MiniMeg

Thinking of getting a 6 inch fancy goldfish for our 55g tank, but will it eat the 3 inch mollies?

Nick G

Probably not, however something to consider is that Goldfish are Coldwater fish wheras Mollies are tropical. A Goldfish won't do well in warm water.

MissMTS

The goldfish won't eat the mollies, but you need to consider their temperature requirements. Goldies like temps in the 60's to low 70's while mollies like warmer water. I would not advise putting them in a tank together because not all of the fish will be able to live in ideal conditions.

MiniMeg

Hmm.. from the research that I have done I set the mollies at around 74-75 degrees, thats the temp I found. As far as I can tell they are alright with that, they have been breeding like crazy and at the moment I have about 21 fry from 2 females. (I'm going to be selling the fry back to the fish shop to avoid any inbreeding) I've been told that fish only breed when they are in conditions that they find to be acceptable. Also thats in the temperature range for the goldfish from all of the sites I have seen..

MeGustaUnaPez926

A goldfish can survive at 74*, but he will certainly not thrive. They have much longer, healthier, happier lives in a tank in the mid 60's.
As the the mollies breeding, yes I suppose if you put them in an unsuitable tank they wouldn't breed, but I don't think thats really fair.
I would return the mollies to the store if you don't want them to breed, and then use the tank for another purpose, whether it be goldfish (you could put around 4 in your tank) or something else. Good luck!

gremlin

Another thing to remember - the mollies like the temperature to stay about the same all the time. The goldies like a bit warmer in the day and a bit cooler at night. They prefer the water temperature to change from day to night. That type of changing temperature would be too stressful for the mollies, and the constant same temperature (while it may be in the proper range) could be too stressful for the goldfish.

aquarist48

Gold fish will eat the fry should any of the mollies mate successfully. However, as stated above I think the Gold fish should have it's own tank.