# Working on a small Livebearer tank



## Chaz385 (Nov 16, 2010)

good morning everyone. my girlfriend seemingly has started a livebearer tank for me, because she had a two mollies that were sick and one eventually died, so naturally being the saint i am i took the other molly and have been nursing it back to health in a 10 gallon i had found at a yard sale not too long ago. since then the molly has recovered, and she added two guppies as a gift to the tank so the molly would have friends. this got me thinking of starting a livebearer tank. my question is, i have no idea where to go from here, what are some good fish for a small community tank this small? and what are some sugguestions of other livebearers that are uncommon or interesting that would thrive in a 10 gallon with the others? thanks everybody!


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## Glimpze (Sep 10, 2010)

Chaz385 said:


> good morning everyone. my girlfriend seemingly has started a livebearer tank for me, because she had a two mollies that were sick and one eventually died, so naturally being the saint i am i took the other molly and have been nursing it back to health in a 10 gallon i had found at a yard sale not too long ago. since then the molly has recovered, and she added two guppies as a gift to the tank so the molly would have friends. this got me thinking of starting a livebearer tank. my question is, i have no idea where to go from here, what are some good fish for a small community tank this small? and what are some sugguestions of other livebearers that are uncommon or interesting that would thrive in a 10 gallon with the others? thanks everybody!


i would recommend getting 2 more mollies they like to school together from my experience of my 4 black mollies.. also they breed fairly easily so u may not wanna get anything else if u do go that route but i wouldnt put too many in a 10 gallon also


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

IMO a 10 should only have 1 type of livebearer. Then you know what all the babies are and one kind doesn't get abused or out-competed for food by the other. Theres are lots of uncommon, interesting livebearers, but none I would mix in. Limia such as perugiae are similar to mollies. Goodieds from Mexico are neat, but more aggressive than other livebearers. Heterandia formosa are incredibly small.

In general, a livebearer tank should have either hard water or salt and live or fake plants with hiding places for small fry both floating and at the bottom.


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## Chaz385 (Nov 16, 2010)

oh thats right i forgot to mention that so far all the fish are male, this tank is not for breeding... yet


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## toddnbecka (Jun 30, 2006)

Mollies are active fish, not really suitable for a 10 gallon tank. Guppies or endler's livebearers are better suited to a small tank, and a few Akysis catfish would also be a good addition. Akysis are a dwarf species, max out around 2.5", and will happily eat fry but don't grow large enough to bother larger juvies or adults.


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