Danio damage

[Brhino]

did a head count at dinner time and came up one red glo fish short. Did a search, and eventually found him in the cave. Something odd has happened to his dorsal fin. Managed to get a photo:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c376/starmike82/DSC_0024.jpg

The back part of it is missing. It's a very clean break. If you didn't know what a danio looked like you might not even think anything was wrong at all. I'm trying to figure out what happened. The stocking is in my signature - nothing should have nipped him (the goldfish if big enough could swallow a danio whole, but that's different than a nip) except potentially the other danios, but the one in question is usually the boss who chases far more often than he's chased. Could he have caught it on something?

He's swimming around mostly normally now since I flushed him out of the cave. He seems to be staying in cover a bit more than the rest of them, but he does come out every several seconds, which is how I got the picture.

How worried should I be? Is there anything I should do?

[Brhino]

update: he seems to be behaving normally now, swimming with the others, chasing and being chased.

[Aminax]

>.>

I think it's cute you worry so over our fish.

I also think Ivan the Red got what was coming to him. I think his attacker was motivated by revenge and/or self defense. Let's round up the usual suspects and start the interrogation.

EDIT: I'm going to feel really bad about making this joke if it turns out to be serious.

[mermaidwannabe]

That's one bright red danio! You called him a "glo fish". What are their official names? I'd like to see if my two LFS's have any! Are they compatible with Zebras and White Cloud minnows? Don't think I'll be overstocking if I just got four or six of those ... since I took my goldfish out, I'd like to have a little more vibrant color in my tank.

-- mermaidwannabe

[Brhino]

Glo fish are genetically modified zebra danios (Danio rerio). They come in red, orange and green (though the greens look yellow to me). They're supposed to be identical in all regards except appearance (same care requirements, behavior, etc) as zebra danios. Some people have reported differences in temperaments depending on the color, but I don't know if there's solid evidence to that or not.

Most fish stores I've been to carry them. Unfortunately they charge two or three times more than they do for regular danios. As they are genetically modified, their sale is illegal in some places - I think they're legal in all the US except California, illegal in the UK... not sure about Canada. Some people don't like them because they've been modified, but to be clear, they are NOT painted or dyed, they are simply the ancestors of fish that had their genes messed with in a lab.

I have 6 glo fish (three red, three green) with 2 normal zebra danios and they get along well. When I upgrade my tank I plan to get some orange glo fish and some leopard danios to create a nice big multicolored school.

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks for the info. Glad to know they aren't dyed. I would never knowingly buy a fish that has been abused in that way. I'll be checking in with the two LFS's I shop at to see if they have any of those red ones.

Good to learn something new ... mermaid

[HeatherB]

Love those glofish! They are great little guys to have around. I have 2 that survived a host of problems and they are buddies with my other 2 regular danios. I would love to have more, but they are so expensive. You can't even really breed them because they are supposedly infertile...

[Brhino]

They're not infertile. If they were, how would the fish stores get more of them? They don't genetically modify each fish, if they did they'd cost hundreds or thousands of dollars each. I've heard reports of people having them breed, although "deliberately" breeding them apparently violates the trademark on them. Don't ask me how that works, I don't know. I have also seen fish at my LFS that look suspiciously like a cross between a regular danio and a red glo fish.

[HeatherB]

I was told before that they are infertile. That's just what I was told. But I have also heard of people who have wound up with baby danios.

[FishGirl-Seattle]

I would suspect the Pearl Gourami....is he looking guilty?

[Brhino]

the start of this thread was actually 6 months ago. The fish in question has long since healed. Mermaid bumped it, though, so now we're just sort of talking about glo fish in general :hmm3grin2orange: .

The pearl gourami is actually in the hospital tank with a massive case of constipation, but I think he might just pull through.

[Aeonflame]

Since we are on the topic of glofish, which are the offspring of genetically modified zebra danios...

There has been a lot of research into the ability of danios to regenerate entire fins, even ones that have been cut down to the flesh. They are exceptionally hardy and bounce back from the most severe of injuries.

Also, they are not infertile as some people believe. I have bred these prolifically in various color combinations. A fluorescent green or yellow glofish bred with a natural danio will produced beautiful blue striped green fish.

[Brhino]

that's awesome. I'd like mine to breed but I'm not going to set up a breeding tank, and from what I've read they'll normally eat all their own eggs unless you protect them.

The fish I saw at my LFS that I suspect were part glofish had the normal zebra stripes in the middle of their body, but the top and the bottom of the fish was bright red.