Problem Male Mollies Chasing One Female

So back in March we ended up keeping 2 of the fry that our female had. Well now they are 5 months old and turns out they are both male. So now we have 3 males and 2 females.. and all 3 males keep attacking the same female and not our other female. I’m not sure what to do or which fish to give away. it’s hard to pick.
I don’t want her to die because of them all attacking her. How do you pick which fish to give away

 

Can you buy more female to see if that helps? What type of fish

 

What fish? If they are a live bearer I’d get more females.

 

They are Dalmatian mollies and 1 balloon molly. Our problem is our tank is too small already

 

What size tank?

 

Rehome the males, I know it is hard to get rid of fish you have raised, but just molly males in a tank often ends badly because males don't leave the other fish alone.

 

What size tank?

20 gallon. We know it’s too small for mollies but we can’t upgrade and haven’t had any problems until these 2 fry have gotten bigger.

Rehome the males, I know it is hard to get rid of fish you have raised, but just molly males in a tank often ends badly because males don't leave the other fish alone.

That’s what my boyfriend said. It does suck. I feel bad for our female. It’s constant attacking.

 

I’d rehome all females, I know you don’t want too but that’s the best for the fish

 

That’s what my boyfriend said. It does suck. I feel bad for our female. It’s constant attacking.

Separate her and the other female from the males, the constant stress will kill her.

 

Separate her and the other female from the males, the constant stress will kill her.

We don’t have another tank so have to give away. We also have like 30 fry that she just had 3 days ago. Ugh

 

Maybe you could try adding more hiding places and plants. Hopefully it is enough to stop the constant attck. If not, you definitely have to separate the females from the males.

 

Can you set up a temporary bin for until you can rehome them?

 

Can you set up a temporary bin for until you can rehome them?

What would you need for that?

 

A heavy duty storage bin and a spare filter. I have a few I set up/take down For quarantine and sorting my fry. It's not as pretty but it keeps them happy. If you can spare some excess plants or decorations Id recommend putting at least something in there with them so they have places to hide.

I usually kickstart the cycle by borrowing a bit of media from one of my tanks

Also if you have issues rehoming them and don't mind shipping feel free to shoot me a message.

I'd also recommend rehoming the females cuz they'll overrun you with fry every month lol

 

I was breeding mollies until my breeding male committed suicide. I now only keep females as I have found that males fight constantly. Even having 7 females for 2 males, I had to separate the males. My other male died of injuries. The females will only have babies until they have given birth to all the babies they want. Given that your fish are still young they may not give you many babies. My girls only had 5 to 6 babies in the first breeding and haven’t had anything since. My mollies are now appropriately 9 months old and they are all happy.

 

I was breeding mollies until my breeding male committed suicide. I now only keep females as I have found that males fight constantly. Even having 7 females for 2 males, I had to separate the males. My other male died of injuries. The females will only have babies until they have given birth to all the babies they want. Given that your fish are still young they may not give you many babies. My girls only had 5 to 6 babies in the first breeding and haven’t had anything since. My mollies are now appropriately 9 months old and they are all happy.

Oh my gosh.... makes sense. Our adult male has had 2 injuries we think. He had weird fin damage not too long ago and we healed him with fish mox and now all of a sudden his fin has a cottony growth on it again. Idk if it’s an injury or something else going on but I’ve never seen them fight. Our females have given us probably 100 babies since March. It’s ridiculous! We are debating on rehoming all of the males.

 

I had that happen with mystery snails. I sold them to the local fish store. Perhaps there is a fish store in your area that would be willing to help you out.

 

Maybe you could try adding more hiding places and plants. Hopefully it is enough to stop the constant attck. If not, you definitely have to separate the females from the males.

We have plenty. She never seems to run from them or want to hide. I’ve noticed sometimes she’ll gasp for air on the top likes she’s stressed. Not sure why they are all going for the same female and not the other.

 

Rehome the females and the fry not the males, the females will keep having A LOT of fry over and over again and you will end up with the same problem over and over again. If you don’t want to give them to a pet store or fish store you can post on buy, sell, trade and just charge for shipping. People will come quick for free fish and the sooner the better. I also highly recommend going out and getting a heavy duty tote and extra filter and heater (if needed) and put the females and fry in there until you can rehome them.

 

I personally would rehome the three males and fry, and keep the two females. The males will fight each other if kept, but the females will eventually stop having babies. The first batch or two of babies was the hardest for me to deal with as most of them survived, but I was able to rehome them to a friend and an lfs. The rest of the fry pretty much got eaten when left in the tank but there were a few survivors. Now all I have are the females and everybody is peachy.