# Terrified, Possibly Dying Zebra Danio



## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

Well, I have 4 glofish (zebra danios) and one of them has been getting picked on for about a week now. The past two days he stays at the top of the tank hiding behind my hob filter. He just swims there all day, and I am pretty sure he is so stressed out that he's not going to make it. He's not sick, I just think he's terrified of getting chased. I'm not real sure what to do as I don't have a quarantine tank yet. Its sad, I just want him to be happy but I guess the laws of nature will always prevail.


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

A clique of 4 doesn't work well with most hyper schooling species. A clique of 3 likely won't work any better. You may have better success with higher numbers. If your tank's size and community can handle it, I suggest 10-12. IMO, no less than 6-8.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Try adding a new docoration,preferably a tall plant or two.And 1^ with Goby.


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

+1 to both of these answers. Try adding new things for it to hide in, and you should really try to add at least 2-3 more


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

Well, I woke up today and he was stuck to the side of the filter  I see the 3 remaining ones are just constantly chasing each other around, and I'm assuming they will continue to do so until only one remains. I'll go to LFS within the next day or so to get a few more. I already have 6 tetras, 4 albino cories, 1 guppy, and 2 Bolivian Rams. I don't want to get too many more fish and be overstocked. I'll just try out three to put the Danios up to 6.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

What size is the tank? I would up the school but only depending on what the tank is.


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

majerah1 said:


> What size is the tank? I would up the school but only depending on what the tank is.


Its a 20 gallon long. According to aqadvisor.com if I add 3 more danios to bring them up to 6 ill be at 92% stocked.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Try putting a sponge over filter intake.It will need to be cleaned regulary but will help it not getting stuck to filter and keep filter cartrigdes a little cleaner.I have a sponge on my aquaclear 110 and it is on my tank where the swordtails have their fry.Never found one stuck to the sponge yet.


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

Ill look for one. Do they make them for on hob filtersl intakes?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Some LFS may have some that are made for it or you can get square/rectangular and cut hole in center to slide over intake(this is what I do as the retangular are cheaper and easier to find.)It will at least keep the fish from being killed by filter.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

if you were familiar with the cruel and painful process used to make those fish look that way and the extremely low % that live through the injections you would wonder there not all stressed as hell. 
can i ask ya how long the tanks been up and running and when did you buy the Glowfish danio's ? also have you checked your water parameters lately


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

tbub1221 said:


> if you were familiar with the cruel and painful process used to make those fish look that way and the extremely low % that live through the injections you would wonder there not all stressed as hell.
> can i ask ya how long the tanks been up and running and when did you buy the Glowfish danio's ? also have you checked your water parameters lately




I understand that, but they're still beautiful creatures. The tanks been cycled for about 2 weeks now. I did a fishless cycle and then stocked. Water parameters are fine.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

May just be a little nts , I know that when I was new to the hobby I rushed things a bit and lost a few fish because my system wasn't quite mature enough . What does its fine mean ? Do you have a test kit or do you take it to get tested. I think its good advice to keep them in larger schools like the above post says .


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

tbub1221 said:


> if you were familiar with the cruel and painful process used to make those fish look that way and the extremely low % that live through the injections you would wonder there not all stressed as hell.
> can i ask ya how long the tanks been up and running and when did you buy the Glowfish danio's ? also have you checked your water parameters lately


Glofish are not injected..their DNA is altered to make them "glow".
GloFish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And I agree, you need at least 6+ to lower the aggression among them.


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

By fine I mean that ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, and nitrates are 10. I have a master test kit. I've been keeping a very close eye on everything and have been testing every day since stocking. Once I feel comfortable I'm going to test when I do my water changes on Wednesdays and Sunday's.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

do you have a uv light on your tank ? 
one thought , you could avoid spending 8.99 a piece for the glow fish and get a few .99$ sf or lf danios to swim with them .

