why does my Molly shake back and forth?

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I have a new male and 2 female Mollies. They
are adjusting to a new home and new tank mates.
The male stays in the corner of the tank and shakes
back and forth. I know that this is not right, for he was not acting that way in the store. I wathed him for about a half an hour, waiting to get him and the two females. What is could be the cause of his shaking?
Karen
Answer -
Hi Karen,

I sincerely apologize for not getting back to you sooner, my interenet has been down and I have not been able to answer questions for nearly a week now!

Honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with your male molly.  What I need for you to do, though, is watch him carefully in your tank, ideally for about ten minutes twice a day.  Just watch how he interacts, if he's an open swimmer or just sits in one spot, if he develops any outward signs of disease like anchorworms or ich, or if he starts flicking his body against the rocks and decorations.  It could be that he was just getting used to the new tank and the new water conditions and he's just fine now (I hope!).

One thing you can try if he still isn't acting normally is feeding frozen food like brine shrimp.  Your fish will love the special treat, and it'll make everyone healthy.  (And the healthier the fish, the less likely he is to get a disease!)

Again, I apologize for my lack of timing.  I hope your molly is doing fine, please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!

-Lindsay

Lindsay,
That is ok, I understand that the internet is great when it works and a pain when it doesn't. To update you on the male Molly. I left the tank lights off for a couple of days. I found that another one of the fish a
Guromie was picking on him. After the second day, I put in food and once again turned on the light in for the tank. I found that everyone was swimming around and getting along just fine. Even the male Molly was acting
like nothing was wrong. So, maybe he just had to adjust and get the Guromie from going after him. He is also a male and the only other big fish in the tank. So, it could of been the pecking order and he just wanted to make sure that the male Molly knew his place.
I am in the middle of setting up a 55 gal tank, I hope that everyone will adjust to it with out any problems.
I have one other thing to ask. I have the female Guromie in a tank by herself, only because she would not get along with any of the other fish.
Do you think that this will continue in the 55 gal tank, if I return her to it along with the others. It would be new surroundings for all and it would mean everyone would have to find their place.
Please let me know what you think.
Thank you, Karen


Answer
Karen,

I'm glad to hear your molly is acting normally.  As for the new 55 gallon tank, make sure you let it cycle for at least two weeks with about five starter fish in it before you add your existing fish to it.  The longer you let it cycle, the better.

Gouramis are best kept in pairs or harems: One male with one female or one male with several females.  You only want to have one male gourami per tank.  If your female is aggressive, though, I would try to get her a similarly sized male so they can take out their aggressions on each other.  And you're absolutely right, establishing new territories, especially in a tank so much larger, will take stress off the fish and decrease the fighting and territory battles.  And, as always, the more decorations the better!

Good luck with the 55, let me know if I can help further!

-Lindsay