Help For Molly

[Timothtoad]

Hello all o/

I have just joined the forum and would really appreciate some help regarding my new fish and their attitudes toward one another. Firstly, here are some pictures of the White Molly fish I am having the most trouble with -

http/s1167.photobucket.com/albums/q638/Boomerwang3/

After showing these pictures to my local specialist they are convinced without doubt that it is a male. Someone please confirm this for me

Problem 1: I have a slightly larger male black molly that seems obsessed with chasing or cornering the white molly with his fin raised. The black molly also nudges and nips the bottom fins of the white which is clearly distressed by it.

Problem 2: I have recently bought more fish to populate the tank and try to cause some distraction to the molly behaviour, but it has gone awry. I purchased two very small dalmation platties, one male and one femalw, but the male platty has become even more obsessed with the white molly than the black molly! The new male platty spends all day chasing the white molly about and tries to mate with it constantly.

What should I do? I have the following fish in my tank and all is harmonious apart from this white molly getting chased and bullied by two others. Are they trying to mate with it? it looks like it. Or are they trying to dominate it?

Any help or responses would be much appreciated. This is my first tropical fish collection and I really don't want to cause any trauma in the tank.

Fishlist:
1 Black Molly - Male - 50mm long
1 White Molly - Male? - 45mm long
1 Gold Platy - Female - 35mm long
2 Dalmation Platties - 1 Male, 1 Female - 20mm long
1 Coolie Loach
1 Pleco

My water conditions are fine in a 40L tank

Thanks,

Tim

 

[fee de mer]

I agree that this is a male fish, your tank isn't particularly big, it is possible that the males are trying to establish territory, especially if your tank is quite new.

Also what type of pleco is it? As some will soon out grow a tank that size.

 

[Cazgar]

I'd say it was a male too.
As you have no female mollies, they're probably sorting out the pecking order

 

[Timothtoad]

Wow! thanks, what a fast response. I've come to the right place

Here's a picture of the new Pleco, a spotty one:

http/s1167.photobucket.com/albums/q638/Boomerwang3/?action=view¤t=IMAG0920.jpg

If it works, here is a video link that should highlight and explain the problem better than I:

http/s1167.photobucket.com/albums/q638/Boomerwang3/?action=view&current=VIDEO0032.mp4

The 2 male mollies and female gold platy were together for a fortnight. After that I added the coolie, the two dalmation platties, and two with a black horizontal stripe which dips down at their tails (I forget their name now, sorry). Another week on, and I've just added 4 zebra danio and the spotty pleco.

The local shop assures me it isn't too many fish for the size of the tank, and that the pleco shouldn't outgrow it. She also suggested more fish as a distraction to the territorial male, but I'm also aware that her job is to sell fish

The most worrying thing is this little platty constantly trying to get under and mate with the large white molly by following and trying to 'flick his bit' (for want of a better description) into it. What do you think is the best course of action? Should I rehouse the molly, or see how it goes for a week as the latest additions settle in?

Thanks in advance,

Tim

 

[OldMan47]

This is your picture of that pleco. It is a pretty one.

BTW you can post pictures here by simply copying the IMG code from photobucket and pasting the link here as if it were text, that is what I just did.

 

[Timothtoad]

This is your picture of that pleco. It is a pretty one.

BTW you can post pictures here by simply copying the IMG code from photobucket and pasting the link here as if it were text, that is what I just did.

Many thanks OldMan47. I'll aim to do the same in future

 

[OldMan47]

I find many people don't know how to post a picture. There are frequent questions about it in the newcomer section but I find it better to simply let people know how when they obviously want to post a picture In that section I often use my picture of a harbor seal pup as a sample example.