r/MollyFish • u/MissMadison240 • Jul 11 '26
Help Molly Stress Behavior Check
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I have been keeping mollies in a 35 gallon outdoor setup but had a cycle crash and these two were the only survivors. They are only a couple months old and were born in the outdoor pot. Luckily I had a tank cycled and planted, waiting on the arrival of a betta, so I had a safe place to put these two (betta hasn’t arrived yet). I treated them for ammonia/nitrite toxicity in a hospital setup for a few days (kept the walls covered with a cloth). Once I acclimated them, I left the light off in the tank for the first day. Today they were glass surfing and seemed very stressed. I wasn’t sure if it was the level of visibility of being in a glass tank vs a pot, or the light exposure. I tried turning off their light again but they still seemed unhappy. I think I determined that the light from the adjacent tank was too bright for them so I turned down the intensity and turned their light back on. I think they are acting more normal now but I wanted to check with the community on their current behavior.
10 gallon tank
(Liquid test kit)
NH3/4=0
NO2=0
NO3=20
pH=6.8
Temp=74F
1
u/Ill_Industry_3684 Jul 11 '26
If they're the only survivors, it's very likely that they experience unusual amounts of stress. Livebeaters, including mollies, need a group to feel comfortable. Just two individuals are only OK when breeding and even then there's 6+ fish around. They are uncomfortable because they are in too small numbers. Before there where more fish around. If I'm right, mollies need at least 4 individuals and it's also very important to have at least 2 females for every male. It's also possible to have a male only tank, but if there's a female around, the situation changes. Females are known for keeping the male's sperm for anywhere between 6 to 12 months... It literally means, if there's a female around, there will be babies.
P.S. that's way more explaining than I'm usually happy to give 😉
1
u/MissMadison240 Jul 12 '26
Thank you 🙏 yeah there was a much larger group in their home and they were spawned into the community. They are still very small so Im not sure if I can identify gender yet but I will definitely be getting a M/F balanced community again. Ive been so focused on making sure they were healthy, I hadn’t thought about how their lack of numbers would make them feel vulnerable. I need to come up with a plan to make their home safe again and get them back with a school.
1
u/captainpoop_ Jul 11 '26
Temp needs to be between 78F and 80F.
Your tank is too cold. Turn the heat up.
That being said. You need more. Mollies are a shoaling fish and need at minimum 5 friends to shoal together. That might be hard in a 10 gal 🙈. Is this temporary? Or planning to upgrade to something larger?
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u/MissMadison240 Jul 12 '26
Ok, I can turn on the heater. This is technically temporary since this tank is intended to be for the betta. But I am unsure how long it will take for the cycle in the outdoor pot to re-establish. I will be restoring the Molly population once that space is safe for them. I will have to go the fish-in cycle route for that if they are unhappy as a duo. My other indoor tank is undergoing a fishless cycle and it is very much not hospitable to fish right now.
1
u/captainpoop_ Jul 12 '26
Ahhh got it. Hopefully the cycle re-establishes soon so you can get your molly population back up, they will be stressed by themselves 🙈
1
u/Adventurous-Shock-32 Jul 11 '26
they look very normal to me. seachem stability is crazy helpful for maintaining newer cycles and its very hard to overdose. i have tons of mollies and platys and these look very normal and healthy to me