Mollie tank size?

[Homedog98]

What is a mollies minimum tank size? I've heard both ten and 30... And plan to have both sizes... But am wondering which tank to put them in. I know bigger is better, but since my 29 gallon is already fully stocked, I'm wondering if two would be good in a ten. I can still squeeze them into the 29... But I'd really rather not.

 

[beepboop]

I've heard both minimum tank suggestions too. I have one in a 10 gallon with a dwarf gourami and a platy. They get along just fine and he seems to have plenty of room. He's not f ull grown, but already over 2 inches.

I think a 10 gallon works for those fish because while they can get up to 3 inches each, they're not very fast fish.

They also seem like a good size for a 10 gallon, visually speaking. What I mean is that I don't see them in the tank and think "oh, they're so big, they don't have enough room".

I have fake plants along the side and back, a nice piece of real driftwood and a 3d internal background. Even with all that, they have plenty of swimming room.

 

[Tropical]

It really depends. What is currently in your 29, and what is in the 10? For example, if you have 35 tetras in there (just an example, I'd never do that!) then you should put the mollies in an empty 10 gallon. If you have 10 tetras, put them in the 29. IMO, 20 gallons for 2, 30 for 3-5.

 

[Homedog98]

Well, for the 29, I was planning on this stocking:
6 black skirt tetras
5 zebra danios
4 orange laser cories
2 Bolivian rams
1 starlight bristlenose pleco
1 keyhole cichlid

For the ten, I was planning on:
1 male Betta (already in there)
2 African Dwarf Frogs
And hopefully 2 mollies?

 

[Tropical]

If you don't already have them, I wouldn't get them. Both tanks are stocked enough, 2 wouldn't fit in either. If you want, you can do 2 platy in the 10 gallon. Platy are similar to mollies but much smaller. The 29 is pretty much fully stocked, I wouldn't add any more fish.

 

[Homedog98]

If you don't already have them, I wouldn't get them. Both tanks are stocked enough, 2 wouldn't fit in either. If you want, you can do 2 platy in the 10 gallon. Platy are similar to mollies but much smaller. The 29 is pretty much fully stocked, I wouldn't add any more fish.

... What if I took out the two ADF's?

 

[siva]

I would avoid mollies in a 10 gal. Even if you felt like you really needed to do one, I wouldn't do two. They just have too large a bio-load for that size tank, and even if you understock to account for that, most get too large. I have a small community of livebearers in a 14 gal and in there is 1 balloon molly (purchased before I knew how that balloon shape was acheived, I wouldn't buy one again) and he is particularly small. They can get up to 3" but he is full grown and isn't much over an inch. If you happened to get your hands on one like that, I'd say they would be fine in a 10 gal, but most mollies get much larger. I think 30 gal min is a little extreme. 20 gal min is more like it IMHO.

 

[Homedog98]

Darn. Well, I checked out the platies, and they look alright. Has anyone ever seen an all black one or a Dalmatian looking on before?

 

[siva]

Yeah I just saw them yesterday at Petco and some other cool ones. I almost got a panda one and a bumblebee one I had never seen in there before. I have these 2 livebearers that are my absolute fav..they are so cool..kinda like platties but they are actually HiFin Variatus. I got the only 2 I've ever seen for sale here. They are super cool. I would highly reccomend them if you ever see them. They are even smaller than most platy.

 

[siva]

Wait no I haven't seen an all black one..I don't think. Have seen dalmation-ish looking ones though.

 

[Homedog98]

Darn. Maybe one black Molly and one Dalmatian looking platy?

 

[siva]

I wouldn't get a male. My male molly nips at gouramis, bettas, and guppies.

 

[siva]

Two female platties would be best girlfriends

 

[Homedog98]

Well mr. Elvis the Betta will not allow such immature behavior! I reckon that no matter what gender I wind up with, Elvis will whip them into shape.

 

[Homedog98]

So no black Molly?

 

[Tropical]

So no black Molly?

I don't think so. One molly still gets big and gives off a lot of waste. I've never seen black or dalmation platy, but I did see a white one with a mickey mouse tail like this:

and tuxedo platy, like this

and this.

They also have gold, orange, red wag, blue, blue wag, any color mickey mouse, and sunset (yellow fading to deep orange). You can get 3 females or 3 males in the 10 gallon with a betta and the adfs. Make sure you add the betta last so it isn't agressive.


*I don't own the pictures, I got them off bing.

 

[siva]

Homedog I think you already have the betta. I would tank him out once you have everyone else and re-arrange the tank, then slowly acclimate him back in

I think staying away from the mollies for your 10 gal is the best. I know, it stinks. I really wanted danios for my 14 gal and have decided against it as well

 

[Tropical]

Homedog I think you already have the betta. I would tank him out once you have everyone else and re-arrange the tank, then slowly acclimate him back in

I think staying away from the mollies for your 10 gal is the best. I know, it stinks. I really wanted danios for my 14 gal and have decided against it as well

If you have the betta already that's best ^^. It's always better to not get a fish your tank can't handle than to get a fish, be happy for a week, and be sad when it dies.

 

[Homedog98]

If you have the betta already that's best ^^. It's always better to not get a fish your tank can't handle than to get a fish, be happy for a week, and be sad when it dies.

Ya, I know. I already have Mr. Elvis though, so I'll just do what's suggested above.