# Molly or betta?



## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

So I have been planning on getting a 20 gallon tank, and have also been planning on putting a betta sorority in it.....but now I am getting increasingly interested in just getting a molly instead.....What should I do???


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Do more research. Mollys really do best in larger tanks. They can get around 6 inches long and do best in 30+ gallon tanks. Plus. They will always be reproducing. I would just go with female bettas in a 20 gal tank.


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

thekoimaiden said:


> Do more research. Mollys really do best in larger tanks. They can get around 6 inches long and do best in 30+ gallon tanks. Plus. They will always be reproducing. I would just go with female bettas in a 20 gal tank.


Well the reproducing thing wouldn't be a problem because I only want one....I'm thinking since they get so big I would have to get a 20gal long....if I get the bigger kind..... I don't know how much more research I can do....It's just a matter of deciding...I just want opinions of what people like better.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and not to be mean or anything, but it really upsets me when people tell me to do more research. I am a research FIEND and I look up everything for hours lol


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I thought only the sail fin mollys get to be that large.

I've always found mollys to be a little bland in character, they all seem the same to me lol


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

copperarabian said:


> I thought only the sail fin mollys get to be that large.
> 
> I've always found mollys to be a little bland in character, they all seem the same to me lol


Yeah I'm pretty sure the sail fins only get that big.

Are they boring though? Are they not spunky and cute like bettas?


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

They have personality in their own way.  I've been temped by them plenty of times, but they prefer brackish water and I wanted other species that are not. I went with Platies instead for my 20 gal long tropical community tank.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

OMG, I saw the biggest molly a few months ago. I swear it was at least 6"long


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## Sheldon31 (Mar 21, 2012)

After rescuing Sid the molly a few weeks ago I really will never have mollies on my own. Sid goes to his new home on friday and I'll be glad when he's gone. He constantly poos leaving tons of strings of poop everywhere which I feel like I'm constantly cleaning up. He's aggressive towards EVERYTHING! My plants are destroyed and to be honest, he's not as enjoyable to watch as my other fish. I think you have to be a molly person to appreciate them. But I am glad I rescued him because he's been in nice clean water and didn't meet the sticky end he would have even if we havn't seen eye to eye. 

Oppinion on what you should go for? Betta sorority.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Sheldon31 said:


> After rescuing Sid the molly a few weeks ago I really will never have mollies on my own. Sid goes to his new home on friday and I'll be glad when he's gone. He constantly poos leaving tons of strings of poop everywhere which I feel like I'm constantly cleaning up. He's aggressive towards EVERYTHING! My plants are destroyed and to be honest, he's not as enjoyable to watch as my other fish. I think you have to be a molly person to appreciate them. But I am glad I rescued him because he's been in nice clean water and didn't meet the sticky end he would have even if we havn't seen eye to eye.
> 
> Oppinion on what you should go for? Betta sorority.


I had one male for a month, he constantly tried to mate with my male two spot blue gourami and the poor gourami was traumatized and hid in the constantly. Now 4 months later, and 3 months after giving the molly to a friend my gourami is mentally recovered. 



> *finnfinnfriend*
> Are they boring though? Are they not spunky and cute like bettas?


I think they are a little boring with little character, but people who are fans of the molly and have had them longer will probably be able to tell you more about their character


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

My sister and I have had bother male and female mollies (and 30 baby mollies born the first night). The males tend to be overly aggressive. One of our males harassed the betta we had in with him so much the betta ended up shredding his fins. This same molly (Through better judgement from my sister this would never have occurred) was also beaten up by an angel as well as a freshwater aquarium shark (This kind: http://www.thatpetplace.com/freshwater-sharks-article).

Mollies are very hardy, but they're incredibly messy and destroy live plants quickly. I find they don't really have too much personality at all, and this is even with the mollies that I have raised from birth. Keeping both genders together, the male constantly harasses and bullies the females into mating, which can be annoying to watch happen as well.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

My mollies were evil especially my black molly. I wasn't sad at all when they died


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Funny. The male molly was talking about was a black one.

