# How long does it take a fish to recover from being nipped at?



## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

Poor Lemon. I have to keep him cooped up in a horrible 1 gallon tank because he is aggressive towards Lady, my molly, and because it's the only tank I can keep him in. As an animal rights activist, I hate having to put him in there, and as a fish who loves to swim, he hates having to be in there, but for Lady's sake, I have to keep Lemon in there. I checked this morning and he seems very depressed. Is it possible to say how long it can take a fish to recover from nipping?

I don't want to keep Lemon confined to that horrible prison for two or three weeks while I'm saving for that 20 gallon. It's hurting both him and me. I want him in there as little as possible. So, Thank you for any help you can provide.


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## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

And if it helps any, the nipping got to the point where Lady has to try and defend her self by intimidating Lemon. And it's strange because Lemon is a Fancy Guppy and Lady is a Molly. Shouldn't it be the other way around?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The more often you change water the faster your molly will heal.
Male guppies are infamous for trying to "hit" anything they can,so male guppy and female molly?Not super shocking,but if she was a little bigger than him and feeling healthy she should be able to keep him in "check"or at least more easily avoid him.
Failed to mention that ballon mollies are man made defects and although there are articles that go both ways,most say they don't live as long and have issues more frequently.They are compressed fish and their organs are under constant strain once their body stops growing.


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## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

Lady is a female balloon molly and Lemon is a male guppy, so that must be the issue. Lady's about an inch long and about 3/4 of an inch wide. How much growing is left for Lady before she can defend herself? I don't want them to kill each other, but I do want Lady to teach Lemon to stop nipping at her.

I heard mollies and guppies are so closely related that they can interbreed, just like Humans and Neanderthals(if they weren't extinct). Will the fighting be replaced by breeding any time soon?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The ballon molies do not get as big as the "normal" mollie.She may get a little bigger but probly no where near the size of common mollie.I've never seen a balloon mollie bigger than 1 1/2".They just keep swelling after that.
There have been reports of "muppies",but I wouldn't count on it.For the most part many believe(I being one) that swordtails and platies are the only"common" livebeares that can cross breed(guppies and endlers also I believe).


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## IanHulett (Oct 6, 2013)

My aggression problem is solved. I put 8 of my fish in a different tank and Lemon no longer attacks Lady. There's a total of 5 fish in there now.


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