Can Guppies Live With Glofish? And Do Guppies Eat Glofish?

Can Guppies Live With Glofish? And Do Guppies Eat Glofish?

Image of a guppy ready to live with glofish

Guppies cannot live with all types of glofish. They adjust only with some varieties of glofish more than others. Guppies peacefully co-exist with Tetra Glofish and Glofish Barbs. However, other varieties of glofish, like the Danio Glofish and Rainbow Shark Glofish, create stress for guppies.

To understand why you should not keep your guppies with just any glofish, you should understand what glofish are.

What Are Glofish?

Glofish are tropical freshwater fish that display unique and intriguing fluorescent colors under blue and black lights.

Their fluorescent glow is the result of a biological factor called bioluminescence.

Interestingly, this bioluminescent characteristic of the fish is the result of human intervention.

To help with pollution studies, scientists genetically modified some species of fish with fluorescent colors.

The idea was to add these fish to waterways and use their fluorescent properties as indicators for pollution levels.

These studies later led to the development of various species of glofish.

Although there was no commercial intent originally, glofish became a hit in the fish keeping community. And in no time, glofish became popular as aquarium fish.

Different Types Of Glofish

There are four types of glofish:

  1. Barbs,
  2. Tetras,
  3. Danios, and
  4. Rainbow Sharks.

Each species displays the same traits as their non-colored counterparts.

It means that each type of glofish is different from the others.

Their needs, behavioral traits, and characteristic features will not be similar.

It is why your aquarium may be a suitable environment for one type of glofish, but not necessarily for the others.

The easiest way to recognize whether a specific type of glofish is suitable for your tank is to look at the characteristics of its non-fluorescent counterpart.

You can also use the same logic to decide whether a specific species of glofish will make a good tank mate for your guppy fish.

Let us first take a closer look at each type of glofish.

Glofish Tetras

Tetra glofish are omnivorous schooling fish with peaceful and friendly personalities.

They occupy the middle of the water column in aquariums. Tetras like heavily planted tanks and shaded environments.

They are non-fussy eaters and will thrive on a varied diet of plant and animal matter.

Due to their small size, tetras do not need much food. They thrive on small quantities of food.

You can feed them once or twice a day.

Tetras are clean fish that are very sensitive to water quality. Too frequent water changes can stress them out.

Glofish Danios

Glofish danios resemble glofish tetras in many ways. They are also friendly schooling fish.

Danios are not aggressive and hence are good community fish.

Glofish danios like to stick to the surface of the water. In the wild, they live in water with high currents.

Since these fish are omnivores, they eat both plant and animal foods. They need small quantities of food once or twice a day.

Although glofish danios will not chase or attack other fish, they are very active.

Aquarium owners with glofish danios often use a tight lid on their aquarium to ensure that the fish do not jump out.

The hyperactive nature of danios can sometimes be a cause of stress for other peaceful fish.

Hence, you should consider this factor when adding them to a mature tank.

Glofish Barbs

Glofish barbs are active shoaling fish that dwell in the middle of the tank. They prefer heavily planted tanks and are omnivores.

So, apart from nibbling on the vegetation in the tank, they will also eat live foods.

Although glofish barbs are fin nippers, they do not display aggressive behavior when kept in groups.

In large groups of six or more fish, they will interact with their kind and ignore the other inmates of the tank.

Glofish Rainbow Sharks

Rainbow sharks are the feistiest of the different glofish varieties.

They are territorial fish that attack and show aggression towards other fish, including other rainbow sharks.

Rainbow sharks prefer plant-based foods. They also like to eat live foods occasionally.

They are not too fussy about their food and will eat anything they find at the bottom of the tank.

These fish like heavily planted tanks with plenty of hiding spaces.

The main concern with rainbow sharks is that they will attack and bully the other fish in their surroundings.

Hence, they are not good companions for peaceful and small fish.

Which Glofish Are Compatible With Guppies?

Guppies, like glofish, are freshwater, tropical fish. Hence, their habitat needs are alike.

So, we can determine which types of glofish will get along with guppies by looking at their behavioral traits.

Guppies get along with most non-aggressive fish.

They do not attack or chase other fish and mind their own business most of the time.

Due to their small size, they are threatened by big fish.

Also, guppies have long fins that can make them a target for fin nippers.

Guppies have a good appetite and will eat anything that fits their mouths.

When we look at the characteristic traits of guppies, it is obvious that they will get along with passive glofish tetras.

You can also keep them with glofish barbs.

Although barbs are fin-nippers, they will not trouble guppies when they are in groups and have their kind to interact.

Glofish danios can live with guppies.

However, due to their incredibly active nature, danios can stir up commotion in the tank.

The peaceful guppy fish may not appreciate their hyperactivity.

We do not recommend keeping guppies with glofish rainbow sharks due to the aggressive nature of the glofish shark.

They will enjoy bullying and chasing your guppies, which can be detrimental to the health of the guppies.

Do Guppies Eat Glofish?

Although guppies are omnivores, they do not attack other fish for food.

So, it is highly unlikely that guppies will trouble the glofish in their tank.

However, guppies will eat anything that fits their mouths. So, they may eat glofish eggs and fry if they come across it.

Glofish eggs are already at risk of being eaten by their parents.

So, it is wise to use a breeding tank if you want to protect the eggs from any adult fish in the aquarium.

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