Dalmatian Mollies!!!! Help!!

[MH411]

I have 2 dalmatian mollies, I am quite sure one of them are female but not sure sbout the other, I also have 2 sunburst platys, which I recently found out 1 is male and 1 is female and I also have a glo tetra, and a blue mystery snail/apple snail whichever its reffered to as....

My tank is a 15 gallon tank, all water levels great, temperature is at about 75 to 76 degrees my fish seem to be happy, I have various live plants and "spongebob" decor with many hiding places, tank is well filtered and lighted,

I just purchased these fish Sunday, along with the blue mystery snail whom my kids decided to name Gary. I established the tank about a week prior to purchasing them. They were all fine and seemed to be getting along ok untill this morning, i noticed the dalmatisn mollie picking on the snail, it irritated me a bit so i decided to move the snail and its alage wafer in the pineapple decor, the mollie then presummed to follow it, nip at the snails food, and kinda just hover over the snail idk if this is normal behavior but it doesnt seem like the pair are getting along,

what should I do or can I do??? Is this normal??? Should I worry??

 

[wildroseofky]

First thing you need to cycle your tank. Read this article Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice It will guide you through cycling your tank with fish. Do you have a liquid test kit like API Master test Kit? You need to be able to check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrite are deadly to fish and build up fast when a tank is cycling.

Now on to the mollies. Mollies can be bullies. I have several adults and lots of babies. I also have Mystery Snails, also known as Apple snails. The molly cannot harm the snail much. She may bite off an antennae but it will grow back. Mollies are food hogs and will try to eat every piece of food in the tank. You can get some floating pellets that are too big for the mollies mouth and add a few when you feed the tank. The floating food will keep the mollies attention so the other tank inhabitants can eat. Give it some time and the molly will loose interest in the snail.

 

[MH411]

All necessary treatments have been performed, and are perfect. Im just concerned about the fish harrassing my snail and keeping it from enjoying and exploring the surroundings, it was kind of scary to watch, my kids whom are 2 and 3 watch the tank and seen the mollie nipping away at the snail and the wafer.....and watched it hover over top of it in the pineapple I hope this gets better , and I can tell one mollie is a female but I have no clue about the other......ive looked up photos to compare but when one swims the fins are close to the body and then the small fin sorta expands from the body, the other does the same except the fin is more open all the time im confused about these 2 I know my plattys are 1 male and 1 female, their fins look completely different

 

[wildroseofky]

All male live bearing fish have a gonopodium. Your male molly will have the same anal fin like the male platy, If he is a young fish the male sex organ may have not developed yet. Female anal fins are square and larger. You need to have two females for each male or the male will harass the female to death. I prefer three females for each male because they are relentless in trying to breed. A lot of people just keep all females or all males. Mollies create a pecking order in their school. There is one female that is the boss and the others follow her lead. It is usually the largest fish. Once everyone figures out were they belong in the social order things will settle down. They may still on occasion chase or harass each other but it will slow down.