I got five molly fry from my sister when her Molly had babies. They are 15 days old currently. I see two often fighting. Kind of in a way a cichlid would fight. They go at it with their mouths and then go side by side and like look at either other and then fight! Its crazy! Why do they do this?
why do my molly fry fight?
- Thread starter mariah
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absolutangel04
Daphnia are People Too.
Fishy dominance. In my experience, mollies can be rather hostile to other fish and definitely like to have a social hierarchy of sorts figured out.
wildroseofky
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, they fight for their place in the "pack". Not sure what a group of fish are called.LOL Once they figure out who is the boss it will settle down a bit. Usually the largest female becomes the leader. They may still fight at feeding time. Mollies seem to be a bit rambunctious.
I've found this as well that they will fight over food when I have them in a fry tank. If it was a nest I suspect they would be trying to tip each other out. Out in the tank I find them quite well behaved growing out and rare squabbling between males.
Thank you guys!! I have only had guppies and not mollies. My sister said it doesn't really happen in her tank with 7 mollies that are the same age as mine. I do have one really small one and the rest are quite a bit bigger. I now have 11 guppy babies and the mollies chase them a lot. I plan on only keeping two to three molly babies and all females. I am going to TRY and have them not get pregnant
wildroseofky
Aquarium Advice Addict
IF you plan on separating by sex and do not want them to get pregnant, you need to start when they are three months old. Then keep a close eye on them until they reach around 6 months old. The warmer the water the quicker they mature and start to develop into males. Some will develop slower though and it can take up to 6 months for them to become identifiable as male. I have had molly fry look female one day and then the next they suddenly develop a gonopodium. I have begun to recognize the signs they are male though. It seems even before they get their gonopodium they start to chase the girls and fight among themselves over the females. I seperat those that seem to be showing that behavior even if the do not have the sex organ and they always develop into males.
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