Parrot Fish And Balloon Molly

Hello! I’ve had a mystery snail and balloon molly for about 6 months now, both about 2 inches big. I recently got a baby parrot fish that’s slightly larger, probably about 2.5 inches. I watched it’s behavior at the pet store and it was the smallest and calmest of the bunch.. now fast forward almost two days later.. this baby parrot is chasing my molly. It’s not all day but when it happens it’s persistent and it’s to the point where my poor molly is exhausted and obviously stressed. I’ve added some stress coat. The parrot fish is timid otherwise- dashes into the cave I have half the time and hangs out in there. Also there’s times when they are by each other and so uninterested. It’s strange. I know parrot fish are a cichlid and can be aggressive but I figured with similar size and it being a baby, it would be fine. I really don’t want to bring her back I’m hoping this will get better over time Thoughts? Advice? Opinions? All welcome. Thanks in advance

 

What size tank is this? Honestly, it's not a community fish as a lot of websites and LFS claim (for some reason), and you can even keep them with Red Devils. At my store I've observed them with many different tank mates, and they're usually the aggressor. Not to mention them getting about 8 inches.

 

My money is on the BP to eventually kill the molly. People think that BP are timid and peaceful fish but they are Cichilds and I’ve seen them bully the heck out of everything.

They’ll hog the food and will chase smaller fish or cichlids into submission.

I would either take out the BP or the Molly.

 

Its a 20 gallon tank. On the smaller side I know but I figured for the time being and near future it would be okay

 

Too small, not compatible. I’d urge you to rehome the Parrot.

 

Yeah I made up my mind. As long as my molly survives til the morning, I’ll be returning the baby parrot. Unfortunately it’s just too much Super upsetting

 

You could always set up a bigger tank in the future!

 

I hope to. I’ve just been on a really unlucky run with fish lately. So discouraging

 

The biggest thing is to research about the fish you are wanting to try and get compatible ones. Parrots are nasty most of the time, with very few being peaceable towards other fish. They do get pretty big, the two I currently have are hand sized - about 4-5 inches in length with an inch or two of tail.