My red GLOfish

Question
QUESTION: Hello. My past experience with one of the experts on this site isn't so great, but I come to you with a differient question about a fish you know a lot about! I have 9 tiny little glofish in a 10 gallon tank, along with a pleco. Before you start making judgements about Trish (my pleco)hear me out. I needed a hardy algae eater because I'm a college student and I move three times a year. I know she will get to be WAY too big eventually, but if that happens before I graduate and can upgrade my tank I have a good friend with a huge tank who will adopt her. I just got her a few days ago, and if you know anything about plecos I'll have to ask you another question about her, the one the other expert so rudely denied.
Now, let me explain my setup. I have a nice filter, nice gravel, a heater, 4 fake plants, and an cave-like oranment in my tank. (Trish loves that cave :D ) I use aquasafe and stress coat to fix the water, but my tank is not yet cycled, but it is showing signs.

I feed the glofish flake food, bloodworms, and a pea every now and then. Trish gets cucumbers and algae wafers. (I am going to get a nice piece of driftwood to replace the ornament in a few weeks)

Now that you know all that I'll tell you a little history about my crazy fish. I rescued all of them from walmart in poor health. Some of them had the velvet disease and most of them were underfed, but I demanded walmart give me the velvet cure for free because it was their fault. Now all my little glofish are fat, healthy, and happy with the exception of the red one I will explain later.
Trish mostly sucks on the glass when she comes out at night (I've only had her for three days), but I assume she is eating because shes still pooping like a whale.

My glofish are the happiest little critters I have ever seen, but one of my beautiful red ones had part of his tail fin ripped off or bitten off. This didnt concern me too much at first because I know that they're tail nippers, but I think that in his injured state he became a target for some of the more "macho" glofish, and now he has a slight, dark discoloration behind one of his fins. I seperated him into a small 1.5 gallon tank for observation (It is all I have!", and I'm hoping that it will heal or what not, but are their any diseases that would cause that kind of discoloration? It is right behind his front side fin and I just noticed it today. Is this another fish picking on him or is there something wrong? I know it isnt the pleco because shes pretty slow and lazy and doesnt bother the glofish, but what could it be, and what can I do?

ANSWER: Hi Kelley,

The stress associated with the moving of fish may have caused the poor little GloFish (Genetically Modified Zebra Danios)to become sick. However, the torn fins are probably just from territorial behavior, or minor aggression. A red spot is not a disease but a symptom, mostly likely caused by bacteria. I would change 30% of the hospital tank's water every day.(Unless you are going to use a medication, otherwise, the medication will be diluted.) This will reduce stress, and reduce the chance of additional diseases, and will promote his recovery.

You'll want to do some 10% water changes, every 2-3 days on your Main Tank, to help reduce ammonia and nitrite levels.

Are the torn fins edged in white, or seem to 'melt' away over a few days? If so, then your GloFish has fin rot disease. (Bacterial).

I'd buy a bacterial medication at your local fish store... maybe Wal-Mart in your case, unfortunately. I'd recommend Maracyn, by Mardel labs, but if that's unavailable, any bacterial medicine will work fine.

Remember to remove any carbon from the filter during treatment, and follow the directions carefully. Do at least a 30% water change before the adding the medication. Bacterial infections probably the most common for tropical fish. Even if you're not sure, adding a bacterial treatment is the best choice. It will prevent and treat any infections, and from your description, your fish definitely has a bacterial infection.

Also, your Trish, your Pleco, should be getting enough to eat, from the algae, the veggies, and the wafers. If she's pooping constantly, that's a good sign. Keeping her on a diet of fresh veggies and wafers is a great! (Some people actually expect Plecos to live on nothing, believe it or not!)

I noticed that you said that you would ask a question about your Pleco, but I didn't see it. Feel free to ask another question, if necessary, because you must've forgotten to write that in.

