Need help with my Glofish

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foofoo1237

Small Fish
#1
Feb 19, 2012
10
0
0
Katy, Texas
#1
Hello,
So i just got a 5.5 gallon tank about a week ago i got it to cycle. So I got one Glofish (Green) and two ghost shrimp after i have cycled my tank which was three days ago then today i got two more glofish (red and purple) and one more shrimp. I know they need to be in a bigger tank and kept in a school of 6 but i cant get anything bigger and i cant get anymore Glofish. When i added my two new glofish the green one has been chasing both of them all day and nipping at them. I have read that this happens because of ether A. The tank size and or B. To show dominance. I was wondering if the green glofish will ever calm down or not bother them as much? Should i exchange it for another green fish because the purple and red look like BFF's or what? And dont say to go take them back because i dont want to :(...
 

F

foofoo1237

Small Fish
#4
Feb 19, 2012
10
0
0
Katy, Texas
#4
i have hermit crabs and used their poop to my advantage and that helped with the ammonia plus the fish food :) and i always tested my water at the pet store before getting any of the fish. And the green glofish is still acting the same but this time not as much.
 

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foofoo1237

Small Fish
#5
Feb 19, 2012
10
0
0
Katy, Texas
#5
okay well after feeding them i have found a few more problems popped up ... 1. the red and purple are now cornered and can only swim behind some plants while the green swims back and fourth and nipping at them 2. When i was feeding them the green one would chase and nip at both of them if they passed their "line" or to get food. i had to drop some flakes over their spot for them to at least get food. 3. Now all the fish are nipping at each other 4. i think the purple and red are working together because as the green would case the purple the red would be right behind it and when the green is chasing both the red and purple swim in opposite direction and confuse the green. I hope i dont wake up to a dead fish :(
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#7
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#7
Hello; Glofish are basically danioes with genes spliced in. The splicing may alter the behavior a bit as well as color, but I have not read about that nor have I observed this with the few that I have owned. I suspect they can be treated like regular danios. The chasing is normal for danioes. I cannot recall them doing actual damage to each other in the chasing I have observed. They are very active and always on the move.
The size of your tank limits the number of fish that can be put in it without increasing the chances of problems. If I read the initial post correctly you now have three fish and two shrimp. It will be possible to get away with a couple more danioes but the chance of issues with the water quality become more likely. Should any problems develope with the pumps, filters, or one of the fish/shrimp were to die the water quality can go bad very qickly. This is one of those stocking issues most all fishkeepers face at some point in the hobby. I did keep overstocked tanks early on myself.
Possibly the biggest mistake that causes problems is that new fishkeepers tend to overfeed. This was the root of many problems for me early on. Fish do not need to eat every day. I usually skip feeding a day or two a week and now feed considerbly less than I use to.
Do not be suprised if you get more posts about cycling. It can take several weeks to get the balance of beneficial bacteria (bb) stabalized for the number of fish. It can be much quicker if there is an already established (cycled) tank to pull bb covered material from. Most of the time the members of this forum are polite with their comments and do not flame or slam so much as on other fish forums. My suggestion is to leave the number of fish and shrimp at what you have now for around a month. This may give the tank time to be better cycled and more stable. Be very cautious with the amount of food and perhaps skip one day of feeding each week. Perhaps add some floating plants or other structure to give the chased fish a place to hide.
In the end you can keep you tanks any way you wish but I applaude you for using the forum to seek advice. Good luck.
 

F

foofoo1237

Small Fish
#8
Feb 19, 2012
10
0
0
Katy, Texas
#8
would adding some filter media and those little pellet looking things help with the cycling and help the bacteria, because i just have one cartridge with carbon in it and i think im over feeding. Also they seem to swim together with not as much nipping when the lights are off. would adding en extra fish glo or another danioe help with less nipping-ness? i know its breaking the one gallon per inch and all but i dont want any dead fish
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#9
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#9
It's fine to add more filter media. They nip at each other less because they can't see very well without light. You might try to add another Danio, but if the green starts to pick on that one (and everyone else is happy with their new tankmate) then you'll have to get rid of the green one. Even if it doesn't do any damage, it stresses out the other fish a lot. My Zebra Danios (2 males, 2 females) chase each other around, but not in a threatning way. They don't nip (not even at my longfin) and can stay around each other without any chasing.

