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I have a ten gallon tank. Inside, I have 5 mollies and 1 platy. Is this too many fish? If not, how many more ...
I have a ten gallon tank. Inside, I have 5 mollies and 1 platy. Is this too many fish? If not, how many more can I get? Do mollies usually get to be over 2 inches long? Do male mollies usually get territorial? Sorry for all the questions,this is my first tank.
~rockanrollprincess It feels like I am banging my head against a wall; these fish are more work than my guinea pig!
I would not add any more fish. And, with male and female, you will have dozens of fry regularly which will need to be culled or that 10g tank will not be manageable. Males are known to drive the females hard to mate, and this can stress the females if they have no where to escape.
I'm personally down on Black Mollies or at least the one(s) I have...or should say had. The male constantly pestered the females, charging them, ramming them, pecking at them - no mercy. He chased them all around my 60g tank. The younger of the two females passed away a week or so ago. The older, larger female, passed away just a couple of days ago.
I attribute their passing to his relentless abusive mating behavior. I wish I didn't have him. He's the last of his species now and I don't know if others will come. Perhaps his personality is somewhat unique.
I think you have as many fish as your 10g will support. I think a decent rule of thumb is 1" of fish (when full grown) to two gallons of water - which puts you at about the limit. Others will argue over the math. A lot has to do with how religious you are regarding water quality and providing sufficient swim room in an environment that the fish enjoy (I realize that sounds odd, but I tend to believe that a fish does best in a natural environment or as natural as we can make it in our tiny glass cages.)
Yes I would not get any more fish either. I have one Male Betta in a 10 gallon by himself. Many would put in a divider so they could have two but I believe in giving lots of space.
You did not say whether you have males or females... do you know how to tell the difference in Mollies?