Runt Of The Liter

[fishheart]

Yesterday I purchased two more tetra glo fish at pet smart to round out the four I already had. In the stores tank There were only two left and I didn't get a real good look at the green one. When I got them home I noticed the green one looked very poorly, he looked like he had just came from a can of sardines. He looked kind of flat and crooked and gaunt.
 
Last night I stayed up to watch him, he eats well but when I turned out the light and started to go to bed I found him laying in the corner on his side. I jostled him and he got up and hung out with the school but this morning when I turned out the light he did the same thing. I feel bad for this little guy, the orange one is doing just fine but I'm afraid this one is just not going to make it.
 
 
I don't understand why he crawls off when I turn out the light...I can't keep the light on all the time so I'm really bewildered as to what to do. I would take him back but I would like to try and nurse him back to health if possable...any one with any suggestions?

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Unfortunately, glo-fish aren't natural. They're genetically modified fish and often these sort of problems arise.
What are the details of the tank? Size, temp, pH, ammonia and nitrite reading?

 

[ncguppy830]

and did you cycle your tank?

 

[fishheart]

I have a 29 gal tank and I keep it at 79.0 degrees. I have six tetras including the sickly one, three danio's, five baby cory's.  I have two fluval C-2 filters and lots of air. I did a water test last night:
 
PH 7.4
 
High PH 7.6
 
No nitrites
 
Nitrates 5.0
 
Tiny trace of ammonia so I did a 20% water change
 
All of my other fish are thriving and doing very well, it's just that this poor little guy is messed up. I don't know what they do with sickly fish at the pet stores so I don't want to take him back. He seems to eat well and hangs with the school...until I turn the light out, then he heads for a corner and lays out. If I had known about the glo fish being genetically modified I wouldn't have bought them, my wife thought they were neat so we ended up buying them. I have since learned a lot about them and now that I have them, I'm going to take the best care of them I can. I wish pet store owners would be more honest with folks about what they sell instead of just trying to dump they're inventory. There's one store in the area that does a very good job of ex[plaining things to people but it's rare.

 

[ncguppy830]

well im not sure although your PH level is too high for danios whose ph level is 6.5 to 7

 

[fishheart]

I started lowering the PH last night and have it at about 6.9 -7.0 now. I guess I'm just going to have to keep watching him and praying for him, he may turn out to be an ugly duckling...who knows!

 

[ncguppy830]

ok hope it turns it well

 

[fishheart]

This little guy is something, he was laying in the weeds last night and I thought for sure I'd putting him in a bag and taking him to pet smart to get another. This morning when I woke up he was swimming with the school and doing just fine. He's in the weeds again tonight, he seems to like to sleep there. He has a great appetite and is getting around so....I will continue to make sure the water is perfect and try to fatten him up a little.

   

 

[ncguppy830]

ok keep us udadting , hoping he makes a full recovery

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

79F as a normal temp is far too high for Glofish, which are a variant of Zebra Danios, you should be aiming for 64-70F for most the year and ideally not much more than 72F during a "summer season." Keeping fish is warmer conditions than they should be kept will reduce their lifespan massively, for instance keeping Redline Torpedo Barbs permanently around 75F will result in them doing well to reach 5 years instead of 8.
 
What Corydoras species are in there with them? Peppered and 3-lined (often missold as C. julii) would be fine at such temperatures.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I believe he has the "black skirt" glofish, as he referenced the "tetra" ones.
 
 
Your point stands though, as 79F is also on the high side for the black skirts as well. And low-mid 70s is best for them.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Ah yes, I forgot about these other "painted" fish.

 

[fishheart]

I have the albino variety. My little glo fish seems to be doing 100% better today...he looks a lot better than when I brought him home. He has a great appetite and is schooling very well. I believe the poor little guy was just born scrawny and deformed. He appears to be recovering though, I'm keeping a close watch on the water and will bring the temp down. Thank you all very much for your help! 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Ah yes, I forgot about these other "painted" fish.

 
Well, they aren't 'painted'.  They are all genetically modified to 'glow'.  I wonder if they will ever do what the original plan was, which was to only glow in the presence of specific pollutants, or if the commercial production of the fish for the hobby is too lucrative for them and the original purpose has been abandoned (or if they have made a new strand for hobby versus the original intent).

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you have the Zebra Danio variety of Glofish, they will be fine in your tap pH. In the wild they're found in pH as low as 5.1 and as high as 8.2. 
Its better to not mess with the pH though as it often fluctuates which causes stress to the fish.