Also, Glofish ARE Danios. Read here. They are genetically modified Zebra Danios. It's not the same as dying or tattooing a fish (which stresses out the fish and shortens their lifespan and health condition). Glofish will act the same, live the same, feed the same, and breed the same as Zebra Danios.

GloFish® Fluorescent Fish FAQ

Just found out that they are doing the same Flourescent process with Tetras. I might get those......
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#10
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#10
foofoo1237 said:
would adding some filter media and those little pellet looking things help with the cycling and help the bacteria, because i just have one cartridge with carbon in it and i think im over feeding. Also they seem to swim together with not as much nipping when the lights are off. would adding en extra fish glo or another danioe help with less nipping-ness? i know its breaking the one gallon per inch and all but i dont want any dead fish
Click to expand...
Hello; A large part of cycling is the growth of enough bb to "eat" waste products (ammonia) from the fish, plants and other living things in a tank. The bb use the ammonia and convert it to a less harmfull product which gets into the nitrate -nitrite portion of cycling. Adding more filter media, unless it is from an already cycled tank with colonies of bb already on the media, will not speed up the cycling. The bb will reproduce to large enough numbers to feed on the available ammonia. Adding new fish too soon will increase the amount of ammonia in the tank and there may not be enough bb to consume the extra and the ammonia will be free in the water. This free ammonia, called an ammonia spike, can harm the fish in a way called an ammonia burn. It can damage the sensitive gill structures. Without a source of material from an established tank that already has some bb on it, the bb will have to grow in the new tank on it's own. This takes time. My suggestion is to not add any more new fish for a few weeks to allow the bb to increase enough numbers to handle the current load.
Take a close look at the three danioes to see if any damage is actually being done. Chasing without actual fin damage is a part of danio life. Mine have always chased each other.
Carbon is only good at removine chemicals for a few days at most. After that it will be a good site for bb to grow as it is very porous and has a lot of surface area. I do not think that adding carbon will help with cycling.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#11
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#11
Hello; Read SER altima's post in a different thread from a member confused about cycling. I just read it so it is a current post. I will try to post the exact title if you cannot find it. Also there are several past threads on this forum about cycling if you know how to do a search.
 

F

foofoo1237

Small Fish
#12
Feb 19, 2012
10
0
0
Katy, Texas
#12
I know that carbon is used to get rid of chemicals but i have read that at a certain point (like after a month) you have to throw it out because once the carbon hits its max it will spill harmful chemicals back into the tank.
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#13
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#13
From what I've read, along with what people have told me on here, that's not true. Carbon just loses it's effectiveness, it doesn't reverse the chemicals into your water.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#14
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#14
Kiara1125 said:
From what I've read, along with what people have told me on here, that's not true. Carbon just loses it's effectiveness, it doesn't reverse the chemicals into your water.
Click to expand...
Hello; I think this is correct. At any rate I have left carbon in the bottom of filters for many many months before without any problem. I would replace the filter floss on top as it loaded up but leave the carbon alone. I used to think that carbon could be recharged by baking, but posts from others have suggested this in not possible at the temperatures of a household oven. However the carbon will not hurt anything in my experience.
 

skjl47

skjl47

Large Fish
#17
Nov 13, 2010
712
0
0
Northeastern Tennessee.
#17
foofoo1237 said:
so theres no reason to throw out the cartridge? or just take off the floss, rub it on the new cartridge to transfer some BB, and throw it out?
Click to expand...
Hello; Perhaps you could leave the old cartridge in place for a couple of weeks as it may have some bb on it's surfaces and that will not hurt. By then there should be more bb on the other tank surfaces and it will not matter at all.
 

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