Hello, my name is Cara and since I was a kid I always had a thing for fish. I use to own a couple of bettas growing up, but as you may know, those types of fish don't go well with others and you can only have one at a time. I'm trying to set up my own aquarium now and I decided 3 months ago to purchase a 5 gallon tank and I bought 2 glofish to inhabit it. For the first 3 months my 2 glofish had no problems what so ever. I noticed that the yellow one would chase the red around all the time but it didn't look like anything aggressive so I didn't pay much attention to that. Today however, I decided to purchase 3 more glofish because I heard that they are schooling fish and do better in groups of 5 or more. At first everything was fine but then I noticed that the red fish was being a bully now, chasing and nipping at the new fish I bought. I watched it as it swam up aggressively to the purple one and it looked as if it wrapped his body around the other as if it was a snake trying to squeeze the life out of it. I was terrified! The yellow fish that was being a bully before doesn't seem to have a problem with the newcomers and once I took the red one out there was harmony once again in the tank. I put the red fish in a fish bowl and he is bugging out! what is going on?
Newbie To Fishkeeping And I Think My Fish Are Fighting
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bluesword23516
Fish Addict
It may think it is more dominate, as far as the squishing they may have been mating, I am not sure how they fertilize eggs. Maybe try moving decorations and then putting that fish in after all the other fish are settled down and see if that helps.
None of the glofish are actually suitable for a five gallon, which is likely your issue here. Glofish come in several different species: skirt tetras, tiger barbs, and zebra danios (and I think one more species). Do you know which species you have?
The fish will fuss over space, but some of these species are also just generally nippy. Tiger barbs can be simply aggressive, while skirt tetras are just nippy, particularly if not in large schools. Consider upgrading your aquarium. The red fish you've put in a bowl is likely "freaking out" because it is removed from the comfort of the school (though there is debate whether this is loneliness, I feel it is just lack of security from numbers) and probably because of ammonia build up. Do a large water change in the bowl and add dechlorinated water.
You will likely need approximately a 30 inch tank to accommodate your fish, though, as all the species altered like this are very active. You should also know that Glofish are much weaker fish than natural ones. Though the process of adding the gene to make them these horrible colors does not hurt most of the fish (as the F0 fish were really the ones who had to endure that kind of pain), the gene is now hereditary. However, Glofish come with a whole plate full of problems from shortened lifespan, decreased immune system functions, to physical deformities.
You'll also want to be keeping an eye on your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels since this is a new aquarium and it sounds like you haven't cycled it fishless.
The fish will fuss over space, but some of these species are also just generally nippy. Tiger barbs can be simply aggressive, while skirt tetras are just nippy, particularly if not in large schools. Consider upgrading your aquarium. The red fish you've put in a bowl is likely "freaking out" because it is removed from the comfort of the school (though there is debate whether this is loneliness, I feel it is just lack of security from numbers) and probably because of ammonia build up. Do a large water change in the bowl and add dechlorinated water.
You will likely need approximately a 30 inch tank to accommodate your fish, though, as all the species altered like this are very active. You should also know that Glofish are much weaker fish than natural ones. Though the process of adding the gene to make them these horrible colors does not hurt most of the fish (as the F0 fish were really the ones who had to endure that kind of pain), the gene is now hereditary. However, Glofish come with a whole plate full of problems from shortened lifespan, decreased immune system functions, to physical deformities.
You'll also want to be keeping an eye on your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels since this is a new aquarium and it sounds like you haven't cycled it fishless.
Attibones, do you feel that the 'problems' associated with glofish come from a smaller breeding population, so, therefore, inbreeding problems are cropping up? Just curious. I had not heard that they have more problems. The danio glofish and regular zebra danios I buy from Petsmart seem to both fare well the past couple of years for me. But who knows what source Petsmart uses...I always feel like I am rescuing fish from those tanks!
It could be from the smaller gene pool, but altering genetics in such a dramatic way, to me, is just asking for problems. Besides, I prefer the more natural tones to fish. Zebra danios have a wonderful coloring. Glofish look like cotton candy and they look out of place in a planted tank, in my opinion. Either way, I'm not sure if it is the more limited gene pool (though Glofish and natural danios will interbreed and produce a mix of colors), or if it is the actual change in the gene. And these fish are also marketed towards the nano tanks Glofish also makes (I think the biggest is 15 gallons?), so that may have something to do with it. However, every time I see these fish, I always see a few in the tanks with spine curves, gimpy fins, or ill-formed faces.
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