Yellow Glofish Tetra Acting Strange?? (10 Gallon Tank)

Hello I bought 3 glofish tetras around October 2019 and my purple tetra recently died January 2020 from what I thought at the time was a parasite (and treated with API General Cure) because it had white stringy feces but now believe it was probably constipated. Anyway, now it’s just my yellow and blue tetras and the yellow one started acting strange. It vibrates suddenly and starts swimming sideways, it glass surfs a lot, and it looks very skinny now. I noticed that his fins look like they’ve been damaged so I thought he had fin rot (which I treated with API E.M. Erythromycin) but it seems as though it was probably not that and the blue one has been nipping at the yellow one. I’m afraid that the yellow tetra will die because it is acting so strangely. I don’t think it is a good idea to add more fish now because my family and I will be moving soon and I’m scared there’s something in my fish tank that is going wrong. All water parameters are in good condition and the blue tetra is acting normal (not sure if he’s just a more hardy fish). This is my first time ever owning glofish & I could really use some help figuring out what to do about my yellow tetra. I will attach pictures of both of them healthy and both of them today (I would also like to mention that they are a lot more scared of me now and I’m not sure why)

 

It looks healthy. I'd up the school to at least 6. When are you moving? What is the tank size? Parameters?

 

It looks healthy. I'd up the school to at least 6. When are you moving? What is the tank size? Parameters?

I am moving on the 6th of March. The tank is 10 gallons. Water parameters:
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 150 (always been this hard)
Chlorine: 0
Alkalinity: 140
pH: 7.2
Ammonia: less than .5

He might look healthy in the first two pictures but those are the before pictures not the after .
This is him today:

I think the blue one has been nipping more at the yellow’s dorsal and analfins

 

With skirt tetras, they become aggressive and nippy when kept in schools less than 6. Get 6, even if the tank is 10 gallon (which is too small for these guys, they should have a 20, but it may be better to get 4 more if you can't upgrade at all)

I had 5, then 1 died and brought them down to 4. It went to chaos and it was a war zone in my tank. I keep 7 now in my 20 and they just zone out floating around peacefully. They feel nervous and uncomfortable with less of their own kind around and take it out on other fish around them, especially each other.

If you get more, make sure they are skirt tetras, whether you get glofish, white skirt tetras, or black skirt tetras. They're the same species and will school together. I know glofish are expensive, but if money is an issue, white and black skirts are much much cheaper.

 

With skirt tetras, they become aggressive and nippy when kept in schools less than 6. Get 6, even if the tank is 10 gallon (which is too small for these guys, they should have a 20, but it may be better to get 4 more if you can't upgrade at all)

I had 5, then 1 died and brought them down to 4. It went to chaos and it was a war zone in my tank. I keep 7 now in my 20 and they just zone out floating around peacefully. They feel nervous and uncomfortable with less of their own kind around and take it out on other fish around them, especially each other.

If you get more, make sure they are skirt tetras, whether you get glofish, white skirt tetras, or black skirt tetras. They're the same species and will school together. I know glofish are expensive, but if money is an issue, white and black skirts are much much cheaper.

I don’t want to crowd the tank if it’s too small for that many fish... would 5 fish be considered a school? or should I still get a total of 6?

 

I don’t want to crowd the tank if it’s too small for that many fish... would 5 fish be considered a school? or should I still get a total of 6?

While you could do 5, 6+ is reccomended.

 

One last and final thing: I was wondering if it’s okay for me to move the tank to the new house empty and clean everything and then take my fish in a separate container or will that disrupt the whole cycle??? thank you so much for all your help!

 

Uh well, don't clean the media and you should be fine. Dont leave the fish for more than you have to in the other conainer. Like 2 hours max. Is there any chance that you could upgrade to a 20gal when you move?

 

Uh well, don't clean the media and you should be fine. Dont leave the fish for more than you have to in the other conainer. Like 2 hours max. Is there any chance that you could upgrade to a 20 gallon when you move?

I will try to be very quick with the move. I wish I could but I don’t think I’ll be able to upgrade to a 20 gallon... I also wish I could’ve known that 20 gallon was the right size for this type of schooling fish instead of 10 like the petsmart employee said. Thank you anyway for all your help hopefully one day I’ll be able to buy a 20 gallon tank for this type of fish.

 

Store ALL of your media in a sealed container of existing tank water, don't let it dry out. Even better as well to keep the substrate wet too with old tank water. Just enough to keep it mostly damp, not sloshing around you don't want to move a tank full of water as it risks breaking.

When in the new place, place fresh water (use a thermometer to read the temperature of the new water, be sure its at least 75F--skirts can do colder but 75 is a nice middle ground for them) and then dechlorinate it, place your equipment in and turn it all on... put your old media right back into your filter. Dont rinse it off at all. If debris falls into the tank, that's okay. Itll help keep your cycle. You can always vacuum it out later. You should be just fine for a few hours or so.

I would make sure when you up your school, get the short finned fish. Long finned ones get a bit larger, which will take up more space. And don't add other species, just the skirt tetras 5 is doable, but 6 is a bit better. Try to get more females than males in such a small space (hard if the fish you pick from are juvenile). Females tend to be heavier bodied than males, but if young they will look the same. It isn't the end of the world if you can't and end up with more males, they just tend to be a little more feisty sometimes (at least mine are lol, of my 7 I have 2 boys)

 

Store ALL of your media in a sealed container of existing tank water, don't let it dry out. Even better as well to keep the substrate wet too with old tank water. Just enough to keep it mostly damp, not sloshing around you don't want to move a tank full of water as it risks breaking.

When in the new place, place fresh water (use a thermometer to read the temperature of the new water, be sure its at least 75F--skirts can do colder but 75 is a nice middle ground for them) and then dechlorinate it, place your equipment in and turn it all on... put your old media right back into your filter. Dont rinse it off at all. If debris falls into the tank, that's okay. Itll help keep your cycle. You can always vacuum it out later. You should be just fine for a few hours or so.

I would make sure when you up your school, get the short finned fish. Long finned ones get a bit larger, which will take up more space. And don't add other species, just the skirt tetras 5 is doable, but 6 is a bit better. Try to get more females than males in such a small space (hard if the fish you pick from are juvenile). Females tend to be heavier bodied than males, but if young they will look the same. It isn't the end of the world if you can't and end up with more males, they just tend to be a little more feisty sometimes (at least mine are lol, of my 7 I have 2 boys)

Do as MissNoodle said, get also rid of the plastic plants, they are most likely to rip tetras tails, and get live plants which will provide natural hiding spot and will remove some nitretes from the water column.

 

Do as MissNoodle said, get also rid of the plastic plants, they are most likely to rip tetras tails, and get live plants which will provide natural hiding spot and will remove some nitretes from the water column.

My skirts LOVE my sword plant. They hide in the leaves like a giant curtain.

In a smaller tank like the 10g, java fern could do the same sort of effect and theyd probably really like it.

 

My skirts LOVE my sword plant. They hide in the leaves like a giant curtain.

In a smaller tank like the 10 gallon, java fern could do the same sort of effect and theyd probably really like it.

Yeah, I agree! Your skirt love your sword and my swordtails love random plants, my alpha ripped off one leaf of a plant, and my cherries LOVE my Limnophila.

 

I dontthink that plants would grow in the op's tank. They have black light.

 

I don't yhink that plants would grow in the op's tank. They have black light.

Yes my new room also lacks a lot of natural sunlight so I think what I have will have to do. I will make sure to follow MissNoodle’s steps! Thank you everyone so much!!