Glo Fish (One Not Acting Like The Others)

[kevingrods]

Hello everyone,
 
I just bought 3 Glo Tetras for my 16 gallon biorb fresh water tank today.
 
When i first put the fish in, two of them were doing excellent and one was not.  He seemed extremely stressed out and was acting crazy swimming around like a mad fish.  I kept telling him to calm down, calm down but he wouldn't listen. 
 
I put the lights off to calm the little fellow down but  he burnt himself out and was just lying on the bottom of the tank.  I thought he was dying...  I let him take a breather for a few minutes and relax.  After 5 minutes I gave him a little knodge and he moved around a bit and this went on for like 40 minutes. 
 
The good news is is that the little fish came back to life and is swimming around.  However the fish is staying at the bottom of the tank and kinda bouncing around and swims up and drops to the bottom and kinda hops around but im telling you he has some life in him..  He is very active but the two other glo fish seem to be hanging around mid tank and upper tank while this little guy is more at the bottom.  Is it possible he just likes bouncing around at the bottom of the tank?
 
I am concerned that he may of injured himself while adjusting to the tank or something is wrong with the poor guy.  Sometimes he just swims into the fake plants.  I have only had him for about 7 hours now but I dont have the heart to bring him back to the store.
 
My brother thinks that maybe the fish is pregnant?  He does swim to the mid top sometimes but seems to drop rather quickly once his fins are not flapping.
 
The lady at the fish store said that my water is soft.  Can this cause a fish to act this way?
 
What should I do in a situation like this?  I can bring him back, I have 14 days, but im afraid they are going to kill him because he was in someone elses tank and I said he was not a good fish.  Please advise.    
 
Thank you,
 
Kevin
 
 
 
 

 

[attibones]

Sounds like you jut got an ill fish. It could be from the stress. It could also be that your tank isn't cycled? (Please confirm.) usually the best course of action in this situation is to return the sick fish as it may eventually spread illness to the surviving fish.

Also, these are genetically modified tiger barbs which need a much larger tank than the sphere you are providing. Take them all back and get something suited to your tank.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The fish you bought are unnatural. They are albino fish that they make an artificial colour. Many people find the whole process inhumane. 
I think the ones you have gotten are genetically modified but it's still unnatural.
The fact that they are unnatural often means that many health problems arise.
The fish that you have look like the genetically modified version of an albino black skirt tetra. They should not be in your tank as it's much to small for them.
I would recommend returning them and asking here first before adding replacement fish.
You should also cycle your tank before you get any more fish (make sure to do it fishless)

 

[attibones]

Are they the tetras? I don't have my glasses on. Hehehe. Either way, these are altered in the genes, so it's not like they are dyed or tattooed but it is still wrong. And they still need length instead of height.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How did you "cycle" this tank in preparation for fish? Did you "fishless cycle" it for two months or so, maintaining 2-5ppm ammonia daily, testing for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? Sitting on the bottom suggests to me (perhaps wrongly) that the fish were added to a tank that was set up without fishless cycling, "fish in cycling" is hard work, typically needing 50-75% water changes most days.
 
What are the tank readings now? Test strips or liquid (more accurate) test kits?
 
Have you tried doing a 75-95% water change with similar temp dechlorinated water (turning of any heater, albeit Glofish do better in a tank at 18-20C, typically heaterless)?
 
 
 
Is that really a Glofish, as in a genetically modified Zebra Danio? The fish's shape looks very odd, maybe it is the spherical glass/acrylic distorting things a lot.
 
Zebra Danios and their variants (Glofish, Leopard, albino etc.) are really active fish like many danios, so despite their adult size of ~5cm SL (body excluding tail), they deserve a 90cm tank as an absolute minimum. My fist fish, Pearl Danios, could swim the length of my 120cm Rio240 in ~1 second at will against a ~1000lph filter current. They really are one of the most extreme cases of tank requirement versus size.
 
Their behaviour in small groups looks rather odd, they become territorial and quite nasty towards one another and often to tankmates too. When my Pearl Danios had fry and increased their numbers from 6 to ~12 (after growing on the fry seperately for a couple of months), they became so much social, as a group of six I had one male who patrolled a ~12x12x12" area constantly.
 
Biorb tanks are extremely difficult to stock responsibly, they have a tiny surface area for gaseous exchange and very little room for fish to "spread their fins." Please consider returning the danios and take some time to choose a few sedate fish, over time this tank can just about support ~30cm of adult fish, but if this setup is not fishlessly cycled the stocking needs to increased slowly..

 

[kevingrods]

Thank you everyone!
 
Yes they are glo fish tetras.  It is like a miriacle and the little guy is now acting like all the others!  I always get very upset and uneasy when the little fish don't act properly.  
 
  I am going to take all water tests and everything in a couple hours and see where I am at.  I
 
know believing he was just going crazy from the car ride and the whole process.  He is like a whole new fish.  I did not do a full cycle of the tank before entering the fish which is probably bad on my part but im going to do a lot of water changes over the next month or so.  I know this whole thing with the glo fish is inhuman but they seem much happier in my tank than in the little tank at the fish store with 50 of them. 
 
I got them because i love jelly fish and had a tank two years ago.  These little guys are injected with jelly fish DNA in the embreo's and they reproduce little baby glo fish.  I am going to buy a 10 gallon emergency tank that is cycled properly so if i see any of my little buddies having problems i can seperate and give them some time to get better.....  
 
I am doing a liquid test as soon as I can.  Thank you for all your help!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How did you "cycle" this tank in preparation for fish? Did you "fishless cycle" it for two months or so, maintaining 2-5ppm ammonia daily, testing for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? Sitting on the bottom suggests to me (perhaps wrongly) that the fish were added to a tank that was set up without fishless cycling, "fish in cycling" is hard work, typically needing 50-75% water changes most days.
 
What are the tank readings now? Test strips or liquid (more accurate) test kits?
 
Have you tried doing a 75-95% water change with similar temp dechlorinated water (turning of any heater, albeit Glofish do better in a tank at 18-20C, typically heaterless)?
 
 
 
Is that really a Glofish, as in a genetically modified Zebra Danio? The fish's shape looks very odd, maybe it is the spherical glass/acrylic distorting things a lot.

There's more than one type of 'glofish' now... tiger barbs, skirt tetras and danios.  These are the tetras.

 

[kevingrods]

just an update for everyone.  All the glo fish are doing excellent.  I moved them all into a 36 gallon and tank and there very happy.  Even the little guy that was bouncing around is acting like all star.  BTW  these fish are very active and swim around all day!  highly reccomend.  But please do not buy the fish that were injected with needles or tatoos.  Its very easy to confuse them.  Get the glo fish