Unfortunately our Dalmatian male passed away unexpectedly from unknown causes. Our silver female had some sort of deficiency resulting in shakes, a curved spine, and difficulty swimming. she passed on her own while we were trying to correct her diet. We've had very good survival rates from the fry, all of which are the general orange molly. Their mother had to be put down because of an unknown illness though.

If you do want to get a molly or a few of them, be sure to get them from a good source. I'm sure you already know how to tell male from female due to your research, but always be prepared to have babies and a lot of them sometime within 3 months of buying a female. they're pretty much guaranteed pregnant when you buy them since they don't separate genders.

Mollies are also not such a good community fish. They harass a lot regardless of gender (Males more so though) and they do produce an ungodly amount of waste for a fish their size.

Platys however have some more spunk tot hem and do well with bettas. Raised a fry in our sorority tank and she acted like one of the girls. They do eat live plants, but nowhere near as bad as a molly does and they can make quite a mess. Overall, I think a platy or a group of them along with a sorority would be very good together as well as entertaining for you.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I sucessfully raised platy in the past but now they die every time I buy them


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## Sheldon31 (Mar 21, 2012)

I've found mollies to be worse in a community than any betta. They seem to harass other species to the point of death. My mother in law who I rescued Sid from had awful trouble with him where he harassed the balloon mollies to the point where 4 of them didn't come out ever, not even to eat and look like floating eyes because they are so malnourished and 2 actually died eventually. I took him because I couldn't see him terrorise them anymore and I new people who could take him willingly. He goes friday to a lady who breeds mollies and has room for a male. I actually said to people who wanted him I would only give him to people who had the correct ratio of male to female and no other tank mates.


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

xShainax said:


> My mollies were evil especially my black molly. I wasn't sad at all when they died


Just because you didn't like them doesn't meen you should be happy they died.


I personaly like the black mollies, dont know why but i always likes how there so black and kinda look squishy


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Crowntailed said:


> Just because you didn't like them doesn't meen you should be happy they died.
> 
> 
> I personaly like the black mollies, dont know why but i always likes how there so black and kinda look squishy


Mine had a yellow like on his sail


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## Sheldon31 (Mar 21, 2012)

Black mollies are very pretty, they look almost like black velvet I just don't like the personalities of them. They are sorta brutish. Shame because they can be so attractive. 

Sid is bright white with a yellow tint to the tip of his dorsal. I called him Sid cause he reminds me of Sid Vicious and it fitted his brutish personality.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Sheldon31 said:


> Black mollies are very pretty, they look almost like black velvet I just don't like the personalities of them. They are sorta brutish. Shame because they can be so attractive.
> 
> Sid is bright white with a yellow tint to the tip of his dorsal. I called him Sid cause he reminds me of Sid Vicious and it fitted his brutish personality.


Mine died of a broken heart. When my female dalmatian molly died he stopped eating and died


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> Funny. The male molly was talking about was a black one.
> 
> Unfortunately our Dalmatian male passed away unexpectedly from unknown causes. Our silver female had some sort of deficiency resulting in shakes, a curved spine, and difficulty swimming. she passed on her own while we were trying to correct her diet. We've had very good survival rates from the fry, all of which are the general orange molly. Their mother had to be put down because of an unknown illness though.
> 
> ...


Well I did just want to get one male and put him in in the 20 gallon all by himself. Then bullying and pregnancy wouldn't be a worry at all . But from what I am hearing, they sound like little jerks, so now I'm still not sure.

Could I just get a single male platy?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

finnfinnfriend said:


> Well I did just want to get one male and put him in in the 20 gallon all by himself. Then bullying and pregnancy wouldn't be a worry at all . But from what I am hearing, they sound like little jerks, so now I'm still not sure.
> 
> Could I just get a single male platy?


It's better to get at least three platy's. They are group fish


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Get a couple females and I think that would be awesome.

I've had two platys now and both of them are sweet and curious little fish. they're definitely more spunky than a molly so you can tell the difference between them a little easier if they all look the same.


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

Pataflafla said:


> Get a couple females and I think that would be awesome.
> 
> I've had two platys now and both of them are sweet and curious little fish. they're definitely more spunky than a molly so you can tell the difference between them a little easier if they all look the same.


hmm....well if I want to get a group, then I would probably go with the sorority...

