New tank with aggressive fish problems

[amyezar]

I am not a new fish owner but I've recently decided to educate myself on the species of fish I have chosen for my aquarium and how to responsibly run an aquarium. We recently upgraded from a 10 gallon tank to a 29 gallon tank. In the 10 gallon, i had just a black molly and a pleco. In the new tank I have more fish and I think I've maybe overstocked.

First off, I really think that it should be posted on every pleco tank how big they could potentially get. Mine is about 10 inches. I know now that it should not be in a tank less than 55 gallons but I can't afford a new tank and I have no one to give him to.

Secondly, I had the molly before I started buying new fish. I bought 5 guppies and a betta (not knowing that the betta may attack the guppies). My MIL keeps bringing home fish too. Now we have a pleco, a molly, 5 guppies, a glo fish, and a neon tetra (I had two neons but one died).

I always count the fish to make sure each one is accounted for and fish aren't disappearing and today I couldn't find one of my female guppies. A little while later I found her behind a shark statue hiding with part of her tail fin missing. I have noticed in the past couple of days that the molly has been chasing the guppies around. The molly was aggressive in the smaller tank but I just assumed that we had overstocked and it was outgrowing the tank.

I don't believe the betta is attacking the guppies because I haven't seen him chasing any other fish. He just kind of swims along by himself. If I have overstocked what do I do? I have no one to give the other fish to. If I haven't overstocked and the molly is just aggressive, is there anything I can do to calm it down? I don't even know the sex!

 

[runninwoof]

1 inch per gallon rule is good rule, and sounds like u got about 10 inches not including the pleco, and i guess 20 inches with. so id say as long as your bio filter is ok (amonia, nitrates, nitrites are low) then your perfectly stocked. mollies like frends, so throw in maybe 2 more mollies (2 females and 1 male). i believe bettas nip long fins, like guppies and mollies, and tetras are fin nippers too, but if you have no agression then should be ok

 

[amyezar]

how do i determine the sex of the molly i have now?

 

[Justin_Toronto]

You can always bring any of the fish/pleco's you no longer want back to your local fish store, they will buy them from you (or give you a store credit).

 

[mike47517]

how do i determine the sex of the molly i have now?

just look at the bottom fin of the mollie. If it looks like one long fin is a male if it looks like 3 individual fins then its a female.

 

[mike47517]

BTW: Welcome to the sight!!!

 

[amyezar]

I called the local pet store and at first he said he would give me a smaller pleco for the big one. I told him no, I didn't want another pleco because I'd end up having the same problem. Then he said he'd give me $5 worth of fish. I had no idea the pet store would take it off my hands. Thanks for the info.

 

[amyezar]

btw: Welcome to the sight!!!

thanks!

 

[HannahJ]

If you still want to have a pleco, there are some species of pleco that don't get as large as the "common pleco" species do. I recommend the clown pleco (Panaque maccus), which stays under 4" and is very pretty to boot. My local Petsmart carries them for around $7. I have one in my community tank and he is very entertaining, though only active in the evenings and at night. Fortunately, I'm a night owl. Bristlenose plecos also stay smaller, I believe, as do pitbull plecos (Parotocinclus jumbo).

If you do look into a clown pleco, just make sure you have some driftwood in the tank, as they need some wood in the diet.

Good luck!

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah I recommend a BN pleco, they stay small and are good algae eaters, or you could get a couple ottos if you plan on planting the tank.

Like it was said before you will need to get the the molly ratio 1:2 male to female. Just so the aggrestion between the molly and guppy goes down. To determine the sex of mollies, the males anal fin is pretty much just on longerish one, the females have two front ones and a third one in the middle of those two.

In my experience, you can overstock a tank as long as you keep up with your pwc, get good filteration on it and make sure you check your amonia, nitrates, nitrites, and keep them low.

Also make sure you watch the betta, even though he might not be showing it now he might get aggresive towards the mollies and guppys.


If you got anymore questions just post away or you can always send me a pm.

 

[amyezar]

I think the molly is a female then. Maybe I'll go to the store and grab another male and female molly and a different kind of pleco. Thanks for all the good input. I wish I could just get a big tank but I lack room in the house. We already have a 29 gallon for fish and a 10 gallon for a dart frog.

 

[mike47517]

you welcome

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I think the molly is a female then. Maybe I'll go to the store and grab another male and female molly and a different kind of pleco. Thanks for all the good input. I wish I could just get a big tank but I lack room in the house. We already have a 29 gallon for fish and a 10 gallon for a dart frog.

Yeah bigger tanks are always better, sucks when you got a limit. I think i'm at my limit but I think I could find some room. I have 6 tanks at the moment lol.

Yeah I deff suggest getting another female and male and try to get a BN pleco. All three of those fish are fairly cheap as well.


You know you could always start up a biotope aquarim with that 10 gallon.

 

[amyezar]

Yeah bigger tanks are always better, sucks when you got a limit. I think i'm at my limit but I think I could find some room. I have 6 tanks at the moment lol.

Yeah I deff suggest getting another female and male and try to get a BN pleco. All three of those fish are fairly cheap as well.


You know you could always start up a biotope aquarim with that 10 gallon.

What is a biotope aquarium?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

What is a biotope aquarium?

A biotope aquarium is like a multi-type aquarium, like you'll have part of it land, part of it water, so your frog can swim around and get on the land area while you can get fish to swim at the bottom, once i can find a photo of one i'll pm you it. They are quite cool.

 

[amyezar]

A biotope aquarium is like a multi-type aquarium, like you'll have part of it land, part of it water, so your frog can swim around and get on the land area while you can get fish to swim at the bottom, once i can find a photo of one i'll pm you it. They are quite cool.

They sound pretty cool. I'm really starting to be very interested in this. I just want to learn everything there is to know! I added you to my aim instant messanger. My screen name is new2thefishworld

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

They sound pretty cool. I'm really starting to be very interested in this. I just want to learn everything there is to know! I added you to my aim instant messanger. My screen name is new2thefishworld

Ok, i'll have to start getting on aim more then lol.



Hey sorry my mistake it's not called biotope it's called Paludarium. Opps!

Well here is a picture of one that you might liek for your frog, this is for an aquascaping contest so it looks way cool. (Not mine.)

2008 AGA Aquascaping Contest

He has some swordtails, small turtles, and snails in there. I'm sure it would look sweet with a frog added in.

 

[amyezar]

Ok, i'll have to start getting on aim more then lol.



Hey sorry my mistake it's not called biotope it's called Paludarium. Opps!

Well here is a picture of one that you might liek for your frog, this is for an aquascaping contest so it looks way cool. (Not mine.)

2008 AGA Aquascaping Contest

He has some swordtails, small turtles, and snails in there. I'm sure it would look sweet with a frog added in.

Yeah that looks reallky cool. I don't think we could put our dart frog in there. I'm not sure though. I would love to set something like that up. I've been looking on craigslist for more aquariums. I've got aquarium fever!

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

You always do, at the begining of the hobby when you are first learning all these new things it's always the worst Lol. After awhile you'll learn that everything takes times and patiences but you'll never be able to lose the fever