How many molly fish is the limit for a 55 gal tank?

Question

I have a 55 gal tank and my mollies are reproducing like crazy and they are starting to get ick and I am wanting to know if I possibly have too much in the tank. I've tried ick medicine for 1 week and although it looks better on some fish, it is NOT completely cured. I have changed the water level last week and I will change it again tomorrow. and if I do have too many fish could I possibly sell the ones I have now??? Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The first thing you need to do is cure the ich problem. Continue treating with the medication you have and also raise the tank temperature to 85-87F. Also, if you aren't using salt in your tank you need to do so. Mollies do very well in water with salt, in fact, they will do just fine in brackish or even sea water. Ich on the other hand does not do well in salted water, so adding plenty of salt will help your fish and hurt the ich. You need to have 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon in the tank. Continue treating with the ich treatment for 7 days past the time you see the last spot of ich on any fish.

Once the ich is completely gone you can try to sell some of your mollies. Don't expect much though, they are easy to breed and most shops have all they need.

If you think you have too many, you no doubt do ;)

MM

Answer 2

Add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons. That should help improve the health of your Mollies. However with Ich in the tank I would follow MM and add 1 teaspoon of salt for every gallon. A 55 gallon tank should be fine with 20 to 25 Mollies but I would keep at the low range. If you think you have too many fish you should contact your local pet store and see if you can sell them or trade them for in-store credit.

Answer 3

one thing you could try is turning up the temp, just a couple of degrees per day, get it to about 84, i know this sounds high, but the fish can handle it, if it's done properly. this will make the ick virus release the fish (as ick lives in the water, when the fish become stressed, their slime coat dissipates and allows the virus to attach itself to the fish). trying a little bit of salt isn't a bad thing either, considering live bearers like salt in the water, start with about a teaspoon per 5 gallons, that should be enough. i used to work @ Super Pet, and we added salt to the sump system to help with stress, and to help the cichlids and the livebearers. hope this helps

Answer 4

Take out all the males. You could try to sell some of the baby fish to local pet stores, but the larger ones like Petco and Petsmart have their own breeders they buy from. If you have too many, try giving them away for free.

Answer 5

Try adding some aquarium salt. Not too much though, slowly add more and more each day until you are at the limit the directions have stated. I don't know how salt tolerant Mollies are...

Nosoop4u

Answer 6

Limit your aqaurium fish to one inch of full-grown fish per gallon of water. Your local pet store will probably buy fish, but you probably won't get much for them. If you're under the limit, though, just be sure you're changing the water once a month and that each week you're rinsing the filter and adding a good bacterial supplement.