How to Take Care of Glass Fish

Aquatic hobbyists often add nearly transparent glass fish to their fish collection out of curiosity and as a conversation piece. Vital organs are visible at a glance in the oval-shaped fish exhibiting an amber or green sheen. Native to India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, glass fish thrive in fresh and brackish waters. The term glass fish often encompasses several species of fish with transparent qualities. Fish retailers may group together several chanda species, including the glass perch, glass tetra, Indian glass tetra and painted glass tetras, as glass fish.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring spoons
  • Aquarium salt
  • Aquarium heater
  • 2 suction cups
  • Thermometer
  • Insect larvae
  • Worms
  • Brine Shrimp
  • Tropical flake food
  • Aquarium fin rot and ick medications
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Instructions

    • 1

      Mix 7.5 to 11 tsp. of aquarium salt into every 10 gallons of aquarium water to achieve a 1 to 1.5 percent salinity in an aquarium containing glass fish. Add salt directly to the water allowing the filtration system to mix the salt into a semi-brackish environment.

    • 2

      Submerge an aquarium-safe heater into the water and secure it to the back of the fish tank with two suctions cups--one at the top and one near the base of the heater. Maintain a warm environment from 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit at all times.

    • 3

      Replicate the glass fishes native tropical environment in a home aquarium by adding live plants, rocks with caves and artificial plants with twisting roots.

    • 4

      Add five or more glass fish to the tank. The schooling fish are timid and share an aquarium well with other community fish that tolerate salt added to the water. These include mollies, orange chromide and small monos.

    • 5

      Sprinkle live and pre-packaged foods including insect larvae, worms, frozen or dehydrated brine shrimp and tropical flake foods on the top of the aquarium water, allowing the glass fish to eat as much as they can consume in a few minutes.

    • 6

      Treat fin rot and ick, which commonly plague painted glass fish, by adding aquarium medication directly to the tank water when the fish are brought home. Measure the amount of medication required for your tank size as instructed on the medication package.