Sailfin Molly... Pairs Or Not?

[karl2784]

Hi

I have successful tropical fish tank, in there I have one sailfin molly. (obviously other fish too!!) but I have noticed he isn't really putting on weight (hes paper thin) and his colour has never been bright etc but he is always swimming about and is active as any other fish.

Do Sailfin Mollies have to be in pairs? I have noticed at the shop where i go they only sell them in pairs, and i have seen this in other shops too. I have a dalmation molly and a black lyretail molly too.

any advice welcome.

Thanks

 

[TetraLinz]

They shouldn't be kept in pairs at all. They should be kept in a ratio of 1 male to 2 or 3 females. Pairing them up will lead to the female being constantly harrassed by the male - and that will eventually kill her.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

These are normally sold in pairs because males are usually sold (with his magnificant sailfin display) and then your pet store is stuck with a tank full of females.... so to force the customer to also buy the "dull" female, they sell them in pairs.

Because these males are such "busy bodies" when there are females around, I usually go for a ratio of 1 to (at least) 5.