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[APD] Re: Surplus of Mollies



Scott H. asked:

 > "Did you have a problem later with a surplus of mollies?
 > They can be industriously reproductive."

I know they can be, and I was fairly worried at first. I figured it couldn't be that much of a problem, though, compared to the surface scum. As it turned out, the black mollies did have some babies, but they weren't as industrious as I might have predicted. I also have some other fish in there (Gouramies) which kept going after the fry, and that helped keep their numbers down.

The two problems I had from the introduction of mollies were the fin/tail rot which mollies seem to be famous for. As soon as the nitrates went up, then they showed the rot problems. If I let the nitrates slide, the fin troubles would clear up. That meant it was difficult to keep a level of nitrates for the plants, but not too much for the mollies. After a while I got it figured out.

The other problem came with the introduction of a different variety of molly (my wife and kids liked the colours). Against my better judgment, we tried mixing the mollies. I knew they would interbreed, but I didn't think I would create a Frankenstein! I have one molly cross left which has a gold head and a black body, and he is extremely aggressive to the other fish. He follows them around and picks away at their slime all day long. I need to catch him and give him to the LFS, and you know how hard it is to catch a fish in a planted tank! (I know... I will use a trap).

As long as you stick to ONE kind of mollie, and have something else in the tank to keep the fry population down, you should be okay. (No guarantees, here, though.)

Ed Dumas


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