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Post by ladyqpid on Jan 26, 2006 16:32:11 GMT 10
I have a 250litre community tank and while my fish all seem very healthy and happy I have one rather randy Sailfin Molly who seems determined to drive the females of the community insane with his constant bothering them. He displays and even tries (hopefully not succeeds  ) to mate with them. He has no care as to the fact whether they be molly, platty or guppy.. he goes after them all. Is this abnormal behaviour for a Molly? More importantly is there anyway he can actually mate with the fish not of his own breed? Any suggestions as to what to do to stop his constant bothering the other fish? Thanks |
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Post by Cyberguppy on Jan 26, 2006 21:22:35 GMT 10
Unfortunatley the only way to stop him bothering your females is to sell or swap him. there have been reports of guppies and mollies interbreeding but this is rare. I think platties and swords can also cross but not mollies and platies or mollies and swords.
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starshine
Aquarist
One day my ship will come in and I will be at the airport
Posts: 65
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Post by starshine on Jan 27, 2006 12:31:05 GMT 10
yep its only platies and swords that can cross cos they are so closely related. If you dont want to get rid of him just seperate him when the girls need a break
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Post by ladyqpid on Jan 27, 2006 16:48:08 GMT 10
I went out today and bought another 4 female mollies in an attempt to calm him down. poor little buggers, they had been in the tank less than 5 minutes and he had had them all, numerous times... i have started calling him casanova ;D The weird thing is that when i purchased him i bought a female just like him. They make a gorgeous pair, lovely silver sailfins, but he wont touch her, doesn't go near her at all. I have had them for 7 weeks now and there is no sign of her getting pregnant. Hmmm come to think of it neither does the orange sailfin go near her. I wonder if there could be something wrong with her. She looks healthy, nice and big. Just no sign of babies...  |
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Post by Bumblebee on Jan 27, 2006 21:38:06 GMT 10
do you have salt in the tank at all? I know mollies like about a tbs per 30lt minimum. having less doesnt seem to effect their health but they dont seem to breed at all without it. salt is ok for any other livebearers but not plants loaches or some catfish. best to use pure rock salt with no iodine or anti-caking agents added.
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Post by ladyqpid on Jan 28, 2006 16:14:11 GMT 10
Well he did it didn't he? Casanova swapped sides ;D After i went out and bought him a harem, and after he had his wicked way with all of them... profusely... he decided he was madly in love... with another male sailfin. that poor fish! Casanova chased him from one end of the tank to the other, up and down, left to right. The poor little thing could not get away, he could not hide, no matter where he went Casanova would pursue him, overwhelm him and attack him. For the first few minutes i watched i thought he was trying to hurt him. it seemed like Casanova was trying to bite his gonopodium off, then he changed tactics and proceeded to treat the male as a female and mated??? with him. The poor little thing was so distraught i had to take him out and put him in a breeding box to get away from Casanova. And that didn't stop him. He kept throwing himself at the box, leaping around trying to get into it. It was the WEIRDEST fish behaviour i have ever seen. So, after a couple of hours of this i decided Casanova was not worth all the aggrivation to the tank and I took him to my LPS and sold him. I hope he gets a better home than I could obviously provide. Anyone got any idea's what I did wrong??? I really am perturbed, I don't want a repeat of that. But at least the tank is nice and quiet now and the poor molested little orange sailfin is calmly swimming around. |
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starshine
Aquarist
One day my ship will come in and I will be at the airport
Posts: 65
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Post by starshine on Jan 28, 2006 18:17:17 GMT 10
You didnt do anything he was most likely the healthiest fish in the tank. Some fish are just like that they have personalities of their own and just like ppl some of them are just plain annoying you prob did the right thing by the rest of your fish though.
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Post by Bumblebee on Jan 28, 2006 18:25:01 GMT 10
Mollies are a fairly weird bunch. I wouldnt reccomend more than 2 males per tank or they start acting like prison inmates you get some 'nice' males then some that are regular devils and molest everything in sight. Strangley enough thats 'normal'. |
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Post by ladyqpid on Jan 30, 2006 19:21:01 GMT 10
my apologies for putting it in the wrong section. But thanks to all who helped me come to the realisation that fish are just like people, some good some bad, some great and some weird, but all Wonderful. Hopefully Casanova has gone to a better home now, with a harem of lusty female mollies....laughs
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) to mate with them. He has no care as to the fact whether they be molly, platty or guppy.. he goes after them all. Is this abnormal behaviour for a Molly? More importantly is there anyway he can actually mate with the fish not of his own breed? Any suggestions as to what to do to stop his constant bothering the other fish? Thanks 
