4fish4now

I have 2 Glofish and 2 Golden Barbs. Should I add more of each, is this enough, or should I add something different?

Amanda

Most people on this forum will tell you to use the same general rule;
1 inch of fish per 1 gallon of water - using the ADULT size of the fish.
That means that you can have 10 inches of fish.
(Not to be confused with a 10 inch fish, lol )
Welcome to fishlore!

agabr123

i'm pretty sure glofish need at least a 20 gallon tank, since they need to be kept in schools of at least 6. also, i'm not sure if you know this, but glofish are genetically modified by being injected with something that comes from an anemone (i can't remember right now what it's called). if that doesnt bother you then feel free to disregard, i just know that some people might have an issue with that.

also, golden barbs need to be kept in schools of at least 6 and will get up to about 3 inches, so you're not overstocked with what you have, but they really need to be in schools and at least a 20 gallon as well.

to answer your question simply, i'd get something different for the 10 gallon, maybe a betta and (possibly) a couple cory cats or otos, or a dwarf gourami with cory cats or otos or something similar. you could also do a school of neon tetras or another small variety of tetra.

good luck and welcome to fishlore!

agabr123

ohh, it also says that you don't know about the nitrogen cycle.

please read these links!!

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

also, there are many other articles on the fishlore site that will be helpful to you. just go to the main page, (fishlore.com) and click on articles

4fish4now

Thank you for all the comments. My husband took our 2 girls to pick out the fish and this is what they came home with. I was concerned about the combatability of what they had picked out. The sales person told them this would be fine for what we had. She even suggested the barbs to our youngest after we already had the glofish picked out. Pretty sad I think. I will let my husband know all your comments and try to work something out.

agabr123

Yeah, unfortunately the sales people at pet stores (especially chains but not excluding Local Fish Stores- LFS) are there for basically one reason, to sell. They generally don't have very much, if any knowledge of fish. I would recommend doing a little research online and perhaps letting your girls pick out fish that way, you can pick a few fish that would be compatible and let them choose between them or something similar.

To give you an idea, your girls would probably love a betta and they do really, really well in 10 gallon tanks. If the tank is heavily planted you might be able to get three cory cats or so (they like to at least have one buddy, two would be preferable).

The pet store should take the fish back if you don't have anywhere else to put them if you explain that you were unaware of what you would need to have and can't keep them (i say should but there is a chance that they wont, depending on the store and if they care, basically). If they don't, see if you can find a local fish store, they are usually much better about that kind of thing and might take the fish.

4fish4now

The girls really like the glofish. If I were to get 4 more of them and take the barb back would there be anything else we should put in the tank? If so what would you recomend then? Same as above?

Well, now that I think about it, I guess i ouldn't have 6 of the glofish in a 10 gallon tank if they are going to be 2" each. HELP!

MeGustaUnaPez926

I would take back the barbs, if you want glofish. I personally don't approve of dyeing fish, I think its really cruel. You might want to research it, because it's not something we want to support. I believe that glofish are raised as zebra danios, which I think have relatively small bioload, so as long as you kept up with water changes you should be fine. You would be pretty much stocked. I wouldn't add any more fish to the tank until it finishes cycling, however.

Amanda

Glofish aren't actually dyed. It's a genetic mutation that was originally used to detect pollutants that make them glow. Here's a good site on them:
http://www.glofish.com/faq.asp

Nick G

Glofish aren't dyed fish. They're genetically modified Danio's that have been given Jellyfish DNA. Thats what makes them glow.

4fish4now

I have already been to the Glofish website. That is what got me on here. I was concerned about the schooling for both types of fish. I do like both types, but My girls are to young to take of this themselves and I don't want to take on more then one tank at this time.

Now, when we purched the tank and all the equipment we were told to set the tank up at least 3 days before we add fish to it. We waited a week and now I am wondering how long for the tank to cycle before we make the necessary changes for the fish to be happy and healthy?

Amanda

The tank will not cycle by itself. I hope someone posts the linnk to cycling here. I don't have it at the moment. Tetra Safestart is a great way to cycle the tank instantly. But if you just let it run, then your tank is probably going through an ammonia spike right now. What are your water parameters?

4fish4now

I hate to say I don't know. We purchased a kit that had the following in it...
Aqueon Water conditioner and Food. The conditioner says it detoxifies heavy metal, amonia and other elements released from fish waste. I do not have any kind of test kit for the water. What would you recomend?

Amanda

Any liquid test set. The strips are not accurate. The tank is most likely going through an ammonia spike, since it's not cycled. You'll have to do 50% water changes everyday until the cycle is over. But you'll need a test kit to determine that.

4fish4now

Looks like I am headed to the store tomorrow. I will let you know what i end up with. I thought we had really done our home work before we got into this. I know it looks like a sur of the moment purchase, but we really read about this for about 2 months before we decided to do this. I guess we did not read the right stuff. Thank to everyone for all the help.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Well I guess glofish are okay, then. The idea of genetically modifying fish kinda creeps me out, but I suppose that if it doesn't hurt the fish, thats alright. Thanks for the info!

CarinaJo

There are lots of plants and animals in our environment that are genetically modified, either through direct gene tampering or through husbandry efforts. For one of my college health classes I did a report on genetically modified grains. Don't let it creep you out too much.

mjordan

ya in the bigining when i used to own glow fish i freaked out with dyed fish because it sounded and was so cruel...

i know u were just trying to help guys. it cool.

bu ya the arnt died and were originally altered (better than mutated, sounds nicer) to detect polutance in rivers.

later put on the markets for sale @ lfs and chain stores ( i dont aprove of cahin store ) now come in a variety of red or a floresent pink, orange and a green.

although these are more expensive fish they are cool.
price quote $5-8

i now prefeered there original origin of the danio coming in so many shapes and forms for so much less.

zebra danio long and shor fin, gold danio long and short fin, lepord danio long and short fin, blue danio as of my knowage only short fin...

also my sisters fav the pearl danio, only short fin

Blub

They injected Jellyfish DNA into the eggs - it's not natural but totally humane.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Well, then as long as it doesn't hurt the fish. Seeing them in PetCo, I just sort of assumed they were dyed, they totally look like it. Live and learn!