A single molly...

[Ramie]

So....i have always been a betta keeper...i like my one tank with one fish...im weird apparently....but my current source water is very high in pH (8.4) and hardness (around 300ppm) and my tank size is limited at 10 gallons. I dont want to be chasing parameters and trying to fiddle with my water risking instability unless its a last resort thing. I was wondering if you could keep a molly (or some other fish that might do better in hard water than a betta) by itself. I spend an obscene amoung of time with my tank but i know some fish just mentally have to be around other fish....bettas i think prefer their people. But long story short could a molly be ok without other mollies or fish. I could i keep a few females together if i had to. I DO NOT want to have fry. But i honestly prefer having only one fish personally...its not just a tank size thing. Any suggestions?

[Pookies Aquatics]

A platy can live alone, but will enjoy the company of other fish. I would recommend just getting several males. If you just want one fish, get a male because females and males will normally be shipped and stored together. If you get a female that has been in contact with males, it will most likely be pregnant. 

[Ramie]

Are mollies and platies similar? I was thinking molly because my parameters seem to be within their range..on the high end but at least within it. I was thinking i couldnt have more than one male because of aggression..but if that isnt an issue thats a much better idea. Lol. 

[Ramie]

35 minutes ago, Pookies Aquatics said:

A platy can live alone, but will enjoy the company of other fish. I would recommend just getting several males. If you just want one fish, get a male because females and males will normally be shipped and stored together. If you get a female that has been in contact with males, it will most likely be pregnant. 

See my reply above...not sure if you will see it if i didnt quote you.

[Mychala]

What about a pea puffer? I've never had a Molly alone but I know pea puffers can be kept that way...just a thought.  From my experience puffers have more personality and  I feel like you may miss that with just one molly.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Mychala

[Nataku]

You now most bettas bred nowadays can tolerate a really wide range of pH. Unless you're ordering one in from SE asia, they probably weren't bred in soft water anyhow. 

I wouldn't do a molly in a 10 as they are a much more active fish than a betta, and also get up to 5 inches long - that's  quite a bit bigger than a betta.  They just would appreciate a lot more room than a 10 gallon.

If you're interested in selling fish, you could get multies. They're a tiny shell dweller from Lake Tanganyika, which has very similar parameters to your water. They're colony spawners, fascinating behavoirs to watch. Eventually as the population grows you can pull the young out and sell em. But if you only want a single fish, these won't work, and I don't know of another lake Tang fish that would work as a solo in a 10.

You could keep a single paradise fish. They're pretty personable like bettas. Flare like em too. Much more temp tolerant. I kept them in my tap water which is 8.2 without issue.

Could keep a couple male guppies. They like hard water and would be fine in that pH. No breeding with just males.

[Ramie]

1 hour ago, Nataku said:

You now most bettas bred nowadays can tolerate a really wide range of pH. Unless you're ordering one in from SE asia, they probably weren't bred in soft water anyhow. 

I wouldn't do a molly in a 10 as they are a much more active fish than a betta, and also get up to 5 inches long - that's  quite a bit bigger than a betta.  They just would appreciate a lot more room than a 10 gallon.

If you're interested in selling fish, you could get multies. They're a tiny shell dweller from Lake Tanganyika, which has very similar parameters to your water. They're colony spawners, fascinating behavoirs to watch. Eventually as the population grows you can pull the young out and sell em. But if you only want a single fish, these won't work, and I don't know of another lake Tang fish that would work as a solo in a 10.

You could keep a single paradise fish. They're pretty personable like bettas. Flare like em too. Much more temp tolerant. I kept them in my tap water which is 8.2 without issue.

Could keep a couple male guppies. They like hard water and would be fine in that pH. No breeding with just males.

I just worry my water is just stretching a bettas tolerance a bit too much. Ill look into paradise fish or maybe ill get a few guppies. Maybe ill just stick with bettas. Im totally unsure of what do to. Maybe ill ask and see how many people have had bettas in water like mine. Maybe im just worrying unnecessarily. Thank you.

