My community tank:
15 gallon.
5 neon tetras.
6 small barbs (thought to be cherry barbs, but am now debating that conclusion)
5 panda corys
1 black molly (male).
1 dalmation molly (female).
Now, before someone yells at me regarding the female molly in with the male;
The Female molly is sterile. I bought her 6 months ago, and she's not at all pregnant despite the fact that she came from a mixed gender tank and has been in a mixed gender tank since. Her body is slightly deformed, but it doesn't affect her at all, and so I've kept her. (Plus, she's striking in colour).
Anyway,
Over the past few days, my black molly has been harder and harder to find. He's always hiding out around the back of the tank by the heater and filter. The last time this happened, he had ick and I was able to treat it. I coaxed him out from behind the plants to the front of the tank so I could check out his fins and body, and couldn't see any irregularities or illnesses.
I was monitoring the tank today, trying to figure out what had my Molly hiding so much. I grabbed the container of flake and dropped into the tank. Instantly the feeding frenzy began. The cory's were zooming around the gravel looking for their algae tab, the neons were attacking flake that fell into the mid-range of the tank (they never eat from the surface.. they always attack the falling flake), the barbs and the mollys headed to the surface to nibble.
The Female molly attacked the male molly's side. Almost as if she were sucking on his sides every time he tried to grab food from the surface. He quickly retreated to the back of the tank again. Each time he tried to come to the surface for food, she'd attack his sides and he'd hide again. I managed to net the female molly and put her into a breeder net temporarily until I can figure out what to do about this problem.
I'm currently treating the tank with StressCoat and PimaFix.
Would introducing a 3rd molly help distribute the aggression between the two I currently have?
What would cause my dalmation molly to act like this?
15 gallon.
5 neon tetras.
6 small barbs (thought to be cherry barbs, but am now debating that conclusion)
5 panda corys
1 black molly (male).
1 dalmation molly (female).
Now, before someone yells at me regarding the female molly in with the male;
The Female molly is sterile. I bought her 6 months ago, and she's not at all pregnant despite the fact that she came from a mixed gender tank and has been in a mixed gender tank since. Her body is slightly deformed, but it doesn't affect her at all, and so I've kept her. (Plus, she's striking in colour).
Anyway,
Over the past few days, my black molly has been harder and harder to find. He's always hiding out around the back of the tank by the heater and filter. The last time this happened, he had ick and I was able to treat it. I coaxed him out from behind the plants to the front of the tank so I could check out his fins and body, and couldn't see any irregularities or illnesses.
I was monitoring the tank today, trying to figure out what had my Molly hiding so much. I grabbed the container of flake and dropped into the tank. Instantly the feeding frenzy began. The cory's were zooming around the gravel looking for their algae tab, the neons were attacking flake that fell into the mid-range of the tank (they never eat from the surface.. they always attack the falling flake), the barbs and the mollys headed to the surface to nibble.
The Female molly attacked the male molly's side. Almost as if she were sucking on his sides every time he tried to grab food from the surface. He quickly retreated to the back of the tank again. Each time he tried to come to the surface for food, she'd attack his sides and he'd hide again. I managed to net the female molly and put her into a breeder net temporarily until I can figure out what to do about this problem.
I'm currently treating the tank with StressCoat and PimaFix.
Would introducing a 3rd molly help distribute the aggression between the two I currently have?
What would cause my dalmation molly to act like this?