LoveDove
as for Wikipedia i find it to be helpful sometimes if your completely lost on what something may mean or be but , the simple fact that anyone , you me, even key board cat ... can go say whatever they want. 
do you know why they did the experiments in Singapore to start with is because its an un scrupulous place with no epa or laws regarding animal testing and some dna/rna experimentation where they allow cruel experiments on animal. the people that make them keep a tight lock on there process , apparently sending all employees through mandatory security screening and confiscation of cellular phones at the beginning of the work day.
seems to me if there are no government organizations to regulate it and no one really cares in the 3rd world because there getting a pay check then the company can easily write anything they want and put it on Wikipedia 
they hide this truth to the rest of the world, but it happens in a place with no laws on the matter , im not sure how long you have kept fish , but you may recall a tetra i forget its name but it was commonly called xray tetra because you could see straight through it. these were the first fish i recall ever seeing with pigment injected. and this was wery much a injection process as the fish merely had a dotted stripe down the side , you could clearly see the coloration fade and reveal the tattoo scaring . 
maybe it is another process all together , they look great and the green pops great but cruelty and experimentation on animals is still that to me. i got a few from a pet shop once someone was donating , they were older and loosing there brightness , the blue goes first green being the longest and the orange/pink color looks nice fresh but does lighten.
the same company also takes african dwarf frogs and colors them this way , labeling it as a jelly bean frog , its cute but loos almost all its colors in 1-2 months , iv seen them not sell in lfs and go back white , mine turned white after 2.5 months in tank he lived 7 months with me but the frogs aren't uv reactant maybe because its cell structure is different who knows or possibly i just made all that .. or maybe i just red all that info on Wikipedia , all im trying to say is i would not take the word of someone that wont tell the truth. us patents vary in how long they are good for but eventually all run out of time , could be there protecting there income (i would) but then again why would an american company leave america to creat a product to be sold here , mind you the company has farms world wide but only do glowfish at one.
please do not let my ..NEGATIVE OUTLOOK.. on this matter affect your thoughts , this is your hobby and your money , if you want to do it , do it , i keep many aquariums and sometimes do keep some fish with others that is recommended not to , and with some of my african cichlids i purposely crowd them a bit to keep aggression down , you find what it is about this hobby you love and do it . im glad you care enough about them to ask atleast .
and the fact that you spent 7-8 $ on a danio glowing or not tells me you will take good care of them. good luck with it all


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

I do not have a uv light. Its just a basic led light that came with the hood I bought. I wasn't planning on planting the tank so I didn't get uv, but now that I am planted I may end up getting a uv light. Not real sure yet, just taking it as it comes. The plants I bought don't require much lighting so if it works with them then I'm gonna keep it how it is. When I do my next tank I will be heavily planted and getting uv lights


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

cool. i got a 5G glowfish tank with the blue led lights that make the fish colors jump. i bought it used with a slew of junk coming with it for 13$ on ebay .
i put my male Betta in it . the glow rocks and iredecent plastic plants look cool in it , but 4 some reason mine wont let you adjust the white and blue lighting its always uv , thats my only dislike , but he is white and sky blue with a hint of violet on his sides , he is an elephant ear , and it makes his colors look nice as well. im fairly certain the led uv glowfish light you can buy at pet shops is just like mine accept they have 2 settings on them. some times i just like to examine things under high lighting and that requires a flash lite now for that little tank.


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

Yeah, mine has the blue led lights as well. They're nice.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

There are VERY FEW LEDs that actually produce UV light.There are more than a few that do produce the proper spectrum for plants though.
A quick search of LED uv lights will probly find few to no aquarium lights!


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## Goby (Mar 21, 2012)

tbub1221 said:


> if you were familiar with the cruel and painful process used to make those fish look that way and the extremely low % that live through the injections you would wonder there not all stressed as hell.
> can i ask ya how long the tanks been up and running and when did you buy the Glowfish danio's ? also have you checked your water parameters lately



What cruel and painful process do you believe may have contributed to the Danio behavior decribed by DeJay?


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

So, I went to lfs today and picked up 2 glofish danios and 2 regular zebra danios to add to my 3 glofish danios. I will update when the drip acclimation is done, and also once they've settled down after a few days. I think they'll be happy to have 7 of their kind instead of 3!


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## DeJay126 (Apr 22, 2013)

Well, it's been about 4 hours since I added 2 more glofish danios and 2 zebra danios. The school is now up to 7. I have to say, they couldn't be any happier! It's nice to see them schooling together and roaming the tank. I honestly was unaware that they were even schooling fish to begin with! But, with a school of 6 neon tetras and the 7 danios, the tank looks amazing. It's a great community right now! Thanks a ton guys!


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

tbub1221 said:


> do you have a uv light on your tank ?
> one thought , you could avoid spending 8.99 a piece for the glow fish and get a few .99$ sf or lf danios to swim with them .
> 
> LoveDove
> ...


OK, you got me there tbub, as I just happened to click on one of the first googled results. I fully realize that Wikipedia information can and has been altered by any Tom, Dick or Harry, but upon further research, i have found quite a plethoria of info concerning how these fish came to be. You might find it interesting that some of the articles written in the links below are re-knowned scientists, PhD's, the FDA, etc.

Recombinant DNA Technology and Transgenic Animals | Learn Science at Scitable

GLOFISH, THE FIRST GM ANIMAL COMMERCIALIZED: PROFITS AMID CONTROVERSY

FDA Statement Regarding Glofish

And this U.S. company currently holds the patents and license to breed these fish:

License Notice

I rest my case!


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