Black Mollies for a 6 year old  10/23/06
Hi Crew,
<<Good morning, Angel. Tom>>
After visiting my house, my niece became inspired to have an aquarium of her own! So my sister got a small 5 gallon kit for her daughter, Caitlin.
<<Love to hear about children becoming interested in the hobby!>>
Never having had such a small sized tank myself, when my sister asked for stocking suggestions, I explained the cycling process and got her started growing some Aponogeton bulbs. I figured this would help cycle the tank and give me some time to research small and hardy fish that would be OK for this tank, while still giving them something to look at and watch grow.
<<A breath of fresh air here, Angel! You can’t imagine how many e-mails we receive that start similarly only to dismally sink into a tale of how many fish had expired BEFORE the hobbyist learned about cycling. Well done!>>
This was almost two months ago. The plants did well and had a big growth spurt after I added some liquid CO2. They got too big so they are out of the tank now and living in my outdoor pond.
<<Okay.>>
After the plant adventure Caitlin really wanted a couple of black mollies, so this is what her mom got her. They seem to be doing fine, their little tank completed cycling with plenty of green algae growth in the sand and on the tank glass. Water tests showed nitrites 0, nitrates ~10 ppm, PH 7.6. The mollies are eating well, even eating some of the algae in the tank. Addition of aquarium salt really perked up the mollies, we added 5 tsp. I know some of the salt will eventually be removed with water changes...how often should we add salt again? Also is Epsom salt ok to use? I am thinking it is the same thing as aquarium salt but not sure.
<<Aquarium salt is pure sodium chloride, Angel. Not the same as Epsom salt. As for replacing the aquarium salt with water changes, to maintain the same ratio I would add a “light” teaspoon to every gallon of water added back into the tank. Note that this won’t be necessary if only “topping off” the tank due to evaporation since the salt won’t evaporate with the water.>>
My last question is: one molly is very fat and we're certain she's pregnant.
When the babies grow it will be too many fish for that tank. I was wondering if when the babies are newly born if it would be ok for me to take them to my house and use them as feeder fish? I know mollies breed so often...
<<I’ve not heard of Mollies being used as “feeders” but you’re quite correct that the offspring will overload the tank. If the adults don’t get to the fry first, I’d say to help yourself and see how this works out for you.>>
The tank has crushed coral sand for substrate, two bushy fake plants for
cover and a large piece of slate. Lighting and filtration is built in to the hood. Anything else we can do to make sure these mollies live happy lives?
Maybe an air pump and a couple of airstones?
<<I like the airstone idea simply because many small aquariums are often taller than they are long which doesn’t provide a lot of area for oxygen exchange at the surface. I don’t think this would be a bad idea in the least and, besides, the bubbles are kind of fun to look at.>>
Thank you for your help! I know you are so busy helping people with many bigger issues but honestly I have never had such a little tank and it is challenging thinking of what to do about algae, babies, etc. in such small volume of water.
<<You’ve done very well in getting your niece started, Angel. Perhaps we should be thanking you, instead. :) >>
Many thanks, Angel
<<You’re welcome. Tom>>

Molly ratio's in a small community tank - questions
Hello, I've been reading over the site and have found it to be very
interesting and informative, and I have several questions that I was
hoping you could help me out with, so here goes:
I have a 10 gallon tank that has been set up for about a year and a half
now which currently houses a female black molly, a glassfish, and a
longfin danio.  I was considering adding a few more fish, and my first
choice would be to add more mollies.  I have read that it is best to keep
mollies in 'harem' type setups with several females per male, but I am
also concerned that if I added enough fish to obtain a proper male to
female ratio I may end up overcrowding the tank (I was told up to 8 fish
for a 10 gal., but I don't know how close to the truth that is...).  At
what minimum number of females per male can I assume the molly I have now
won't be at risk of being harassed to the point of death or illness by
the male (she has become my  favorite, and part of my intention in adding
more mollies would be to make her 'happier', so I'd rather not risk it)?
I have heard 2 females to 1 male as a minimum, but this still sounds
risky to me.
If my tank is too small to safely add both a male and the proper number
of females, what about adding one or two more female mollies?  Would they
be aggressive with each other, happier to have a 'friend', or just
indifferent to each others presence?
Speaking of aggressive behavior, my molly had always been very peaceful
and kept to herself  in most of the little over a year time that I've had
her, but recently I notice her harassing the other fish now and then.
Would adding more mollies possibly stop the aggressiveness towards the
other fish, or is it likely that the other mollies would also be
aggressive with the other two fish and just make matters worse for them?
Once again speaking out of aggressive behavior, I was wondering if
communities of fish ever designate a 'pecking order', so to speak, as
other animals in group and community settings sometimes do.  Although
I've never heard anything to this effect and it seems especially unlikely
in a tank with several different kinds of fish, I've noticed in the past
that when the most aggressive fish in the tank dies, it seems that soon
afterwards one of the formerly peaceful fish soon assumes the role of
the aggressor.   Just out of curiosity, does this indeed have something
to do with dominance roles and ranking, or is it just a coincidence?
Also, out of curiosity, what is the likelihood that the mollies would
breed if both genders are present in the tank (the molly I currently have
was the only survivor out of 16 fry and the mother, who gave birth only a
few hours after I had purchased her.  Although the babies are quite cute,
I'd feel bad if I ended up with more of them only to have almost all of
them die again!)?
Lastly, if there is no way I can safely add more mollies to the mix, are
there any other fish I could safely add?  Maybe more longfin danios or
glassfish, or a different species all together?  Or would adding anything
else just be a bad idea no matter what?
Thank you in advance for any answers or advice you can give me!
--Lea
< Your tank is small so making sure that everyone gets along can be somewhat tricky. If you want more mollies then by all means get more mollies. The tank holding capacity is determined by a few factors like (How many fish? How big are the fish? How much water goes through the filter per hour? How often do you do water changes? How much water do you change? Etc...)First lets determine how many fish you could keep in you 10 gallon assuming that everyone gets along just fine. Your filter should turn the tank over at least 30 to 50 gallons an hour. The ammonia and nitrites should always be zero and the nitrates should not exceed 25 ppm. If the water gets above 25 ppm before you do your next water change then you have too many fish and the nitrates will build up so you need to do bigger water changes or change the water more often. Now for them all getting along. A male molly always want to breed. So he is always going to be pressuring the female to breed. If you have more than one female then his attentions will be divided between the two. Obviously when there are more females his attentions will be divided between all of them and then none of them will be stressed to any great degree. You could lower the water temperature down to 77 F . Then there will not be as much demand for then to breed.-Chuck>