Hopefully you'll be able to upgrade your tank soon. Just wondering, is Trish a Common Pleco? If so, she'll grow up to 24"! (Two feet) However, there's a type of Pleco which doesn't grow as large. The Bristlenose Pleco only grows up to 5". The Bristlenose is an excellent choice for smaller aquaria. If that's still too big, you might want to try the Otocinclus catfish. It grows up to 1.5", and does a great job. However, if you're new to the hobby, don't bother with Oto's, because they're rather hard to keep in the first months.

Additionally, you should have a VERY good filter for your tank, because it's rather overstocked. (Don't worry, I won't criticize you or say some dumb remark about 1" of fish per gallon.) Your filter should filter at least 90+ gallons of water.

Finally, last but not least... you mentioned that you 'saved' your fish from Wal-Mart. Well, unfortunately, the truth is, 'saving' fish from Wal-Mart really isn't going to help, because the manager will see the sold fish, and say, "Oh my! The fish are clearing out FAST! Order 500 more GloFish pronto!" - and then the new fish will just be shoved into horrible tank conditions. I once asked the store clerk what they fed to the plecostomus, pretending I was a 'newcomer to the hobby', and they stared at me and said, "We feed all of our fish standard FLAKE FOOD"! (oh, dear...)

In my opinion, it's best to buy from a store that treats its fish better, and more humanely, such as Petco or PetSmart.

I hope this helps, and really hope that I made a better impression on you than that other 'unhelpful' expert you mentioned.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello!
Thank you so much for all your insite on this matter. As far as the rescuing fish from walmart thing, they wont re-order nearly as many as usual because school is about to let out, and college is about %80 of this town's population, :D. As to trish however, ever since I got her she has been pooping massive amounts of BLUE poop! I can't find much information on that, but I read it could be because of the ick treatment, but the ick treatment should have filtered out by the time I put her in there. Also, I think I accidently hurt one of her fins moving her into the tank :( I used the cup because I read the nets can hurt them, but I must have hurt her anyway because when shes resting that one fin sticks out while the others don't. How long before she heals up and is normal again?
As for the stressful moving, I have a really good plan to reduce stress for all of them. I asked walmart to give me some of the fish bags, and they did, so what I'm going to do is bag them up and put the bags upright in this container and keep it on my lap so I can let some air in every now and then and keep and eye on them. Also, my tank is not fully cycled yet, but the water is getting cloudy, so I know its on its way. (its only a little cloudy, not too bad) But I read that changing the water so much can slow that down. I'm going to do it now becuase I have to move in two weeks anyway, but when I'm back home for three months should I do that?

ANSWER: Hi Kelley,

Bagging fish back up is not a good idea. Opening up the bag every now and then won't do anything. Instead, placing the fish into a big Rubbermaid container might be better. It will provide a larger surface area for oxygen to be exchanged, by  the process of diffusion. If you've noticed, when you buy fish, the store leaves them approximately half full, with half water, and half pure oxygen. (well, Wal-mart probably uses plain air, I'm not sure). Even if you had access to oxygen, the bags would not be a good idea, because the tiny space makes the fish stressed. The large container would be a better idea. Fill it up about 60% full, and put on the lid, which is (or should be, from what I've experienced) water-resistant.

The blue poop is probably due to the meds, just like you said. Remember, the medication takes time to leave the body, but should be gone within a week or so. i wouldn't worry too much about the blue poop.

I would add a stress-preventer/slime coat enhancer, such stress Coat/Stress zyme.

Change 20% of the water every 3 or so days, when you put the fish back into the main tank to reduce the concentration of ammonia/nitrites. If you don't change the water, deadly concentrations can build up, killing your fish.

