Molly New Aggressive Behavior

HI everyone,

I need some advise and I will try to be as specific as possible. I have a 60 gallon tank which has been running since beginning of March. We cycled the tank and had the water tested multiple times over 4 weeks before adding fish. We added our fish 2-3 depending on size at a time. We did not over stock the tank. We checked water quality every time before adding fish.

We have 2 Gourami, 2 Molly, 1 German Ram, 2 Cory, 10 Neon Tetras, 1 Angel.

I have continued to check the water periodically and we do water changes as recommended.

All these fish have been living happily in the tank for several weeks. Until today where I noticed my Molly's acting weird. They are both female. All of the sudden the Dalmation Molly is chasing and irritating the Balloon Molly. Interestingly, the German Ram tries to interfere and drive off the Dalmation and sort of guards the Balloon.

Based on reading. have done and trying to observe the Balloon she may be pregnant?

QUESTION: What do I do? Will this

 

stress out my Molly? Here is a photo of the tank.

And I posted the video on Youtube here is the link

 

My female Dalmatian molly annoys my balloon molly all the time, too! haha

The best advice I can give would be to add some more decorations with cave-like areas for the balloon to hide in if she feels threatened. Adding a floating plant (like Hornwort) could help, too. When she gets chased, my balloon's first instinct is to hide, and that usually does the trick of getting the Dalmatian to leave her alone.

Good luck

 

Mollies can be jerks. My son has been desperately asking for some for his tank and we have one that will NOT allow any other mollies to live in the tank. She's has harassed them to death (all females and came from an all female tank so no one's knocked up). After a couple of attempts she's the only Molly until I finish one of my new builds for another jerk fish I have and the two ornery ladies will be housed together. Mollies in my experience (not just this go around but in the past as well) can be a bit temperamental similarly to many fish they are generally fairly amiable but the jerks are out there more frequently than we'd like.

Could try returning her and trying again or adding several (5+) to see if it disperses her attitude among them rather than one or two unlucky fish.

 

HI everyone,

I need some advise and I will try to be as specific as possible. I have a 60 gallon tank which has been running since beginning of March. We cycled the tank and had the water tested multiple times over 4 weeks before adding fish. We added our fish 2-3 depending on size at a time. We did not over stock the tank. We checked water quality every time before adding fish.

We have 2 Gourami, 2 Molly, 1 German Ram, 2 Cory, 10 Neon Tetras, 1 Angel.

I have continued to check the water periodically and we do water changes as recommended.

All these fish have been living happily in the tank for several weeks. Until today where I noticed my Molly's acting weird. They are both female. All of the sudden the Dalmation Molly is chasing and irritating the Balloon Molly. Interestingly, the German Ram tries to interfere and drive off the Dalmation and sort of guards the Balloon.

Based on reading. have done and trying to observe the Balloon she may be pregnant?

QUESTION: What do I do? Will this

Hello Jen...

How well is your tank planted and are you adding any aquarium salt to the water? Plants, especially the floating kind help the fish feel comfortable by providing places to hide and plants add nutrients to the fishes' diet. Anacharis and Hornwort are good species. Just drop individual stems into the tank. They grow quickly floating directly under the light source. Mollies are the most difficult of the livebearing fish to keep. They have very specific diet and water chemistry requirements. They need a bit of standard aquarium salt added to their water. A teaspoon for every 5 gallons of replacement water is enough. It will help if the fish are stressed and aids in their breathing. This amount is fine for the other fish and won't damage your aquatic plants. You should work up to the point you change out at least 50 percent of tank water weekly. Mollies are very sensitive to traces of nitrogen like nitrates in the water. Pure water conditions is the most important thing to keeping fish healthy.

Old

 

You have stocking issues if you'd like to discuss it

Please don't add salt to the tank - it's not necessary and can harm your other fish and plants. Mollies are not hard to keep.

Balloon mollies are deformed and live shorter lives, often less healthy ones. Fish will pick on other fish they perceive as weak, and this may be the case here.

Adding more tall decor may help too, as it can break the lines of sight.