I Need Some Help Please!

[mustangkitkat]

Okay, so today the worst case scenario happened in my tank. 
 
I have a half moon red betta that I've had for a while, and after lots of researching I finally decided on getting some mollies. 
 
I got two dalmation mollies and two yellow ones. I placed them in when I knew I wasn't working and could monitor them but today (the third day together no problems) I was called in and didn't have time to remove the betta.
 
I got home to a crime scene. One molly dead behind the heater, the other dead underneath the driftwood and the small dalmation missing an eye.
 
I removed the dead fish immediately and isolated the betta in a fish bag. 
 
My main concern right now is the young molly, it's swimming around just fine and follows the large one around the tank but the large molly seems to pick on her. 
 
I'm going to separate them and leave the young molly in the tank to heal and rest. Do you think some aquarium salt would help her? Or what can I do to help her heal up?
 
Secondly, would getting more mollies her size help keep the large one from picking on her?
 
The betta won't be going back into the large tank, I'm keeping him in a 3 gallon tank in the mean time. I'm moving in December and I'm taking him with me so I'll get him a larger tank then. 
 
 

 

[DerpPH]

Bettas dont really like it in bigger tanks.
 
What is your community tank size? 
 
It should be at least 30 gallons to make sure the mollies will be happy.
 
they grow to about 3.5"

 

[dave840f1]

Sorry I disagree with DerpPH the more space a fish has the better no matter what species it is.

 

[rpgmomma8404]

Bettas dont really like it in bigger tanks.
 
What is your community tank size? 
 
It should be at least 30 gallons to make sure the mollies will be happy.
 
they grow to about 3.5"

Betta's do great in bigger tanks.
 
However, most don't do well in community tanks. 

 

[DerpPH]

 

Bettas dont really like it in bigger tanks.
 
What is your community tank size? 
 
It should be at least 30 gallons to make sure the mollies will be happy.
 
they grow to about 3.5"

Betta's do great in bigger tanks.
 
However, most don't do well in community tanks. 
 

 
 
What I meant is they dont do well in big tanks because it will most likely be a community.  Bettas are not recommended for communities.
 
Bettas fins may also tear if they swim alot. Esp. the longfins.  Their tails sort of slow them down.

 

[rpgmomma8404]

 

 


Bettas dont really like it in bigger tanks.
 
What is your community tank size? 
 
It should be at least 30 gallons to make sure the mollies will be happy.
 
they grow to about 3.5"

Betta's do great in bigger tanks.
 
However, most don't do well in community tanks. 
 

 
 
What I meant is they dont do well in big tanks because it will most likely be a community.  Bettas are not recommended for communities.
 
Bettas fins may also tear if they swim alot. Esp. the longfins.  Their tails sort of slow them down.
 


Ah, I see. Yeah, since I've gotten back into fish keeping I've been hearing horror stories but I have heard about some betta's doing great in communities. Personally though I would take that risk. 

 

[jetnett]

Are you sure it was the betta that killed the fish ? In my tank my platy stressed a platy to death by attacking it
I took my betta out as I thought it was him but the platy carried on and before
I got the other one out it died

 

[Meeresstille]

I'm not sure what you mean by the small Molly with the eye-injury (missing eye) is following the big Molly, but the big Molly is picking on her. Is she turning around nipping at the little one? Do you know what sex they are? If the little one is a male and the big one a female, then it is possible that the female is feeling harassed!
 
If you are looking to get Molly babies you could try introducing more females, it will help spread out his attentions. It is important to know though what size the tank is, before you decide to add more Mollies to it. If the tank is too small you may see more signs of aggression and run into more problems.
 
As for the eye-injury, you can add some salt to the water, if I remember right Mollies actually like brackish water, though more important is to just keep the water in pristine conditions. What is your regular maintenance regime?

 

[dave840f1]

Just to tell you about my experience with a Betta about four months ago. I wanted a small tank to keep snails in while I treated the tank with cuprazin, I found just the tank but it came with a Betta so transferred it to my Tetra tank and next day there it was chasing neons and cardinals most with fins and tails in tatters. Sorry to say it went back in the small one UK gallon tank. Yes I took the snails out and put them in a bucket. Betta went to a nearby pet shop.