Molly being aggressive

I feel like everyone has given up on this, but I do have to say that my tank is a lot more peaceful. The molly is still "territorial" when I feed them, but all my fish get food. She's also looking very... rotund. even before feeding time. perhaps she's pregnant, although most likely with muppies and not mollies. *sigh* when do I get a break??

 

I dout that it will be a guppy cross. Those are very rare. Livebeares can give birth up to 6 months after mating with a male.

 

okay, it was hard to tell if she was slightly pregnant or just fat from food when I first got her, but at this point her belly is getting squared.

 

It is very common to get them pregnant from the store.

 

yeah, she appeared to be the last molly in the specific tank so she must have been waiting for a good opportunity haha

 

I have 3 mollys in a 10 gal fully cycled tank. 2 females and a male. the male keeps picking on the females pushing them around, biting, bumping, chasing. I was told that he would probably chase them some but not relentlessly. if its not to one of the girls then it is to the other. Any idea what this is about? anything I can do?

 

Hiya! Your first problem is your tank size. Mollies are mean buggers when not provided with the proper space. You're going to want at least 20 gallons for 3 mollies, and even then, they could still cause trouble. Mollies are brats, plain and simple.

 

they'll be getting moved into a 35 once it's cycled

 

My female Dalmatian Molly is pretty aggressive at times. Very social fish but I can say they need space to get away from the male. The move into that new tank will make them happy

 

they'll be getting moved into a 35 once it's cycled

Is there fish you are planning to leave in the 10 gal? Because you can always put the filter from the 10 gal on the 35 to instant cycle it. Or, even just take some of the filter media from it and put it in. The longer these girls stay under such stress the more likely they will get sick and eventually die.

When you do move them over, I suggest adding one more nice sized female. Hopefully this will calm the male down.

I have a black molly male who is a mean lil bugger, he was relentless in bullying my creamy girl. So I showed him, I took all his girls away from him and added all male fish..HAHA...

 

That'll teach him Tuna! Great idea.

 

I tried to chill my female Dalmation out by giving her a boyfriend, and instead she taught him out to beat up my 9 inch long goldfish >.<

 

Wow.... aggressive!

 

I know! Little jerks <.< They had a whole 150 gallons to not bother anyone, and yet they seek out the biggest fish they can find and pick on 'em lol Mollies are hillarious

 

A trick that sometimes helps is to put in the subdominant fish and let them get settled for about 2-3 weeks, then add the bully. Gives them a chance to establish their space and start feeling like they can stand up for themselves.

Even so, my biggest molly pushed the other around A LOT for a while. Now they're like best friends aside from the occasional shove (usually at mealtime.)

 

hahaha the funny thing is that its mainly the smallest of all the mollies beating up on mostly the biggest one. and the biggest one is the one that's been in there longest. By at least 3 months. he's he newest addition to the tank. my plan is to use the 10 gal as a quarantine/ maturity tank

 

You mean maternity?

 

yes yes I do spell check gone wrong lol

 

I have a 29 gallon with what is now 8 glo tetras(the white/black skirt ones) and 1 Dalmatian Molly. There were more mollies in the beginning until this Molly killed the others. This fish goes through phases of being nice and than it chases the other fish. It seems that it darts at that but doesn’t nip them. Plenty of hiding places/plants and what not. I’ve quarantined the Molly in a five gallon bucket with an air stone and put it back in. Not sure what else to do but it disrupts a peaceful community pretty often.

 

Molly’s seem to be hit or miss. They’re known as “peaceful” but the first one I got immediately started attacking all my fish, and others have reported similar behavior. Fish are individuals, sometimes you can’t just throw the whole species into “aggressive” or “peaceful”. Best bet for you is to return or rehome the molly.

 

We had mollies for awhile that were usually nice but they did pick on the males til they died.

 

IME, mollies can be pretty aggressive. I had three originally and the female bullied one of my males to death and now picks on my corys all the time.
I do not recommend mollies for beginners because their temperaments can vary a lot.
I would probably rehome the molly.

 

Rehoming might be your best option for that guy. However, I have in the past trained the aggression out of a fish (tiger barb) by scooping it into a small cup whenever I catch it attacking other fish. After 3 or 4 times, it calmed down and lived peacefully for 2 more years. So you could try that if you're determined to keep this molly.

 

Rehoming might be your best option for that guy. However, I have in the past trained the aggression out of a fish (tiger barb) by scooping it into a small cup whenever I catch it attacking other fish. After 3 or 4 times, it calmed down and lived peacefully for 2 more years. So you could try that if you're determined to keep this molly.

Fish are so smart.

 

I’ve had the Molly for months now, I doubt a store would take it back. It’s also decent sized and would probably die in the stores little tanks now. Anyone know someone looking for a fish!?

 

I have a 90g with about 20. I find the more the better. and more females.
In my 20g long I have 6 gold panda lyretail mollies. They all get along.
I think its hit or miss. Males definitely will be relentless if you don't have enough females

 

I had a few when I was starting out. I got rid of them because I was tired of them chasing the corys away every time it looked like one of them had found something to eat.

 

I have a 90g with about 20. I find the more the better. and more females.
In my 20g long I have 6 gold panda lyretail mollies. They all get along.
I think its hit or miss. Males definitely will be relentless if you don't have enough females

I had a few when I was starting out. I got rid of them because I was tired of them chasing the corys away every time it looked like one of them had found something to eat.

the Molly will be completely fine sometimes. From time to time it looks like it’s almost schooling with the other fish but randomly decides it’s the ruler of the tank and will dart at the other. My african dwarf frogs will go at it if it tries to take their blood worms it’s actually pretty funny. Normally at night the Molly is fine and they all hang out. Not sure but maybe it’s just letting all the others know it rules. My black skirt tetra is fairly large along with a few others so idk

 

Like others have said each fish has its own personalities. It could be craving female mollies. Or he could just be a slightly aggressive guy. I know my male molly and male platy both puff up their aggression when new tank mates are introduced. But they both calm back down by day 2. My male molly has 3 female molly companions but pretends 2 of them dont exist, so the 1 he likes gets more attention than she can handle sometimes. They are their own fish. Best of luck.

 

Like others have said each fish has its own personalities. It could be craving female mollies. Or he could just be a slightly aggressive guy. I know my male molly and male platy both puff up their aggression when new tank mates are introduced. But they both calm back down by day 2. My male molly has 3 female molly companions but pretends 2 of them dont exist, so the 1 he likes gets more attention than she can handle sometimes. They are their own fish. Best of luck.

Based off the fin it looks like a female Molly