Strange Behavior from Mollies

[JHBM]

Hi all, two weeks ago I purchased three Black Mollies to keep in my dorm room. For the first week and a half everything seemed to be going ok. For the last three or four days now however I have noticed some odd behavior from them.

When I first put them into the tank they swam around often and seemed rather playful. Now however I often times will find them laying in a group on the bottom of the tank or laying as a group inside the shelter I put in the tank for them.

Is this normal behavior for Black Mollies? If not could it be caused by having too small a tank? I wasn't aware when I bought them what size of tank I needed so I just used a 2 gallon one I already had, but now I have a larger 10 Gallon tank I will be moving them into on Sunday. Will more room encourage them to not lay on the bottom of the tank or do I have a serious problem on my hands?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[gabysapha]

Hi,

Oh that's doesn't sound good.

But yes, a 2g tank is too small for anything except very small shrimp! All the problems probably stem from the tank being waaay too small and the poor water conditions that come from that.
A 10g is also too small for a molly (in my opinion, they are active and large) let alone a group. However there are many options stocking options that are healthy for a 10g if you would like some input on that. I recommend you give away/return your mollies for more suitable 10g fish, and also just to get them out of their jar.

 

[JHBM]

Hi,

Oh that's doesn't sound good.

But yes, a 2g tank is too small for anything except very small shrimp! All the problems probably stem from the tank being waaay too small and the poor water conditions that come from that.
A 10g is also too small for a molly (in my opinion, they are active and large) let alone a group. However there are many options stocking options that are healthy for a 10g if you would like some input on that. I recommend you give away/return your mollies for more suitable 10g fish, and also just to get them out of their jar.

What kind of fish would you reccomend for that size tank then? I was going off the 1 Gallon of Water/Inch of Fish theory for the Mollies. I assumed since two of them are about 2 inches long and 1 is 3 inches long that 10 Gallons would be plenty of room.

 

[gabysapha]

Oh, and did you happen to cycle the tank before purchasing by any chance?
Look up cycling on this forum or on google. Without setting up a biological filter in your tank, fish will have a hard time surviving because of the spikes in toxic chemicals that come from the breakdown if food and waste. As a rule a tank should be completely cycled before stocking with fish. A cycled tank will have enough biological filtration that toxic chemicals like ammonia are converted to less toxic chemicals completely. Any amount of ammonia is harmful to a fishy! Although some fish tolerate levels much better than others! Bettas are very hardy in this department.

 

[JHBM]

Oh, and did you happen to cycle the tank before purchasing by any chance?
Look up cycling on this forum or on google. Without setting up a biological filter in your tank, fish will have a hard time surviving because of the spikes in toxic chemicals that come from the breakdown if food and waste. As a rule a tank should be completely cycled before stocking with fish. A cycled tank will have enough biological filtration that toxic chemicals like ammonia are converted to less toxic chemicals completely. Any amount of ammonia is harmful to a fishy! Although some fish tolerate levels much better than others! Bettas are very hardy in this department.

I did not, I will be sure to investigate that and do it to the new tank before adding any fish to it.

 

[absolutangel04]

Hello, welcome to the forum. I agree totally with gabysapha. Having mollies in a 2g is really not a good idea at all, neither is having them in a 10g. In my opinion (IMO), you should return the mollies, or take them to a place that will re-home them like PetCo for example. IMO, you should get a couple of platy or guppies for your 10g.
Also, you should get a test kit to test your water quality. API master kit for freshwater is a good one. Its a bit spendy, but it will earn its worth back.
Do you now about cycling a tank? Read the sticky posts in the getting started section of this forum to help you learn a bit more.

 

[gabysapha]

What kind of fish would you reccomend for that size tank then? I was going off the 1 Gallon of Water/Inch of Fish theory for the Mollies. I assumed since two of them are about 2 inches long and 1 is 3 inches long that 10 Gallons would be plenty of room.

That rule should be deleted from google haha! It's not a rule to follow. For example, it misleads people to think that just because a fish is a certain size that it will fit in a small tank. It doesn't take into account how much room a fish needs to grow/be active! Mollies need at least 20g, 30 is better (IME).

Take a look around this forum for cycling first, and then we can help you start stocking. A 10g is still small and your options are limited. However there are small fish that will thrive in that size tank. It's all about stocking correctly

There are numerous 10g stocking lists on google, as well as in past threads on this forum that you can search for.

Some ideas for appropriate fish (keep in mind the number of each fish varies! I'm just naming species) are bettas, dwarf gouramis, very small tetras (ember) and rasboras (mosquito), guppies (but females can get pretty huge), endlers livebearers (i prefer them to guppies!), asian stone catfish, pygmy corydoras, certain species of puffers, shell-dwelling cichlids....

 

[absolutangel04]

So, the inch per gallon rule is not accurate in many instances. This is one of them. You should read a thread called "Getting the Dirt on the Inch per Gallon Rule" for more info. Also, that rule applies to the adult size of the fish. Your fish ares still young. Mollies reach 4 inches and more. They are messy, active, and get mean in spaces that are too small.
Some better 10g fish include shell dwelling cichlids, dwarf gourami, dwarf puffer, ember tetras, guppies, Endler's livebearers, platys, celestial pearl danios, chili rasbora, betta, and scarlet badis. Keep on mind not all of these fish are compatable, so you need to research them individually if any of them interest you.

 

[JHBM]

Thanks for your help everyone, I have to go for awhile but I will be back to read up on cycling.

Thanks!

 

[librarygirl]

The posters above pretty much covered it. The fish are probably suffering from ammonia poisoning. The tank is too small for Mollies and in an uncycled tank they are swimming in toxins. A couple of 50% water changes should be done ASAP with a good dechlorinator (whaver you have on-hand is fine but Prime is best if you can get it eventually). THEN, after the water changes, read the two links in my signature: 'new tank with fish' and 'what is cycling.' Good luck.