Weird Molly Behavior

[aquarius]

my female molly has been behaving weird for the last couple of days. she chases other fish all the time, fish that are bigger than her. she's always hyper, swimming around really fast, never sitting still. she seems to be always hungry, when i feed the fish, i think she eats the most cause she chases the other fish away. i've noticed that her bahavior is much worse when the light is on. when i turn it off, she seems to calm down quite a bit. you think the light has some effect on her? i was thinking of getting a male mollie too, you think it might help?

 

[Juggernaut22988]

Get a male molly that is bigger than her (a bit bigger) and leave the light on for 12h a day

Try starving her (only feed half of the normal amount and only once a day)

 

[MAM]

well, i 've noticed that my mollies are very skittish when the lights are on, i think it stresses them out, though i'm not sure why.
first question, is she the only molly? what other fish do you have her with? whats the tank size?
second, is she the only female (is shes not the only molly)?
third, is she fat? does her belly look a little squared off? my females act this way the last week or so of pregnancy (i think of it as molly pms sort of), they get real nippy to other fish and chase them off, and they do seem to eat more.
if not then part of her behavior could simply be that she's displaying her dominance to the rest of the tank. most people don't think of this, but like a pack of dogs, a pecking order is establishe amongst your fish, and she may just be making sure the rest of the tank knows she's top dog.

 

[Juggernaut22988]

Lights stress fish?
I guess I have to turn mine off now

I keep it on for 14h a day

 

[MAM]

Lights stress fish?
I guess I have to turn mine off now

I keep it on for 14h a day

depends on the fish. my mollies seem to be stressed. and of course catfish don't like it too much as they are nocturnal critters. and i've read that my dwarf puffer is also somewhat sensitive to bright light. the lights are for the plants more so than the fish, so if you don't have live plants you don't need to leave the lights on (thats what heaters are for). i've also read posts where people have found that tiger barbs seem sensitive to prolonged bright lights. i don't have live plants so i only turn on my lights to feed or briefly when i'm watching them.

 

[Juggernaut22988]

thanx!
I save the fish from stress and a bit of money!