mollies, platys and bronce corys help?

[blueberry_pye]

i have a 75 litre tank with 5 mollies 4 platies and 5 bronze corys, i would realy appreciate it if i could get some helpful advice on keeping them all happy and healthy and a healthy aquarium, ive done lots of research about them all but am getting lots of condradicting information so would love to hear what you all think any information would be great

 

[Kiara1125]

Ok, so you have a 20 gallon tank. They should be fine in there. Just make sure to feed them a varied diet. You should have babies soon with your Mollies and Platies, and make sure to have 2-3 females to every male with the livebearers. As for the Corydoras, they are scavengers and will eat the food that your other fish don't eat. They are also good algae cleaners. I see that you've been on here for a while, did you just get fish??

 

[aakaakaak]

You should be fine with those fish. If you don't want extra fish just let nature take its course. Otherwise you can set up a baby net for your soon-to-be molly/platy fry.

 

[lauraf]

You may have read that mollies appreciate a bit of aquarium salt - DO NOT add any salt to you tank. Your cories, like other scaleless fish, won't tolerate salt well.

 

[IThinkTherefore]

Welcome to MFT!

Your tank sounds very cool. Do you know about aquarium cycling? There are links to that in my signature if you're interested.

Also, mollies & platies are omnivores that love plant matter as well as protein-based foods. Spirulina flakes would be a big hit in your tank

 

[blueberry_pye]

Thanks for all the information guys! no ive had fish for probably 3 years now and know about cycling , i just havnt had this combination before ive had platys and corys but not mollies.I have read that mollies do best with salt added to the tank so im not sure if i should get another tank and move my corys? i dont realy want to get another tank again as i just downgraded from a 300litre aquarium an 80 litre and 2 20 litre tanks to just the one i got a bit obsessed! and do platys do well in the same brackish water condition as mollies? or should i move them 2? i have had these fish for like 5 months and still no babies or signs of them being pregnant im looking forward to them having babies but its not happening. i feed them tropical fish food pellets left over golfish flakes i have occasionaly and frozen blood worms and brine shrimp oh yeah and i do have live plants in my tank. i have 3 male mollies and 2 female, 2 female platys and 1 male so the platys should be fine but should i get 2 more female mollys ? and will this overcrowd my tank? oh also my larger silfin silver molly seems realy unhappy and is hiding away ?

 

[blueberry_pye]

also what plants would be best suited for my tank i would prefer low maintance easy to care for and does well in any sort of lighting if that exists? ill have to order them online as i live in a small town and have very limited variety

 

[aakaakaak]

Where in washington do you live? Frequently there are places just around the corner that you've never even heard of. (I have relatives in WA.) Walla Walla side or the "green" side?

Java Fern, Java Moss, Wisteria, Anacharis, Cabomba, Anubias Nana, Green Onions, and many more. If you have screw-ins you can actually swing by Lowes/Home-Depot and pick up higher wattage "Daylight" bulbs (around 10-26W bulbs) that will help plants grow. If you have the T-5/T-8 flourescent bulbs you're a bit more limited.

Are you familiar with how to calculate Watts Per Gallon (WPG)?

 

[lauraf]

You can keep all your current fish together. While mollies like a bit of salt, they are okay without it. If you do get another tank, the mollies should go with other fish that are okay with a bit of salinity - any scaleless fish, like cories or loaches, shouldn't have any salt in their water. Platies are okay with or without salt.
Is your unhappy molly male or female? Any signs of disease?
If you aren't noticing a lot of harassment by the male mollies you don't need to add more females . . . .
And +1 to what aak said about the plants.

