One aggressive Molly and a very passive Angel

[monstersmom]

So Ive cycled my 30 gallon tank, and all was well, added an Angelfish and 2 Mollies 1 male 1 female. I had read about Angelfish being a bit aggressive espeacially at feeding time so I was a litte nervous about the Angel who is Id say about 4 inches right now in with the Mollies. The Angelfish is what I've had my heart set on since before I can remember, ever since I was a little girl so I was looking for something I both liked and was compatable. Many sites Ive read have said the Mollies and Angelfish would be fine together however one LFS told me that Angelfish should only ever be in with other semi-aggressive fish and that Mollies were peaceful. However I went to another store since this one had no Angelfish what so ever. This store told me that the Angelfish would be fine with mollies. So my signifigant other and I decided to go ahead and get the two types. At first everything was fine. The angel didnt really seem to take notice of the mollies and all were eating fine.

I then decided to add another female molly after a week. Im not sure if this was the problem but now the male Molly who has been in my tank since the begining seems to be aggressive with the angel. I want to call it nipping but Im not sure if youd call it that but anyways he will go up to the angel, and do what I think looks like kissing the angel right on his mouth to the point the angel is backing away in the corner. He's been doing this for 3 days now. Since he has started the Angelfish really isnt eating. Im not sure if this is because he is now scared of the molly and the molly is always the first at the top to eat followed by the other two mollies, or if hes taking no notice of the food since he just seems to stare at his reflection in the glass.

My readings yesterday were Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrates 20. I have been feeding only flakes due to the fact that I do not drive, have a two year old and the weather here has been horrible, and I dont want my son getting sick over fish food, so Im waiting untill tomorrow to go to the store when I have a drive. I plan on getting some freeze dried blood worms.

Anyways my question is, is there anything that can be done to reduce the amount of aggression the Molly is showing? It always seems to be around the same times late morning and early evening right before feeding time, but its gotten to the point that the angel doesnt eat. I really dont want to have to get rid of either fish, and the other two mollies dont seem to bother the angel however one of my females and my male seem to be really enjoying each other constantly swimming together they are never really apart. Id be willing to get rid of the male however I fear the same thing might happen again or the female might become sad.

Thanks for any advice in advance guys.

 

[Randi]

A larger group of mollies should reduce his aggression. If you increase to a group of 6 they should be too busy determining a pecking order amongst themselves to bother the angel much. However, this doesn't always work. I have a school of tetras that are total terrors led by 'Sharky' the pack leader. Sometimes you just get an aggressive fish. Unless you want to breed them, there is no reason not to stick with female mollies. In fact, I'd only keep the male if you are ready for tons of babies.

 

[Homedog98]

A larger group of mollies should reduce his aggression. If you increase to a group of 6 they should be too busy determining a pecking order amongst themselves to bother the angel much. However, this doesn't always work. I have a school of tetras that are total terrors led by 'Sharky' the pack leader. Sometimes you just get an aggressive fish. Unless you want to breed them, there is no reason not to stick with female mollies. In fact, I'd only keep the male if you are ready for tons of babies.

The male Is trying to protect the female. Either move the male, or move the angel. Also, there isn't enough space for 6 mollies in a 30...

 

[monstersmom]

The male Is trying to protect the female. Either move the male, or move the angel. Also, there isn't enough space for 6 mollies in a 30...

After some really close observations on Friday I did notice the male only bothered the angel when he went near the one female that the male has taken a liking to.

After calling the store where I bought the fish they told me they were willing to take either the mollies or the angel back but that I could try a different type of food to see if maybe the angel would eat it. So I went out bougth some bloodworms and tubifex worms. Well the Angel went nuts over both and gobbled them up (the mollies got some too). He still cant be bothered with the flake food though.

Im not sure what happened but three good things have happened. The angel is eating, I havent seen a whole lot of aggression from the male molly. He has chased the angel around a bit but there has been no nipping. Finally the angel seems alot more comfortable and has been swimming all over the tank instead of staying in one portion of the tank. Thanks for the help guys. Heres hoping the good behaviour from the molly keeps up.

 

[Homedog98]

Good, just be ready to separate if things start to get sketchy.