New mollies

[bassbonediva]

So, for part of my son's Christmas present, he's getting five black mollies to go in the 45gal (long story behind it...but it involved me taking over the 18gal that was supposed to be his with my female bettas). Anywho, I was wanting some opinions. We've pretty much settled on getting black mollies. I showed him the other colors (dalmatians and silvers, as well as the platies), but he likes the blacks. Do the blacks come in lyretail? If they do, would lyretails be safe to put in with the female bettas (I'm concerned about fin-nipping)? Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. And yes, I am prepared for them to breed.

Oh, just thought of another quick question. There's a regular rectangular 5gal tank at Goodwill for $4 that is sound, but has nothing with it (no filter/gravel/etc). My son has his own betta (in a 2gal globe tank in his room). I was wondering if I got the 5gal and an AquaTech 5-15gal filter for it, could I put the male betta in there with a few guppies (or even a few mollies or platies) maybe? I have gravel from one of the other tanks that I can put in it (need to take gravel out of the 10gal anyway 'cuz there's too much in it) and I have an extra plant from taking the 10gal from a three-way divided to a two-way divided. Thanks, guys! *thumbsups

 

[Doomhed]

i wouldn't get it, who knows why it is at the goodwill. it could have been infested with all kinda horrible.

if you are buying a filter anyways, why not buy a 10 gallon with the top and everything? my LFS sells starter kits for like $35 with a bubble filter.

 

[bassbonediva]

I'd only get the filter if I got the tank. I got my 18gal Eclipse 1 system from Goodwill and it was a great tank. Kept it until I upgraded to the 45gal a couple of months ago. I make sure I scrub *any* tanks I get out with a white vinegar/water solution and either boil the gravel/decorations or clean it in the vinegar/water solution before using it. Anywho, it was just an idea since I REALLY hate cleaning that stupid globe tank. I didn't think it'd be that bad when I got it (for free of CL), but it's a major P.I.T.A. It's also really hard to see the betta that's in there because it has the continents etched on it along with the latitude/longitude lines (it's a "real" globe tank). Anyway, I probably won't get the 5gal at Goodwill. I just measured the dresser that my son's tank is on and the 5gal wouldn't fit. Problem solved! Thanks for the response, though.

 

[brian1973]

I would say just stick with the betta in a 5G.. or go with just guppies but be prepared for more guppies since they seem to be born pregnant..

Remember with the mollies they can be very aggressive as they age, and either keep 1 male to 3 females or go with all females. In my humble opinion mollies are not the best community fish.

 

[bassbonediva]

What would you suggest for the big tank then, brian, if not mollies? I've already decided that I'm not going to do the 5gal in my son's room (no room for it, as I stated above). My son loves them and I thought the black would be a great contrast to the colors of the bettas.

 

[brian1973]

Swordtails, platy's IME they have never had the aggressive tendency that mollies do and they have the same body shape.

 

[bassbonediva]

Petsmart just got some awesome-looking creamsicle lyretail platies today. Would those be okay with the bettas? (again, I'm thinking fin-nipping issues here) I usually get my fish from Petsmart and Petco because my small LFSs are horrible.

There are two in my area and one hardly carries anything but common plecos, goldfish (feeder fish, mainly) and a few guppies every once in a while. The other one has horribly dirty tanks and I've seen diseased fish in there (they had for a sale a HUGE oscar that had ick covering its whole side!...and it was in with two other oscars and a HUGE common pleco in a 20gal long ). They also don't carry a great selection of fish other than goldfish (a few tetras, a few barbs, some angels, some guppies, and that's about it). So, Petsmart and Petco are the best choices, and of the two I prefer Petsmart because they're fish tend to be healthier in general.

 

[beckyd]

Lyretail platies at your LFS?? You are so lucky. I was shocked to find hifin platies at mine. That's as creative as they get around here.

I have black lyretail mollies. Haven't had the same experience with mollies getting aggressive as Brian. My female betta is doing great in my community tank. I see a little nipping here and there, but nothing to worry about and she is the aggressor. She is a little spitfire. My mollies don't pay any attention to her.

I still think you should try the mollies because their color is so nice in a colorful tank. Let me see if I can get a good pic for you...

 

[mattmctyre]

yes you can get lyre tail black mollys.

 

[beckyd]

Here you go. Sorry, the quality isn't nice and sharp, but I wanted to give you a broad view and the files get too big. I also have young black moscow guppies.

 

[Newman]

Livebearer Central- that tank is...

 

[bassbonediva]

Here you go. Sorry, the quality isn't nice and sharp, but I wanted to give you a broad view and the files get too big. I also have young black moscow guppies.

Wow, becky! That's an amazing tank! I found someone locally who is selling their young platies for fifty cents each, but the only color they have is orange (not sure if they mean neon orange, sunset, orange mickey mouse, or what), so I just might go with those. I asked at both Petsmart and Petco and they said the only lyretail mollies they ever get are the dalmatians and the silvers, and at Petsmart the lyretail platies they got were apparently a fluke. I found some really pretty platies at Petco that I think my son will like (they're kind of a golden color with black dusting almost...can't remember exactly, but I know they had a name that was like four words long and it had "wag" and "platy" in it...lol!) that we might go with. The lighter gold/orange/?? might look cool with the darker colors of my female bettas.

 

[bassbonediva]

Okay, they *may* have been sunset fire platies that I saw, but I'm not quite sure. Still looking to see if I can find what they were 'cuz it's bugging me now that I can't remember!

 

[beckyd]

Well, as long as you like them, you really can't go wrong. Especially since others have had aggression issues with mollies. Sunset fire platies sound awesome.

I am interested to see how your bettas act toward fry. My little female betta seems to reducing the fry numbers in my tank. Not really a concern. I figure the strongest will get away from her and it keeps my population under control, but I have people that want to buy those sword fry. I may have to scoop her out for awhile after the next brood is born. She'll be mad, she LOVES that big tank and is all over it all day long.

Thanks for the compliments on the tank. It is awesome. Its so active and colorful, I could watch it for hours. The pics make it look a bit heavier stocked than it is. As soon as they see me they all cluster around begging for food. There's alot of fish in there though. Only about 20 adults, but it is indeed baby central. Even my cories are multiplying in there. Those are some seriously cute fry.

 

[bassbonediva]

I saw a molly (or maybe it was a platy...I think it was a molly though 'cuz it was silver) fry in one of the molly/platy tanks at Walmart today. I was getting a thermometer for the new 15gal I got today (new being a relative term...it was free!) and paused to look at what colors of platies they had. They had some oranges, some sunsets and some blue corals. I especially liked the sunsets they had. I'm not too worried about my girls eating the fry. So far they've left the tiny oto cats and the upside down cat alone completely, so I think they'll do good.

 

[beckyd]

Walmart fish scare me. If they have good ones to buy, I recommend that you quarantine them.

 

[bassbonediva]

Well, we got the new additions today! We are now the proud owners of four sunset coral dwarf platies...one of whom is very pregnant! http://www.fishdeals.com/livebearers/gallery/platy2.jpg These aren't our fishes, but they look just like this...and they're TINY! The guy at Petsmart tried to give us one that looked like he/she was no more than a fry, but I had him catch us another because I was afraid of what the girls might do if they got a hold of one *that* small. They're chilling in one of the 10gals until morning when I can get the rest of the big tank cleaned out and everybody all situated where I want them. I'll post pics of them as soon as I can.