FISH ID: Glowlight tetra or Glowlight Danio?

[A649475]

I just bought 8 of these guys. They were labeled glofish so I thought they were danios in the first place, except not the genetic engineered ones but danio choprai.

Anyways, I bought them ($3 bucks/ea) and now I am starting to think that I bought glowlight TETRAS because they are schooling. I took a look at several pictures online and I am getting convinced that they are tetras.

Im just confused at the fact that they had another tank labeled with glowlight tetra on it and the fish looked a bit different (duller and bigger).


Edit:

I need some stocking suggestions.

I wanted to get danios because they stay in the middle/top level, tetras tend to be at the bottom a lot and at times swim in the mid region (in my experience) regardless of how planted my tank is. This makes my tank look empty most of the times.

Since I not going to return these fish - I like the way they look - should I increase the numbers of w/e - glowfish danio or tetra - fish I got? If these aren't glowlight danios, should I just get 6-8 of regular danios to add to this tank? I also considered hachetfish as they stay in the top layer. Maybe that will draw these fish out of the bottom.

As a centerpiece fish I am getting a pearl gourami. I considered an angelfish (never had one) but I heard they will probably terrorize my amano and bamboo shrimps, to say the least. I had german blue rams in mind - the only rams they carry at my LFS - but they cost $32 (WTH?).

By the way my tank is a 29g one.

 

[platytudes]

Glowlight tetra, for sure...Hemigrammus erythrozonus.

GloFish usually go for more than $3, they were recently that price at Petsmart however - on sale, down from $6 I believe.

GloFish® (this is a registered trademark) are unmistakable...

But I much prefer glowlight tetras And $2.99 seems like a pretty average price for them around here.

 

[platytudes]

German blue rams can be expensive, although that sounds like a huge rip off. Maybe they are wild caught or something?

GBRs are sort of specialized. They do much better in warmer water, and they won't be too happy in a busy community with fast fish like danios. They are fussy about water quality and if they are indeed wild caught, they are prone to parasites so would be best left in quarantine for an extended period (and my guess would be you don't have a QT?)

I would get some more glowlight tetras and perhaps one other schooling fish. Lots of tetras fit the bill, just don't get something too nippy like serpaes, too big like bleeding hearts, or too aggressive like Buenos Aires tetras. I'd stick with the smaller ones although maybe a bit bigger than glowlights. Columbian or X-ray tetras are nice if you like the rounder ones.

Harlequin or scissortail rasboras might also be good. Danios can work, but I'm not a huge fan of the common zebras. I do like pearl or leopard danios

You could also try cherry barbs, they stay small and the males are very brightly colored.

 

[A649475]

Thanks for the quick reply. When I said they were danios I thought they were the glowlight danios (danio choprai)

Yeah, they don't look that similar after staring at the 8 I bought for a while. I was just a little confused that they did have a tank for glowlight tetras and those looked different. And since you are mentioning the leopard danios, they were in the same tank as these guys, which led me to believe even further that these were danios. FAIL.

 

[platytudes]

Doh! FAIL for me as well, I missed this part:

I just bought 8 of these guys. They were labeled glofish so I thought they were danios in the first place, except not the genetic engineered ones but danio choprai.

No excuse, but I just kind of skimmed your post since I was replying to a bunch of stuff at once Anyway, my apologies!

Definitely just regular glowlight tetras, although it would have been cool if they had been D. choprai. I have glowlight tetras and they are a very common fish here (Walmart seems to always have them in stock) so I just can recognize one anywhere at this point. Sometimes they're fatter with more of a white belly showing, maybe the other tank looked this way? It all depends on whether there are lots of females, how old they are, and to some extent, how well nourished they are.

My LFS has tetras for really cheap - glowlights go for $1 along with X-rays, neons etc. However the big box stores like Petsmart have them more in the $3 range. So hopefully you didn't get ripped off, but if your LFS sells common tetras for cheap - might not hurt to mention it and maybe get some store credit?

 

[spencerguy1]

tetras for sure.

and about tetras staying at the bottom, the bigger your school, the higher they go IME

 

[A649475]

I live in NYC and there are no Walmarts here. In fact, I have never been inside one. And the Petco around my house carries barely any interesting fish; all they have are goldfish, bettas, mollies, guppies, neon tetras, and a bunch of albino corydoras.

Anyhow, from I am gathering here, I should increase the school which are tetras for sure. How does this final stocking list sound:

12 glowlight tetras
1 pearl gourami
6 zebra/leopard danios OR hatchetfish


Or should I just leave the tetra school as it is and have fish in the top range so they draw out the tetras?

8 glowlight tetras
1 pearl gourami
8 zebra/leopard danios or hatchetfish

By the way the leopards are 4.50 whereas the zebras cost half or even less. Recommendations are more than welcomed.

 

[spencerguy1]

IMO i would go with hatchetfish. a lot cooler. you might be able to bump up the # of tetras to 15.

 

[A649475]

How do hatchetfish fair against moderate/strong currents? I have my spraybar sweeping across the length of the tank, so the top level is sort of turbulent.

I heard that danios are super active and like strong currents so they shouldn't have a problem.

I never had danios or hatchetfish. :help:

 

[platytudes]

I don't know much about hatchetfish, but from a quick Google it seems like they can stand up to a current, especially a gentle spraybar I would think would be fine. Less so, a powerful Koralia mounted on the side of the tank pushing the water lengthwise. Spraybar going the other direction ought to be ok

Is your tank tightly closed? A must for hatchets, they're very jumpy! Zebra danios are just so common and blah really, but if you've never had them you might enjoy them. Their behavior can be kind of annoying because all they do is swim back and forth and they're always hungry because of being so active. No real personality, IMO.

Two very different sets of fish, really. I think for a 29 gallon tank, one larger school of fish would be more visually pleasing than two smaller ones. The hatchets might be nice to balance out the top, and maybe that's why you are thinking of danios. They do stay in the top more than the tetras, who swim more in mid water.

Hatchets should be ok as long as your top is tight, the pearl gourami will want to hog the top though