Zebra Danio/GloFish Babies

[B33ker]

What are you gonna do with all those babies?

Gonna move em in batches to the larger (mostly empty) tank. I'm hoping to minimize losses due to the stress of the move, but I'll take some water out of their tank, put them in, and gradually add water from the larger tank to acclimate them over an hour or so, then add them to the larger tank.

I figure I'll do a dozen or so every few days starting tomorrow so as to not overload the bio system of the larger tank. That tank is pristine right now and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd hate to have a spike in something that would kill any of the fish.

In the end I'll probably be slightly over the recommended number of fish in the larger tank, but if I can keep the bio levels under control I won't worry too much. Between the larger filter and the sponge on the powerhead, things should stay good.

 

[OrangeCones]

Toss in some floating plants and you don't need to be as worried about overstocking issues

 

[B33ker]

Toss in some floating plants and you don't need to be as worried about overstocking issues

I've got several Java Fern plants in there, along with some Amazon Swords that the Pleco likes to nibble on now and then. Anything you'd recommend that I could toss in there and let float around that would hang down nicely?

I'm not too worried simply because the water in that tank has never had a problem, and if anything is better than I'd expect. I do, however, put good quality water in the tank and not just the crap out of our tap, which is brown and nasty.

I figured I'd do small batches just to be cautious, since it's going to be a dramatic increase in bio load for the bacteria until they increase to handle it, though with proper water changes and such it shouldn't end up being an issue I don't think. Ever since I went with live plants and a biowheel and/or sponge filter on a powerhead my water quality has been great and so stable it's amazing.

I'd like to redo the plants a bit and add some more, but a 37G tank does not lend itself well to easy access to the bottom unless you drain a large amount of the water out, and I'm not keen to do that at the moment. Maybe later down the road.

 

[B33ker]

.....and a quick shot of the babies all in the larger tank now. They've been in there for about 9 hours now and have finally spread out to explore the whole tank. For the first couple of hours they all stayed together in one corner.

So far, not a single loss! *knocks on wood*

GloFish Babies in their new home!

I moved the filter from the 16G tank over as well for now so as to help with the bio load the new fish will put on the water. Figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[aakaakaak]

Man, that looks like a fish store.

I'd suggest guppy grass or java moss or something like that, but they're already way too big to worry about that stuff. Smaller babies would like it though.

 

[OrangeCones]

Anything you'd recommend that I could toss in there and let float around that would hang down nicely?

Wisteria works well, or if you can find it, Phyllanthus fluitans (red root floater).

 

[B33ker]

Man, that looks like a fish store.

I'd suggest guppy grass or java moss or something like that, but they're already way too big to worry about that stuff. Smaller babies would like it though.

I had Java Moss in the tank originally and all it did was keep breaking off and getting stuck in everything. It never took root like the dealer said it would and ended up being a nightmare. The only good thing that came out of having it in the 37G for as long as I did was that the adult fish laid the eggs in the moss that gave me my small horde of babies when it broke loose and I moved it to the 16G tank to give me time to think about re-planting it. The babies hatched like 3 days later, so the timing was nearly perfect.

Wisteria works well, or if you can find it, Phyllanthus fluitans (red root floater).

I'll take a look for those, thanks for the suggestion! After my experience with the Java Moss, I'm going to be far more careful of what plants I choose. The Java Fern plants are doing well, though I wish I had more as they aren't reproducing as quick as I'd like. The Amazon Sword plants always look nice I think. I'd like to get a wall of greenery on the back wall eventually.

I did notice tonight that one of the "baby" fish seems to be swimming somewhat odd and I fear it might have been hurt when I was netting them over, even though I was trying to be extremely careful. It seems to get around ok, but can't swim in a straight line. Other than that it roams around and eats plenty when food is available. I just worry that it might be in pain and I'd hate to have it suffering. Guess my only option would be to take it out and quick freeze it, but I hate doing that as well.

Definately going to keep an eye on it though. If anything I'm pretty watchful over my pets.

