There are five different glofish species. And luckily, none of them have an appetite for each other. Although glofish sharks, bettas, and barbs are aggressive fish, they still don’t eat each other or any other fish. And glofish danios and tetras are petite fish that can barely fit any other fish into their mouths.
Glofish tetras, danios, and barbs are schooling/shoaling fish. While they are sociable most of the time, they become aggressive when kept in numbers less than 5-6. Glofish bettas, especially males, are extremely territorial and aggressive. However, the ‘most aggressive glofish’ titleholders are glofish sharks.
The most prevalent reason behind glofish swimming sideways is swim bladder disease. A swim bladder is a gas-filled internal organ that helps bony fish like glofish maintain buoyancy. And when this bladder is impacted due to illness, injury, or any other abnormality, the fish will have a hard time maintaining its buoyancy – resorting to swimming erratically like sideways.
The temperature for glofish should fall between 60-81°F (15-27°C). So far, there are 5 glofish species, and they’re all tropical fish. Therefore, they prefer warmer water and need a heater. Ideal temperature range for glofish tetras is 60-80°F, for glofish barbs is 74-80°F, for glofish danios is 65-77°F, for glofish bettas is 78-80°F, and for glofish sharks is 75-81°F.
No, glofish cannot get pregnant because they aren’t livebearers. All five glofish species are egg-layers. So, a female carrying eggs is called gravid. Females will have to lay eggs, and males will have to externally fertilize them. Only then will the eggs yield fry.
Glofish tetras can live with loaches, plecos, and rasboras. Glofish barbs can live with guppies, gouramis, and shrimps. Glofish barbs can live with other barbs, mollies, and platies. Glofish bettas can live with shrimps, loaches, and snails. And lastly, glofish sharks can live with barbs, gouramis, and rasboras.
Glofish sharks are omnivores, unlike great white sharks that only consume flesh and bones. In aquariums, they eat almost anything you offer – from pellets and shrimps to algae and blanched veggies.
Glofish sharks get around 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) long, just like their original species, rainbow sharks. These are long-bodied fish with flat bellies, pointed snouts, and erect dorsal fins that give them an almost intimidating shark-like appearance.
Glofish danios get just as big as their all-natural cousins – 2 inches (5 cm). However, some prodigies are known to grow up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) long. They’re tiny fish, aren’t they? But boy, are they active! So, you’d still need a sizable tank to house them.
You can keep around 5-6 glofish tetras in a 10-gallon tank. 5-6 is the bare minimum number of tetras you should keep to observe their unique schooling behavior. So, you’re in luck! However, if I were to give you my two cents, I’d say go for a bigger tank. It’d genuinely make life easy for both you and the fish.
Glofish bettas glow under the blue LED lights due to the presence of a specific protein called green fluorescent protein (GFP) that is originally found in jellyfish. GFP emits a bright green light when it comes into contact with the light of a specific wavelength. This protein was initially injected into the betta fish embryo.
Technically, you can fit 4-5 glofish danios in a 10-gallon tank if you were to follow the ‘one inch per gallon’ rule. However, danios are schooling fish that need to be ideally kept in groups of 6 or more. On top of that, they’re highly active and need ample space to dart around. A 10-gallon tank simply doesn’t have enough room to accommodate their needs.
Unfortunately, you can keep precisely 0 glofish danios in a 5-gallon tank. So if you were to follow the ‘one inch per gallon’ rule, you could technically fit 2 glofish danios that grow around 2 to 2.5 inches long in a 5-gallon tank. But it is not humane to keep glofish in a tank that small.
Both the regular glofish tetra and long-finned glofish tetras are made by genetically modifying the pretty black skirt tetra. The standard glofish tetras grow around 2 inches (5 cm) long, whereas long-finned glofish tetras can reach around 2 ¼ inches (5.5 cm) long in captivity.
Glofish eggs look like regular fish eggs. They’re neither colorful nor do they glow. They are little spherical balls rarely bigger than one millimeter. The eggs are white and almost translucent. A glofish betta’s eggs look just like regular betta’s eggs. And it’s the same for the rest of the 4 species.