Help me! Aggression problems

[NEVERLAND]

Help me! Aggression problems with molly

originally i have a 20gal tank with 5 female molly and 1 male molly. i went to the fish store yesterday for a snail and some ghost shrimp. when i saw a beautiful sight! it was a sail fin balloon molly with a base color of white and orange/black dalmatian spots. i just had to have it. so i bought the lilguy and i put him in the tank. (he makes all my regular mollys look dull) thing is my male molly. the one i had in the tank before (i call him boss) is getting real aggressive toward the new male. boss chaises him around the whole tank, nipping at his sides. hes gotten real violent. and i was told that mollys get along as long as you have 3 females for every male. before i went to work today i had to put boss in "time out" basically its a breeder box. my fry have their own tank now so the box is all i had to separate them.

question is should i let boss out of the box and let them sort it out. you know like dogs whos dominate and whos not. or is there another option. i really want to keep my new boy safe. hes real pretty and i dont want his fins to get any damage.

all the females are fine with the new molly its just boss who has the problem.

 

[NEVERLAND]

anyone please? do i need more plants in the tank?

 

[NEVERLAND]

28 VIEWS and not one reply? come on guys.

 

[bettaowner]

Remove the boss and let the new guy get settled. Then before adding boss, rearrange the decor to even the playing field. I also would recommend a bigger tank if that does not work.

 

[NEVERLAND]

Remove the boss and let the new guy get settled. Then before adding boss, rearrange the decor to even the playing field. I also would recommend a bigger tank if that does not work.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REPLY! ! !

i could move boss to the fry tank (still in the breeder box of course) for the weekend. and i dont really have much of a decor. all i have is 1 java fern in a small pot. i could buy more plants i guess. my fern is less than 4 inch tall.

 

[bettaowner]

Add some rocks to the tank. Also the boss should be separated for at least three weeks.

 

[NEVERLAND]

Add some rocks to the tank. Also the boss should be separated for at least three weeks.

three weeks? wow, i can do that. but can i keep him in the breeder box that long? will he be fine?

and i like to have the tank bare at the bottom, i do have a handful of blue flat marbles for color. but keeping it bare really helps me keep it very clean.

 

[bettaowner]

I would get a smaller tank to use as holding or quarantine tank.

 

[chiclidlover81]

rock rock rock they need to hide if stressed my dalmation molly ripped out the others stomach so i hid him in a cave decoration and he eventually healed and joined the rest but it wasnt until i put rock in there that he started to chill out

 

[NEVERLAND]

I would get a smaller tank to use as holding or quarantine tank.

I dont have that kind of money. a new tank would mean new filter + heater and that would get up to the $100.

):

 

[NEVERLAND]

rock rock rock they need to hide if stressed my dalmation molly ripped out the others stomach so i hid him in a cave decoration and he eventually healed and joined the rest but it wasnt until i put rock in there that he started to chill out

aaah okay. what kind of rocks?