Sick Glofish dying. Please help!!

[LaraFaes]

I'm not new to this, but yesterday one of my glofish died and he had bright red gills; I really don't know the cause but the thing that is worrying me the most is that my other glofish, Gem, is having the same indicators that my last glofish had before he died. When I got back home today, one of her pectoral fins looked kind of torn and she is struggling a lot to swim downward; the same thing that happened with my last glofish before he died (likely) from ammonia poisoning. I don't know because he was gasping for air while all of his tankmates of the same species were swimming normally and eating a lot... I'm sure it wasn't any flukes or bacterial infection because he didn't have white spots and didn't float when he died.

I'm thinking that I'm doing everything wrong and I really don't want to kill more fish accidentally. I'm going to be cleaning my tank with syphon cleaners and try to do my best... If you have seen this, please reply as much as you can! I don't know but maybe the previous one was bullied to death, since his fins were ripped and he went out of his way to hide a lot. Unfortunately that is what is happening to my beautiful orange Tetra and I'm really desperate for help :,( I can't upload a photo right now but please tell me what's the most sensible thing to do since I'm extremely sad about what happened.

 

[SlugSnorter]

while this is saltwater forum, we can try.

Parameters? PH and Ammonia fine? Are you sure your fish did not fight? What size tank?

 

[LaraFaes]

Sorry, I can't give you the ph and ammonia parameters right now,,, It's not like I don't want to! My hometown in Arizona is really far from anything that you would call a specialized water reef shop; I buy things 3 months before... :( They're known to nip her a lot but I really don't want Gem to die so anything besides the water parameters would really make my day.

I'm worried that she would struggle to death by swimming downward all the time; maybe she could starve because her fin is not letting her swim properly and that takes a lot of energy? Anyways thank you for being so considerate;Happy I will always remember that in my heart.

As of now I'm going to clean the tank as much as possible so she gets at least some recovery...

 

[N.Sreefer]

Could you take a picture of your aquarium filter(s) and all?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Pics of aquarium and fish helps. And any other tankmates? Tank size and filtration go a long way too.
I take it these are the skirt tetras?
There are a whole multitude of things that can affect fish, and the wildly inbred glofish (they have to be to keep the glowing gene prevalent) are already going to be susceptible to health issues.

 

[LaraFaes]

Could you take a picture of your aquarium filter(s) and all?

Yeah! Sure will do ;Happy Do I take apart the filter parts to show or just what it looks like from the outside?

 

[LaraFaes]

Pics of aquarium and fish helps. And any other tankmates? Tank size and filtration go a long way too.
I take it these are the skirt tetras?
There are a whole multitude of things that can affect fish, and the wildly inbred glofish (they have to be to keep the glowing gene prevalent) are already going to be susceptible to health issues.

Yeah, I'm going to upload a picture right away. It's just that my wifi connection is really slow and it's kinda painstaking to send a picture. They aren't skirt tetras, they are Tetra Glofish ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Sharkbait19]

Yeah, I'm going to upload a picture right away. It's just that my wifi connection is really slow and it's kinda painstaking to send a picture. They aren't skirt tetras, they are Tetra Glofish ;Shamefullyembarrased

Glofish tetras are skirt tetras which have been genetically modified to be bioluminescent.

 

[LaraFaes]

Glofish tetras are skirt tetras which have been genetically modified to be bioluminescent.

Oh, I didn't know that;Playful It was very difficult to take the picture because she always tries her best to swim well when I'm around ;Sorry I know she looks fine but one of her fins is not helping her swim too much and I'm worried that she might become too stressed and go to the pearly gates :oops: All of her other tankmates are fine; but I had enough of my little babies dying so I have to do something to help her regenerate and that's what I'm asking for;Sorry

 

[Sharkbait19]

Which is the injured one? Hard to make out. Tetras do nip each other’s fins, and also have amazing regeneration abilities (most characins - the group of fish encompassing piranhas, wolffish, tetras, African tigerfish, headstanders, and more - do).
And how big is the tank? Looks on the small end.
How often do you do water changes?

 

[Pale Morning1]

How long has the tank been set up?
I would not clean anything until you know the parameters. And is that a 2.5 gal tank?

 

[LaraFaes]

Which is the injured one? Hard to make out. Tetras do nip each other’s fins, and also have amazing regeneration abilities (most characins - the group of fish encompassing piranhas, wolffish, tetras, African tigerfish, headstanders, and more - do).
And how big is the tank? Looks on the small end.
How often do you do water changes?

Yeah, it's kinda small. It's 10 gallons. the injured one is the Gem, the big orange one... I know they regenerate fast but this is kind of an atypical situation because the last two that I had were a bit harmed - then died. I know she gets bullied a lot but it's very bad now because she can't swim well,

How long has the tank been set up?
I would not clean anything until you know the parameters. And is that a 2.5 gal tank?

It's been set up for a year. And it's 10 gallons;Joyful

 

[LaraFaes]

Could you take a picture of your aquarium filter(s) and all?

Uh do I take the picture of the filter? I know you wanna help that's why I'm asking you if I do it or not

 

[Sharkbait19]

Uh do I take the picture of the filter? I know you wanna help that's why I'm asking you if I do it or not

Take a picture.
Looks small for a 10, but that could be the angle of the photo.
What is your water change rate?
How much surface agitation is there, I just lost a few tetras and a puffer because of low oxygen levels.
What do you feed and how much?
Sorry for all the questions, there is just a lot that could cause tetras to die.
Skirt tetras are generally placid but may turn on each other, especially in small spaces or not enough food etc. Often weak ones will be killed as well.

 

[Pale Morning1]

Problem that you have is that 10 gal is a small water volume meaning that if any parameters go wrong they go drastic quick.

 

[LaraFaes]

Take a picture.
Looks small for a 10, but that could be the angle of the photo.
What is your water change rate?
How much surface agitation is there, I just lost a few tetras and a puffer because of low oxygen levels.
What do you feed and how much?
Sorry for all the questions, there is just a lot that could cause tetras to die.
Skirt tetras are generally placid but may turn on each other, especially in small spaces or not enough food etc. Often weak ones will be killed as well.

I don't know about the water change rate, but I feed them Tetra Glofish special food twice a day (at 6:00 a.m. and 6 p.m.) in reserved quantities. I know they like it a lot because every time I pour some for them to eat they devour every single one like piranhas xD I had another food for them previously but I only saw them munching on it when they were very hungry and not when those were in the surface at all. I felt bad for them and bought the food they have on the Glofish website, they eat it without discrimination :)

 

[Sharkbait19]

I don't know about the water change rate,

Do you not do water changes? If you don’t than that answers your question. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all would have built to toxic levels.

 

[jfoahs04]

The water change rate is how often you change your water and how much water you change each time you do it.

I know freshwater fish stocking is different, but 10 gallons is a small tank and you have a decent amount of fish in there. If you're not changing water at all, it'll lead to a build up of toxins (like ammonia - and the red gills are a symptom of that). A quick google search seems to indicate that 5 glowfish is about the max for a 10 gallon tank. If you've already experienced losses and you still have at least 5 fish (based on the pics), you might have been overstocked. Not only does that increases the nutrient levels (and eventually the ammonia), but it can lead to aggression like fin nipping. It could be a combination of the both of those things.

 

[LaraFaes]

Yeah.... I'm going to change the tank water. I hope she recovers ;-; If anyone needs to see the filter I'm right here so you can ask xD

 

[jfoahs04]

Yeah.... I'm going to change the tank water. I hope she recovers ;-; If anyone needs to see the filter I'm right here so you can ask xD

How long has the tank been running and have you ever change water before?