for a 45L (literally bagged them, emptied the water into a bucket which I floated them in along with all the live plants and rocks (with a heater in there too), while I sieved and transferred the substrate into the new tank, then set it up with the old water, same filter etc and moved them in straight away, topping it up with fresh conditioned water temperature matched so that it was essentially no more invasive than a normal water change (well, apart from the fact that they were bagged and moved...) They were both fine for the first day, but then she started doing it again, in the same relative spot that she did in the 30L. She doesn't there all the time, she spends a fair amount nosing around the tank with her friend and eats enthusiastically but keeps going back to the same spot...which looks like stress behaviour but when she isn't doing it she's happy enough. I wonder whether it's still a little on the small side, or whether there's not enough in there to interest them, there are a reasonable number of plants in there but nothing like the tank that they were used to!
 
NB, the 30L had been housing a pair of dwarf puffers, and was fully cycled with good water quality. I decided to do the tank swap like I did (rather than putting them back in the main tank while I set it up) to avoid having to put them through being netted and bagged twice.
 

 

 

[aandltruckingsav]

My mollies do weird things also. It is like a soap opera in my tank.

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[chrisdenyer]

Definitely a soap opera... I had a weird theory that she might have been trying to get back to her old tank. I don't think that could actually be a thing because she couldn't see it, but the corner was right above it....maybe she's a psychic fish? I decided to move them back in the end, their siblings were very happy, coming up to say hello while I was acclimatising them! Put my rummynose tetra in the 10g instead. 

 

[NickAu]

 
I moved two of my 4 month olds into a temprary 30L as my main 90L

I would be upset also if you put me in a smaller tank/room
 

 
Definitely a soap opera..

I used to have mollies in a 6 foot tank, I sold them and put Tetras in the tank, I managed to catch all the mollies but 1 male.
For the last few weeks I have been trying to catch him and re house him, Easy I hear you say, Not so hes a sneaky little bugger, I can hand feed him no problem but as soon as he spots the net he is off like a rocket. Ever try catching a mollie who dont want to be caught in a 6 foot heavily planted tank?
 
I will give anybody that catches him $100 AUD as long as they don't mess the plants up or injure the fish. I even tried using a divider and he jumped over it.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

 
I moved two of my 4 month olds into a temprary 30L as my main 90L

I would be upset also if you put me in a smaller tank/room
 

 
Definitely a soap opera..

I used to have mollies in a 6 foot tank, I sold them and put Tetras in the tank, I managed to catch all the mollies but 1 male.
For the last few weeks I have been trying to catch him and re house him, Easy I hear you say, Not so hes a sneaky little bugger, I can hand feed him no problem but as soon as he spots the net he is off like a rocket. Ever try catching a mollie who dont want to be caught in a 6 foot heavily planted tank?
 
I will give anybody that catches him $100 AUD as long as they don't mess the plants up or injure the fish. I even tried using a divider and he jumped over it.


 
You pay for my airfare, and I'll be there this weekend.

 

[chrisdenyer]

Hah yes, my main tank is heavily planted - the only reason I chose to move the two mollies in the first place was because they were the easiest to net (having been born there so never experienced it before...) I'm quite pleased with myself for managing to catch all the tetras in the end to move them instead! Although one did swim head first into the sand and got stuck there while I was chasing it with the net, I gave them a dose of stress coat while I acclimatised them to chill them out! 

 

[HAMBONE]

possibly..

 

[Guppy_molly_love]

hmm very weird indeed. Will she stop when you feed her? If she does, maybe she's just trying to get your attention

 

[chrisdenyer]

she didn't stop for anything, but they're back in the big tank with their friends now so much happier!