# mollies!!!! platys!!!!!



## Fishfrenz (Jul 22, 2011)

Ok, i have a 10 gallon tank with 2 sunburst wag platys and 2 dalmatian mollies.
the 1 molly is a girl the other a boy. the girl molly keeps chasing the the bog molly. is this normal behavior????? 

Recently my boy platy died and his belly was huge and he had this white powdery stuff on his skin.does anyone know how he died??????


-thanks in advance

:fish::fish::fish::fish::fish::fish::fish:


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

By the sounds of it, this 'white powdery stuff' was actually columnaris -- a fungal infection that a lot of fish can easily get. It looks like white cotton on the fins or body of the fish, and can be very deadly if not treated in the earlier stages, as it eats away at their flesh. It can be treated with fungal medications. One of my favorites is Pimafix.

I've had aggressive female mollies in the past. Not all fish are the same -- each have their own temperament. Sometimes it's best to separate an aggressive female (or male) if the bullying doesn't stop... but she may just be asserting her dominance. If it keeps up, try adding more females. She might not be as tolerable as other females when it comes to the male trying to mate.


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## Fishfrenz (Jul 22, 2011)

so if i dont do anything will they eat each other? it especially happens when i feed them. i feel like the girl doesnt want the boy to eat. : ( thanks 4 ur answer!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

NO, columnaris, aka black molly disease, aka cottonmouth is NOT fungal. It only looks like a fungus, it is bacterial. Platys do get columnaris, and fungus, also velvet and ich. Go look at pictures on disease sites and you are more likely to get a correct ID than we are from just a description. Mollies can be aggressive in small groups and small tanks. The question you should ask isn't "is this normal?", it's "is this harmful?". And yes, bullying to the extent that a fish doesn't get a chance to eat is harmful. The bullied fish often get ill from being stressed and hungry. Usually, aggression in livebearers is male to female. Check your sexing of the little one. Get a good look at the anal fin.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Agh, thank you emc7 for clearing that up. I didn't mean fungal, I meant bacterial. Pimafix is still capable of clearing that up though, it's worked numerous amounts of times for me. That and clean water!


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## Fishfrenz (Jul 22, 2011)

thanks everyone for your answers!!!!!!


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