Good Luck, and happy fishkeeping!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: This is getting to be an awfully long message and I'm sorry, but I've put a lot into my little buddies, and I want them to survive. First off, I know you said Trish is probably okay, but I haven't seen her eat or poop in a while. I move stuff around in the aquarium to make them more comfortable every now and they (they got used to it a while ago :D Trish doesnt even moved unless I touch her)and her big blue things of poo (haha) arent there anymore. I havent seen her really eat since I got her, and the only real evidince I had that she did was the poop. I saw her touch on one of the cucumbers but it was like she just tasted it and didn't like it. I got some tomatos and mushrooms to put in there, unfortunately the tomatos had a tragic accident with freezer burn (crappy dorm room fridges :(  ) and she didnt touch the mushroom or that piece of lettice I put in there. I leave them in there all night most of the time, and I sit at the computer and spy on her a lot, when its dark. I know she thinks its night and stuff because she'll come out an scan the glass and such, but she doesnt touch her food. Today I put some bacon bits in a little cap and put it at the bottom, so we'll see how that goes. I read the females like more meat, so I put like two or three little bits in there. They're pretty small so she wont hurt herself, of she ever actually tries it. I would love to try the soaking in garlic stuff, but I can only get food from our cheap cafiteria, so everything there isnt all that great. I would think she wouldnt be as picky after living off of walmart food, but aparently she is. Is there anything I can do to tempt her to really go after that food with just some regular cucumber slices, a tomato slice (if I can), some lettice, bacon bits, and honestly the only liquids I have to soak it in are soda and chocolate milk, both dont seem like a good idea though. I just really want her to eat, and I end up watching her for hours every night and she just sticks to the wall or the heater, but everything is clean! When I first got her I think she nibbled on some left over algae in her skull (The chinese algae eater didnt like the green algae), but there wasnt much of that and she didnt even eat it all. What can I do to make her picky little tail eat?

And for the traveling, I got a 6.5 qt rubbermade tub, but it isnt water proof and when I used it to take one of them back to walmart (to prove he was sick and demand they give me quick cure, which they did) it splashed all over my jeans. Its a six hour drive including stopping for gas and eating (dont worry, I wont leave them in the car), so the splashing just wont due. It would not only be uncomfortable for me, but they would lose all their water by the time we were half way there! You have to understand that I would love to get a bigger container, but I cant even buy Trish a fresh cucumber, let alone tub for them. I'm also VERY close to running out of my stress coat, and I dont know if I'll have enough for them! My fiancee and my family think I worry about them too much and read too much into it, but I really dont want them to die. They pick on me for obsessing, but I can't function without some kind of pet to dote on.

Also, the cloudy water. I know this is a sign of the nitrogen cycle working, but about how long after the cloudy water is it done? I'm going to leave at least a little bit of the cycled water in there when I move, but I have to head back May 9th.

One last thing. I really like Trish, so I dont want to have to give her away, but if she grows to be more than like 5 inches before I graduate or get an apartment I'll have to. I read it can take up to 10 years before they're truely full grown, so how long could I keep her before I really need to give her up? I dont graduate for another two years, but if she can hang in there until I do and can afford a bigger tank that would be wonderful!  

Answer
Hi Kelley,

You Pleco might be getting enough to eat already, from the algae already present in the tank, but if her stomack looks skinny, or you see that there's 'simply nothing edible' left in the tank, it's necessary to supplement her diet with algae wafers. I prefer to use Hikari Algae Wafers. These are good quality, but they cost around $6-7.

Don't EVER feed BACON to the Pleco! Bacon will foul up the water, because of the fatty acids. REMOVE it NOW!!! The Pleco is mainly a herbivore, and eats veggies. Perform a 20% water change to help reduce the effects of the bacon.

The reason why your Pleco might not be eating the cucumbers is because it may be too hard for the sucker-mouth of the Pleco. Freezing it overnight, then microvaving it in a small dish of water for 30 secs wll do the trick. It softens up the cells into 'mush'. Much better for a Pleco!

For the moving, try to find another container with a waterproof lid.

You may be able to keep the Pleco for about two years, before it grows to a size too large for your tank. 10 years is very far-fetched, and healthy ones should reach a large size within 5 years.

The whole cycling process takes about 1-2 months. During this time, performing 20% water changes twice a week will help. The cloudiness should be gne within a week.

Good Luck, and happy fishkeeping!