[Ramie]

9 hours ago, Mychala said:

What about a pea puffer? I've never had a Molly alone but I know pea puffers can be kept that way...just a thought.  From my experience puffers have more personality and  I feel like you may miss that with just one molly.

Someone else had suggested that to me also but said they apparently arent supposed to be kept alone either....but i know people do. Have you kept a single pea puffer in crazy alkaline/hard water like mine? Or just by itself? How did it do?

[Mychala]

I not personally kept pea puffers. I've kept green spotted puffers,  but they will need salt. I don't think you should have a ph issue with them but I could be wrong.    And my water is the same, comes out of the tap at 8.4 with a gh around 300.  I use fluval stratum to knock it down to 7.4 and my betta does fine. I have kept bettas in the 8.4 but feel like I have more swim bladder issues (could be complete coincidence). 

Care Guide for Pea Puffers – The Smallest Pufferfish in the World

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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Pea puffers are one of the coolest oddball species you can keep in a smaller-sized aquarium. They’re...

 

[Ramie]

6 hours ago, Mychala said:

I not personally kept pea puffers. I've kept green spotted puffers,  but they will need salt. I don't think you should have a ph issue with them but I could be wrong.    And my water is the same, comes out of the tap at 8.4 with a gh around 300.  I use fluval stratum to knock it down to 7.4 and my betta does fine. I have kept bettas in the 8.4 but feel like I have more swim bladder issues (could be complete coincidence). 

Care Guide for Pea Puffers – The Smallest Pufferfish in the World

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

---

Pea puffers are one of the coolest oddball species you can keep in a smaller-sized aquarium. They’re...

 

How long did the bettas that lived in the 8.4 live? The swimbladder may be coincidental as the fish i had in my 8.4 pH water had no swimbladder issues compared to my other past bettas...but he also never really got constipated...maybe slightly with a little bloat but not enough to affect the swimbladder. I also didnt ever feed that one a pea for constipation...only daphnia and his main food was new life spectrum betta pellet..i think that helped a lot for my fish regarding constipation and swimbladder issues that relate to that. Were the swimbladder issues you were seeing related to constipation or something else? Also does the fluval stratum keep it at a stable 7.4 or do you have any instability issues? (Feel free to reply with a picture of your puffer too..just for fun!)

[Mychala]

@Ramie the green spotted puffer was probably 15 years ago. Super fun fish, I would love to have another puffer. I can't say for sure how long my previous bettas have lived,  I'm going to say 2 years. My current one is at 3 years.  My swim bladder problem was so extreme with the previous that I was only able to feed 1 or 2 pellets a day, I think there may have been something making it so severe. With the stratum the ph is stable, plant heavily because it will bring on the algae. It takes about 24hours to change the ph to where it stays for me. Test it before fish. Then I keep some in my clean water bucket and let it sit 24 hours so I don't create swings with changes. I have done small changes without letting it sit and  had no issue. 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Mychala

[Ramie]

7 minutes ago, Mychala said:

@Ramie the green spotted puffer was probably 15 years ago. Super fun fish, I would love to have another puffer. I can't say for sure how long my previous bettas have lived,  I'm going to say 2 years. My current one is at 3 years.  My swim bladder problem was so extreme with the previous that I was only able to feed 1 or 2 pellets a day, I think there may have been something making it so severe. With the stratum the ph is stable, plant heavily because it will bring on the algae. It takes about 24hours to change the ph to where it stays for me. Test it before fish. Then I keep some in my clean water bucket and let it sit 24 hours so I don't create swings with changes. I have done small changes without letting it sit and  had no issue. 

Thank you. That is very good to know. Not sure what ill do yet....still gathering opinions and info..but this is definitely helpful to know if i ever decide to use the stratum. And im sorry you had to deal with swimbladder issues like that....they are just so prone to it...i assume with all the breeding....still 2 and 3 years is doing pretty good!