 

[aakaakaak]

I have wisteria and it is much more solid a plant than others. You'll get a few leaf sections come off, but that seems to be more from fish munching on it between meals.

 

[B33ker]

I have wisteria and it is much more solid a plant than others. You'll get a few leaf sections come off, but that seems to be more from fish munching on it between meals.

Just did a quick Google search and it looks like a really nice looking plant in a tank. Based on both yours and OrangeCones recommendations I'll probably put an order in for some in the next couple of weeks when I know I'll have the time and patience to work on the tank.

Holiday times are so busy!

 

[lauraf]

I did notice tonight that one of the "baby" fish seems to be swimming somewhat odd and I fear it might have been hurt when I was netting them over, even though I was trying to be extremely careful. It seems to get around ok, but can't swim in a straight line. Other than that it roams around and eats plenty when food is available. I just worry that it might be in pain and I'd hate to have it suffering. Guess my only option would be to take it out and quick freeze it, but I hate doing that as well.

Definately going to keep an eye on it though. If anything I'm pretty watchful over my pets.

I had to cull my angel fry a couple of different times during their upbringing. The first time I let some stay that were a bit 'wonky' (stunted fins, swimming weirdly, etc) but eventually had to cull those too. It was hard, but the right thing to do. And it gets harder the older they get. But maybe give this one a few days, to see if it is an injury it can recover from . . . .

 

[B33ker]

I had to cull my angel fry a couple of different times during their upbringing. The first time I let some stay that were a bit 'wonky' (stunted fins, swimming weirdly, etc) but eventually had to cull those too. It was hard, but the right thing to do. And it gets harder the older they get. But maybe give this one a few days, to see if it is an injury it can recover from . . . .

I've been looking for that one for the past day or so but now I'm not seeing it, so either it's gotten better or died somewhere I don't see it, (which is highly unlikely as I can see the entire tank between both sides and front).

Gonna keep looking, but so far they seem to be thriving in the 37G tank, which is a load off my mind. Just amazing how far they've come since they were tiny little specks.

 

[B33ker]

Just a quick shot playing with a small black light and the new camera. The babies don't glow as much as the adults, but the whole tank looks pretty cool with them all swimming around in the dark with only the black light on.

I'll try to get a movie of it posted.

 

[B33ker]

Ok here's a short video of them swimming around with just the black light on.

GloFish Glowing in the Dark!

 

[OrangeCones]

Amazing colors!

 

[B33ker]

Amazing colors!

Looks a lot better in person than the pictures show. Trying to figure out how to get good black light photos of fast moving object on this new camera isn't easy.

I may end up snagging a full length light fixture and full length black light to use. All I have atm is a small 15" one that only covers about half the tank.

 

[betta lover22]

Wow! Nice fish!

 

[B33ker]

Wow! Nice fish!

Thanks!

Trying to get some more plants in there as my next step. I've got some small Amazon Sword plants from the old tank that the Pleco didn't totally destroy so going to try and replant them and get some other plants sometime soon.

Kinda wish there was more variety in the color, since most of the fish are yellowish/orangish, but at least I won't need to worry about restocking for a long time as long as I keep the water good.

 

[B33ker]

I've noticed something in the past couple of nights that I thought was somewhat odd and somewhat interesting.

Since GloFish are just genetically modified Zebra Danio's you would think they would have similar behaviors right?

The Zebra Danio's are passive as can be and eat only a small amount of food ever.

The GloFish and the babies from interbreeding the two species on the other hand are like ravenous sharks whenever I put food in the water. It's insane how they fight over it, while the Zebra's just hang out below and don't make much effort, even with food right in front of them.

Just found it somewhat fascinating to observe.

 

[aakaakaak]

There's 101 different modifiers that contribute to how fish eat. If they're older regular danios that may play a part. Coloration may play a part (meaning the glows won't school with the zebras or vice versa). What really got all my fish to go into a feeding frenzy was to dump the flake food into the falling waterfall of my filter. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but it's been working for mine. Oh, and days when I feed frozen bloodworm. Those days are nuts.