 

[blueberry_pye]

i dont live in washington i live in broome western australia so the closest drive to anywhere that has an aquarium shop or pet store thats decent is a 3 day drive away to perth not something i realy want to do haha

 

[blueberry_pye]

im thinking of getting the Juwel Korall 60 - Tropical Starter Kit
for the corys its 54litres will that be ok for the 5 of them ? and id like to add a couple of fish that tolerate similar water requirements and are quite hardy any suggestions? the tank comes with
•Light System: 1 x 15 W T8 tube
•Filter: Juwel BioFlow Mini 280lph
•Heater: Juwel 50w heater
As for my unhappy molly i cant see any signs of illness, he is a male and there seems to be no harrrasment directly towards the females but one of my lyretail males had a big attitude and picks on the other 2 males and chases away any others that get in his way would it help to get 2 more females? would it overcrowd my tank? so i was thinking maybe its best i have my mollies in a brackish water environment they might be healthier and happier. Any ideas as to why they havnt had any babies yet or looked pregnant ?

 

[lauraf]

Five cories should be fine in the 54lt. Gosh, lots will go with the cories - it's more a matter of what will be appropriate for the tank size. Guppies if you are into livebearers; a small school of tetras; a couple honey gouramis . . . ..
Yeah, you can try adding more females - it should help distract your dominant male from the other guys. No idea why they haven't bred yet. I had multiple platies in my tank for two years and couldn't get a platy knocked up for love or money, but happened to have two breeding pairs of angels develop out of four juvies . . . go figure.

 

[blueberry_pye]

thanks, i realy like balloon mollies would it be fine to get 2 females? or should i get the same as i have ? i havnt had much luck with balloon mollies before but i realy like them their so cute! well thast good u had luck with the angels, strange how things happen out of the ordinary sometimes and somepeople cant get there livebearers to stop breeding haha

 

[blueberry_pye]

i got 2 marbled orange and black female mollys today and now a different male is harrassing one of the new pregnant females they are both pregnant , but thee aggresive male has settled down aghh i cant get this right

 

[aakaakaak]

So, I'll be the guy who says it. Balloon mollies, as pretty as they may be, are not bred for their ability to live. They're bred to have that balloon deformity that makes it hard for them to swim. It hasn't been your bad luck. It's been their bad genetics that killed them.

Just remember the 2-3 females to 1 male ratio for livebearers like mollies and platies and you should be okay.

If you're looking for somewhere to check your stocking you can bounce numbers off AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor. It's NOT a perfect site, so always use it with caution.

 

[webgeek]

I suggest you try dalmatian mollies or silver mollies instead. They do give an nice appeal to the tank.

 

[Kiara1125]

Yes, although Balloon Mollies may be cute (got some before, adorable!!), they are pretty unhealthy. Mine lasted a few weeks and died for unknown reasons. The tank conditions were perfect and they were acting fine. Maybe if you got some BMs that were cross bred with regular Mollies or something. But 3 days!? Dang.

 

[blueberry_pye]

ok i think ill just stick with normal mollies then, poor little balloon mollies! i figured out whats wrong with my silver sailfin male molly , my friend was over last night and she saw him scratch on along the gravel so im thinking parasitic or fungal so i took my corys out and my friend is babysitting them in her tank which is overstocked with them in it now, but should be ok for the short period untill i go get another tank for them. I did a 25% water change,took out the filter carbon and added broad spectrum to treat all the tank.He seems alot more active in just one night so fingers crossed hel get better! Also 2 of my platys have died dont know why And know i have the 2 extra marbled females the males have stopped harrasing each other but now there harrasing my poor pregant girl i have 4 girls now, i think i know why the 2 small females i already had are still quite small i dont think they are sexually mature yet could this be why? im trying toi get this right but it seems to be one drama after another haha im determined to get it right ive always liked mollies and this is the first ive had a tank of them.

 

[lauraf]

A little harassment between livebearers is normal. That's why you have more females than males - it spreads out the pestering among the females and distracts the males from each other . . . .

Take a close look at your fish - do they have any spots or discolorations on their scales?

 

[blueberry_pye]

yeah they only seem to be pestering one female not the other 3 and shes seems to be getting really stressed. Do you think its because 2 of the girls are still quite small about 4 cm and they dont go near them?