Stressed Fish

[Fishtail]

Help! Some advice please! I'm new at this, I have a 20 gallon tank that I have done a fishless cycle on. On Friday, four days ago I got 4 black mollies , 3 girls and 1 boy. One of the girls seem very agressive she is bigger then the others. Could she be pregnant? She chases the rest around and the male always hides under the pirate ship or in the plants. She tries to get all the food, he doesn't eat much only gets a bite or two if he's lucky. But now I've noticed that he seems to be breathing hard. He doesn't look sick, I can't see anything funny on him. Is he sick or is it cause she is picking on him? What should I do?

 

[librarygirl]

They're probably establishing territories and hierarchy. I've heard mollies can be aggressive depending on the fish's personality. You can try giving her a "time out' in a breeding net or something if you have one, sometimes that helps. Check your params too just in case but he might be just stressed. If might calm down once they establish territories but if not she may have to go, but try the time out thing and see if that works.