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For the love of Pete, WHAT IS THIS THING?

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Pep 
#1 · (Edited)
Tonight I acquired two fish and I have NO CLUE what they are. Normally, I'd be super careful about what goes into my tank, but I was in a market (I'm an American expatriate who lives in China) and someone was selling tiny, sealed bottles with fish trapped inside! ACK! All but two of the fish in the bottles had died and the two who hadn't looked like they would not see tomorrow so I bought them and brought them home. Since I wasn't expecting company, I didn't have anywhere to put them but in my 15-gallon tank (not sure on the size, it's plenty big for what lives there) already inhabited by Stanford, a 4-year-old Chinese algae eater, and Renoir, a 1-year-old male Betta (they get along surprisingly well all things considered).

Anyway, my major problem is I have no clue what these two fish are and if they need any special care. I'd have gotten a pic, but at the moment, they're both joyfully darting back and forth and playing in the flow from the filter outlet, fleeing from Renoir who's trying to check them out to see if he needs to attack, and basically moving way too fast to catch on camera. I'll put up a pic as soon as they calm down, mostly because they're absolutely stunning.

My first impression was they some kind of danio. They're tiny, less than an inch long, with sleek, dart-like bodies and nearly clear, non-descript fins much like a neon tetra or zebra danio. But what really throws me is their color; their bodies are a dramatic, eye-popping hot pink! Their undersides are a lighter shade of pink and they both have nearly invisible, shiny pin-stripes from gills to tail also in a lighter shade of pink. and their fins are also shot trough with the same iridescent pink which is only visible when they are in full light. So they have zebra danio markings in a color I've never seen before. It's obvious that, considering the inhumane circumstances they've been living in, they're probably thin from malnutrition and they're probably not fully-grown (at least I hope not, getting bigger will certainly make them more beautiful). Ideas? And if you know what they are, what can I do to take care of them?
 
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#3 ·
Yep, sound like GloFish, which are genetically modified zebra danios (i.e. that color is permanent and won't fade like the bright colors you often see associated with dyed fish). If they were selling them that way, they're probably smuggled, illegal ones as the fish are protected pretty heavily by copyright laws here (you have to sell them under the GloFish name, you can't breed them, etc.). They'll school with more of their own kind or with regular zebra danios and, as they're a schooling fish, I'd advise getting more danios for them to interact with (you've probably already noticed that their favorite sport is chasing each other around).

Not to be confused with the glow-light tetra, which is a naturally occurring species of tetra that looks sort of similar to a neon tetra but with a bright orange line rather than the blue/green and red lines.
 
#4 ·
I've heard of pirated DVDs - but pirated fish??? Bizarre! I guess there's not much I can do about that. All I know is; they're not responsible for what they are (who would choose to be born Barbie-lipstick pink?), they're alive, and they're my responsibility. So I better find a few more if that's what it takes to keep them happy and healthy.

Thanks for identifying them for me, I've never had danios before so I wasn't too sure if the wild game of tag they've been playing at the top of the tank was normal or some kind of neurological disease or the result of being cooped-up for too long.
 
#6 ·
Holy mole! That's them in pink! Although those look pretty healthy, mine are skinny from being abused. I managed to find four more in that same market (also sealed up in bottles - shudder), so now I have 6 hot pink pirated danios. They've been having the fish equivalent of a frat party in my tank ever since. Do danios ever slow down?
 
#7 ·
Nope, Danios are super hyper and love to dart around. I have 9 zebra danios in my 90g tank and they are a hoot to watch. Always playing and chasing each other as they dart around the plants at the top of the tank. If you have enough of them they don't seem to bother other fish much at all. I have read/heard where others called the danios aggresive but my experience is they are just hyper moreso. Good on you saving them. I suspect you will get to enjoy watching them for a long time!!:-D
 
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