I can't decide!!!


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Both can work out in a 20 gallon, but it's your choice.

I had 4 females and the platy fry in a 10 gallon and everyone got along just fine. Very little chasing and almost zero nipping on anyone's part.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

My daughter has mollies. I got her 6 for a 20 gallon in her room and expected at least a few to die... she's 10 and this was her first solo tank, she feeds them, cleans them (with some supervision) and does water changes. So out of the six we got I thought she might end up with 2 or 3... Nope! All 6 are thriving and while they're still little now, I know I'll have to get another tank.. >.<

She has 4 normal dalmatian mollies (3 girls and a boy).. we call them "the puppies", because they really don't have personalities, they just like chasing fingers. Honestly I haven't found any personality to any of them.. they're kind of fun to watch interacting with each other and the tank, but they're not nearly as intriguing as a betta.

She also has 2 sail-fin mollies, a little black marble male and a HUGE white female. The female is so sweet but a little pushy. She watches my daughter do her homework.. just floats there by the glass watching, even when no one is interacting with her. The male probably has the most personality of them all. He sleeps in a cave, keeps the other fish in line, jumps for his food and follows fingers, but still... not even half as much fun as a betta, at least in my opinion.

I'd go with a sorority.. I LOVE mine. The girls are so much fun, they interact with each other and I spend a lot of time just watching them. They've each developed personalities, like Rosie who has an obsession with checking every single inch of the decorations for.. er.. something, and Princess who thinks she's in charge (when Tidbit isn't around) even though she's the smallest. By far, this is my favorite tank to watch.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

finnfinnfriend said:


> Well the reproducing thing wouldn't be a problem because I only want one....I'm thinking since they get so big I would have to get a 20gal long....if I get the bigger kind..... I don't know how much more research I can do....It's just a matter of deciding...I just want opinions of what people like better.
> 
> EDIT: Oh yeah, and not to be mean or anything, but it really upsets me when people tell me to do more research. I am a research FIEND and I look up everything for hours lol


I didn't mean to offend you, but you gotta look at it from our perspective. We get a lot of people here who say "oh I want this because it's pretty" and have no clue if that fish is suitable for their tanks. We kinda have to assume that people haven't done their research unless they specifically state they have. 

Now that we know you understand the requirements for mollies, I would say go with the sorority if you only plan to have one molly. Just one fish in there seems like a waste of space. Plus, many of the pet store livebearers you find nowadays are so horribly inbred that they are very disease-prone generally sensitive.


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

thekoimaiden said:


> I didn't mean to offend you, but you gotta look at it from our perspective. We get a lot of people here who say "oh I want this because it's pretty" and have no clue if that fish is suitable for their tanks. We kinda have to assume that people haven't done their research unless they specifically state they have.
> 
> Now that we know you understand the requirements for mollies, I would say go with the sorority if you only plan to have one molly. Just one fish in there seems like a waste of space. Plus, many of the pet store livebearers you find nowadays are so horribly inbred that they are very disease-prone generally sensitive.


Oh yeah, I know you need to assume people don't know and I'm glad you do, because it avoids ignorance and accidental cruelty. But we have chatted before and I thought you would know that I would know better. 

But anyway I think I am leaning towards a sorority, it would be kind of a waste of money to get a whole 20 gallon set up for +/-$1 worth of fish haha XD


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

A sorority would be a lot more fun.  I like guppies because they act like puppies, following you around, and Endlers, because they have such funny antics and are so beautiful, but mollies and platies do nothing for me, really. There's always something going on in a sorority - plus, all those beautiful colours!


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## finnfinnfriend (Feb 3, 2012)

Bombalurina said:


> A sorority would be a lot more fun.  I like guppies because they act like puppies, following you around, and Endlers, because they have such funny antics and are so beautiful, but mollies and platies do nothing for me, really. There's always something going on in a sorority - plus, all those beautiful colours!


Yeah the colors will be great!


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

Get a sorority! Females bettas have sooo much spunk and make the tank look gorgeous! I have 4 in a ten gallon (was supposed to be five but turned out to be a male) and they have so much personality. They learn to recognize you and as soon as I turn on a light in my room they swim to the front of the glass. I love them!


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