Mollies,Angels,Swordtails

[*Melonkie*]

The main fish i wanted for my 55 gallon was some angelfish so I worked around them picking fish that would be ok with them. Well that didn't actually happen because last friday when I went to the lfs they had nothing I wanted. I was willing to wait to go to another city to look at their fish, but my brother didn't want to do that. We ended up taking two angel fish (little smaller than a quater) and two swordtails home(male and female). The female swordtail died from who knows what(nobody could answer in the emergency forum). My dad said that he would go today to get two female swordtails to make the male happy. But unfortunatly they didn't have but two swordtails left(looked very sick). So he ended up getting two mollies(male and female).
What I'm really trying to get at is it ok for the male swordfish to be alone for a little while untill they get some more back in?
Will he interbreed with the molly?
Will the mollies be ok with the angel fish when the angels get older?(thinking of getting two more in june)
Also before my dad got any of the mollies and swordfish i was thinking of getting rams, Will the rams get along with the mollies and swordfish?
I already know I will get lots and lots of fry

 

[fishdudein]

Hi Melonkie! In a 55 gal tank, you should be fine. In cramped quarters, male swords can get aggressive with other males, but you only have the one, plus it's a large tank, so you should be good to go. Two (or more) females would be great, too, that way one female isn't getting the brunt of all the male's attention, this can be really stressful for her esp. if she is ready to "birth". Swords won't interbreed with mollies (platies are a different story). However, mollies are actually a brackish water fish, so you may need to add a little salt to their water to keep them happy. Your male sword should be fine until you are able to get him some friends. Just don't be in a hurry. Don't settle for fish that look less than healthy, you'll be saving yourself a ton of grief in the long run.

Eventually your angelfish will get big enough that they will want to breed (adding a couple more would increase your chances of getting a pair ). They are egglayers, and when they get ready to lay their eggs, they are very protective of their nesting spot, and will drive all the other fish to the other side of the tank. This could result in their hurting your mollies or swords, but until they reach this point they are generally very peaceful fish. Of course if you just keep the two that you have and they don't turn out to be a male/female pair, you will be fine. Kind of like rolling the dice, you take your chances.

I can understand why you would want to add rams to your tank. They are generally recommended as good tankmates for angels, being a rather shy fish( if a cichlid can be shy). However, I can't give you any personal experience from them, as anytime I have tried to keep them they die. I think it's the water in our area, it is really hard, African cichlids do really well, other soft water types such as apistos and rams don't do well. Check your water conditions, you may be fine. HTH.

 

[Guppylover]

I go with fishdudein said. Rams are too peacful to be kept with fish like swordtails, they also need a group of tetras around to make them feel safe. It's like the tetras are the lookouts and if everything is safe and they are swimming around happily the Rams will take the hint and join! It always happens in my tank anyway ^__^
I very sure your swordtail, mollies and angels will get along fine!