Aggressive Silver Lyretails

[ScrapIronIV]

I joined this forum seeking a little help...

I have a new aquarium, just a few weeks old, with a pair of serpae tetras (friendly, docile) a few Platies (again, friendly and docile) and two Mollies, one black and a silver lyretail.

First mistake - I had two male Mollies (Why is it the folks at the major pet shops aren't taught anything?)

The Silver Lyretail was highly aggressive, killed several fish, and prevented the other from eating. (I did not know he was killing fish because I would not see it, just see dead or dying fish in the morning) When I did some research and learned what was happening, I took him to a small local pet store who gave him to a breeder. His fins had gotten lovely! Such a beautiul fish, grown out in just a couple of weeks.

So, I bought a couple of females for the remaining male, and all seemed to be going along just fine for a couple of days. Everyone is eating, polite, coming out of hiding.

But, now the new female Silver Lyretail is absolutely hounding the Black male, chasing and nipping him.

Is this aggressiveness a problem with the Silver Lyretails in general? Do I need even more females? Do I have to give this one away, too, and just keep buying new females until I get the right temperament? I honestly can't keep buying fish just to give them away...

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

- Dave

 

[tyspot1000]

Welcome to AA!

What size tank do you have?

I have heard of the male livebearer species being aggressive towards other males in the tank but not females to males. But If the tank is too small for them and crowded, I could see why she is chasing.

I would recommend making as many hiding places as you can so no sight of eachother is possible, if the chasing still goes on, I would advise to remove Him or her

Tyler

 

[DragonFish71]

Mollies in general can be more aggressive than some of the other live bearers. We have an 80g BW tank with mollies. Our smaller dragon goby was getting abused by the mollies every time he came out of hiding for food. After re-scaping the tank and providing better hiding places, the torment ended.

 

[ScrapIronIV]

My tank is a 20 gallon, with two Mollies, one platy, two tetras, a small angel, a cory, and a pleco.

If the Mollies are going to continue to be a problem (but they are SO pretty!) I will move on to platies and send the mollies to a breeder...

I need happy fishies...

 

[tyspot1000]

Your tank seems overstocked. Like I said, It is possible that from over crowding and since they can be the more agressive species of liverer, that would be causing the problem.

Now for stock, I would recommend getting rid of the angelfish (can get 10 inches tall, 6 inches tall, and need at least 30 gallons of water)

The cory school is going to need to get up to at least 3, and if you dont mind me asking, what type of cory is it?

What type of tetra do you have? You will need to bring those two school up to 6 (depending if they can fit in your tank, if not, I would recommend getting rid of them and maybe getting a smaller schooling species.

I am guessing that your pleco is a common pleco, but I could be wrong. If it is, I would advise getting rid of it also, they need 100+ gallon tanks (get 18-24 inches long) to thrive.

Hope this helped

Tyler

 

[The_Desacrator]

I agree with tyspot2000. Get rid of the angelfish before you become attached to it. They do grow to the size mentioned and may turn aggressive as it ages.

 

[ScrapIronIV]

I did let the pleco go - snails can do the same job. I put the angel in my daughter's nearly empty tank.

I intend to go with larger tanks as they grow - but just starting out again

 

[tyspot1000]

How big is your daughters tank?

 

[ScrapIronIV]

Hers is only 14 - but I figure from past experience it will be a year or more before he will be big enough to need an upgrade - he has been quite docile, and is sharing the tank with three little platies.

 

[ScrapIronIV]

I did let the pleco go - snails can do the same job. I put the angel in my daughter's nearly empty tank.

I intend to go with larger tanks as they grow - but just starting out again

 

[ScrapIronIV]

Now, how did THAT happen...?

 

[tyspot1000]

My angel grown 3 inches within a 2-4 months so you might need to upgrade sooner