Thoughts on Bettas + Mollies

[MABJ]

What does everybody think about having a Betta fish and Mollies in the same large aquarium? It seems many people disagree about this..

 

[Shetland James]

At my LFS Balloon Mollies munched one of the fighters fins right down.

It was actually me who had ordered in the Balloons, and so I took the 4 I wanted. I already had a fighter in my 50gal and they didn't seem to bother him at all. Strange, given their muncheristic tendancies in the LFS.

Sadly enough, the ol' grumpy lad kicked the bucket this morning; dropsy.

 

[MABJ]

Interesting. I'm talking full fledged mollies though. I'll keep that in mind about the balloon mollies though. Thanks!

 

[severum mama]

Balloon mollies are actually mollies, they have just been bred to exaggerate their short-bodied deformity. Most don't live as long as regular mollies and may have issues swimming. I would avoid them but that's JMO.

How large is the tank? I've seen some fairly aggressive mollies and I wouldn't risk it.

 

[MABJ]

Right, I knew that. But the tank is 20g. And the mollies have never experienced any aggressive tendencies in a tank with a Green Spotted Puffer. I'm thinking about transferring them to the Betta tank instead of the GSP's.

 

[Shetland James]

Balloon mollies are actually mollies, they have just been bred to exaggerate their short-bodied deformity. Most don't live as long as regular mollies and may have issues swimming. I would avoid them but that's JMO.

I have certainly had that experience with them. They do swim quite humorously. When my tank had a fungal infection they starting swimming vertically and kissing the heater. Once it was treated they were back to normal. They really are pretty hilarious to watch swim. It's like a fat person walking.

 

[Vircomore]

When I was doing research on my own Mollies - most of the recommendations I found was that regular mollies are "risky" with Bettas. The reason is that standard mollies have a body shape that is very similar to the Betta body shape - and if the betta mistakes them as other being more bettas - he may harass them.

You may have better luck with a female betta and mollies than with male betta.

 

[MABJ]

It was a successful match. The betta put the mollies in their places.

 

[severum mama]

But how large are the mollies? How long have they been in the tank with the betta? The original question was posted just 10 days ago. A few days or weeks of coexisting is not necessarily indicative of long term success.

 

[MABJ]

Mollies are full grown. The mollies have been in about 2 weeks.

 

[siva]

Mollies aren't well suited to a 20 gal tank...especially if they are full grown at 3"+. I wouldn't add anything with them since they already overstock the tank.