Skyline

Hey i was told that angel fish would do well with mollies, and platys but in fact its the exact opposite, i just bought two angelfish from Petco and now the mollies and platys i have in my 55 gallon tank fin-nipped my angelfish, they even killed one of the them. I think its because they are males but i saw a small female fin-nipping too.


It used to just be the angel fish that was black and white that they bothered but now they are starting to bother the silver one, he got so stressed because he was getting attacked by 3 mollies at a time, and now he has Ick so i put him in a Q-tank just so he couldn't affect the other fish. I could really appreciate some help as to why my silver mollies have been acting so aggressive, i have two and they are both female, do you guys think i should get some females?

Lately the mollies have been going around pecking at rocks and other fish but they just attacked the angelfish...

Would appreciate the help thanks guys!


P.S.

55 gallon tank

2 iridescent sharks
3 ghost shrimp (really fun to watch)
2 Pictus catfish
2 Dalmatian mollies 1 male, 1 female
2 Silver mollies Both Males
2 Swordtails 1 male 1 female
2 Angelfish (1 now dead - and 1 in quarantine tank)
1 Catfish i don't know what he is but he is small, brown with white dots and he loves to hide
2 tetras of some sort - they are crazy run around and have beautiful fins so its fun to watch them


P.S.S. Thanks

armadillo

Waw. That sounds really bad. I hope your 2nd angel makes it. I housed 2 angels with 7 mollies (mostly dalmatian sailfin mollies - 2 males and 5 females) and had no problem. Just some thoughts as to what could be contributing:

My tank was heavily planted, though, and had lots of places to hide.

I know that with temperatures of > 25 degrees, my male mollies started to act up (against other mollies, though).

When introducing new fish, it's a good idea to move the decorations around, to prevent the existing ones from getting too territorial.

Have you been very good at not overfeeding them? I know that the day I fast mine, they get more aggressive (again, towards each other, though).

I hope you find what's wrong and are able to house the angel back in the community tank. Good luck.

Skyline

Hmmm..

I don't have too many places for my fish to hide...maybe that might be the problem, i will try to get some more plants and places for them to hide, also i don't overfeed because that creates HUGE algae problems in my tank, i guess its just the character of my mollies, their is this one silver mollie he swims around looking grumpy and bothering other fish, he is the bully of the tank..anyway i can fix this?

armadillo

Lots of hiding places could really help. Although I had a fish being bullied by all the other fish, and he never went to hide, silly bugger. Things just calmed down after a couple of days, but I was pretty worried. Again, this was molly vs. molly. My mollies pretty much ignored the angels.

I see what you mean about overfeeding.

Could you temp be a bit too high? (like, could you consider dropping it to 25? I know it's then associated with increased risk of disease for livebearers, but hey, rock and hard place and all that).

If the worst comes to the worst, would you be willing to set up an angels-only tank? Would be a bit of an investment considering you only have one angel left, I guess.

Ooooh, one last thought. I heard that a lot of people give their bullies time outs. They just place them in the maternity unit in the community tank for a day or too. Apparently, it brings them down a notch. I tried and I have to say my male was as bad as ever as soon as I placed him back, but it's worth a shot.

Skyline

Hmmm, i definitely don't have enough $ to start another tank, or the time for that matter...i guess i will just have to wait and see what happens.

Maybe if i get more female mollies the male one's wont be so grumpy. Maybe the little guy is just a little angry 'cause he has no girlfriend.

armadillo

I definitely try to keep my livebearer (well, mollies only in my case, but as they interbreed) male-female ratio to at least 3 females per male. But on the other hand, when I have too many males, the aggression is between each other and harassing the females, rather than against other species of fish.

COBettaCouple

Angels have a tendancy to 'buddy-up' and go after all the other fish, including other angels. trying to isolate a bullying fish works - sometimes.. i'd rearrange the tank while the bully is out to help with the attitude adjustment. with mollies it is important to keep that male female ratio if you have both genders.

leala3400

your meant to have more then 2 angels in a tank ofter wise the make the other life's **** its best to have 3 or more or just 1

COBettaCouple

3 angels can often result in a dead one, some members here have experienced this. when a pair buddy up and/or are ready to mate, they can and often do kill even other angels.