Glo-Fish Deaths

[SpAceGiRl94]

Hello everyone, so up until yesterday had a 10 gallon with 6 Glo-Fish. Today I'm down to 4 of them. They're rather old - almost a year and my water parameters are good. My question is should I add more Glo-Fish or just let them phase out?

These guys are technically my boyfriend's fish but he has no idea how to take care of them so it ended up being my job - I already have a 30 gallon Gold Barb & Cory Cat community that I'm taking care of as well as two bettas (in 10 gallons each with heaters & sponge filters). Is having 4 fish left of a community fish going to stress them out?

I would add them to the 30 gallon tank that I have but I have no idea if they would get along with my 5 Gold Barbs (cories get along with everyone so not concerned about those guys). My Gold Barbs are also starting to get old (they're over two years old) and I'm worried about the slightly younger Glo Fish stressing them out. I also know that the Gold Barbs should probably have another fish but i never got around to buying another Gold Barb just due to the fact that it'd have to either be shipped or I'd have to drive over an hour to pick up another one from Petco (Petsmart in my area doesn't carry them). Now it's been two years and they're thriving as a community of five.

Just trying to decide how to make sure both tanks of community fish thrive. I wish I could get a larger tank for the Glo-Fish but our apartment said no more large tanks (they've overlooked the three 10 gallon tanks - 2 bettas & the Glo-Fish). What should I do?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Glofish are typically GM danios or tetras and as such a 10g tank isnt big enough. Ideally move them into the bigger tank, you can always move them back if there is a problem. If you want to restock your 10g try and get fish more suited to that sized tank.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Yeah I know the Glo Fish tank being 10 gallons isn't ideal. I do regular bi-weekly water changes to ensure that their water quality is good. They are the Danio type by the way. I'm going to make the attempt to put them in the 30 gallon with the Gold Barbs, keeping the 10 gallon empty for a little bit just in case something happens is probably going to be my best bet. I'm really hoping they all get along, I would love to decrease the amount of tanks in our apartment (we will also be moving soon so I'm trying to take that into consideration and not get anymore fish until after the move).

 

[Aiken Drum]

Its not so much that a 10g cant support the bioload of a small number of danios, its more that it doesnt give a danio enough swimming space. You can manage bioload with increased filtration and water changes, but this wont compensate for giving them enough space to comfortably live in.

Anyway, i dont think im telling you anything you dont already know. I think moving them is the right thing to do, and you are keeping a back up plan if it doesn't work out. That seems the best solution in my opinion.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Yeah I know. I've been hoping that the Danios would be fine in the 10 gallon, but then i lost two today and it's a bit heartbreaking cuz I've had them for almost a year and they were doing great. I was expecting them to pass within a month just due to the condition that Petsmart had them in. Then they made it so I was hoping that they'd make it for a few years. Then woke up to find two of them were gone. One I was assuming was going to pass on - it had a majorly crooked back and I was considering just putting it down even though it was swimming fine. The other one seemed completely fine and then just died randomly.

Gonna switch them into the 30 gallon tank tonight (after my son goes to bed) and then monitor them for a few hours. Hoping that they do well with the Barbs.

 

[SpAceGiRl94]

Update: it's been a little over 24 hours and the Glo-fish and Barbs seem to be getting along. My 10 gallon is empty except I made the mistake of looking at FB Marketplace and there is someone with a free betta that they're trying to get rid of... I'm sorely tempted to go and snag it. Especially since I'm sure the owner will just let it slowly die - apparently someone purchased it for his kids unannounced so he's trying to get rid of it (the picture was of it still being in a petsmart cup). Should I go and grab it? It comes with a 3.5 gallon tank that could be used for the betta if I absolutely need to move the glo fish back into the 10 gallon...