CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Today I took my kids to the local Petsmart and they got some fish for their 10G. They picked out something called a Painted fish? Need to know the proper name so I can find out how to look after them. Have a Penguin 330 and a Marineland 40-75 heater on it. These fish are about 1 inch long and supposedly grow to about 4 inches long. They are semi-transparent with a stripe of varying colors on the spine (blue, green, pink, purple or yellow)


On another note....my Oscars are on the grow again finally. They are now 8 and 9 inches and still doing the lip-lock thing.

well i don't know the proper name but i do know that the color on the spine is not natural, it is injected by people so you can see them better, it will go away in time. just thought i'd let you know.

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From the imortal words of Jerry Gercia, "what a long strange journey this has been".

"to be old and wise you must first be young and stupid"

I agree with CK... the color will fade in between 2-6 months depending how long they have been in stock since they were injected. It is a pretty brutal process, and honestly I wouldnt put my money on them living long enough to lose their color... but you could have gotten some strong ones. I am not firmiliar with their name but I think it is either glass tetra or window tetra... if you search under those names you will probably find something. Just be aware that the fish you find info on wont look totally like yours becuase they will most likely be of the natural totally clear fish.

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Adam

Come see my website!
Adam@cichlidfish.com
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Heres some interesting info I found on painted fish.
Reference http://www.honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/painted.shtml

Why Responsible Pet Stores Don't Have Painted Fish
I neither encourage nor condone severe cruelty to animals, even small helpless fish. Several varieties of fish are being artificially colored to improve marketability. Amongst these fish are the Colored Skirts, Painted Glass Fish, Painted Tiger Barbs, and Colored Botias.
Parambassis baculis (Indian Glassfish, Indian Glass Tetra, Glass Perch) is a fish that does well in either fresh or brackish water. As a fresh water fish, it will do well with similar sized peaceful community fish. In brackish water it can be housed with smaller brackish fish including mollies and some gobies. They also can be kept in marine environments with smaller chromises and damsels, and other similar fish.

They are a schooling fish and should be kept in groups of four or more, though they are not as sensitive to companionship as are fish like tetras and rasboras.

The "Painted" Glass Fish is not a natural color morph. These fish are actually painted. They are dipped into a mild acid solution to dissolve their protective "slime coat," a vital part of their immune system. They are then painted with semi-permanent fluorescent dyes, after which they are placed into an irritant bath so that they will regenerate their slime coat (as if any more irritation was necessary). Of the few of these fish that survive this process, most will die within the two months following the trauma, and those that still survive will have lost their coloration within six to ten months. Only about 10% of the fish that survive for sale will keep their coloration for any length of time. The practice of painting these fish has nearly eliminated the availability of the unpainted variety in the pet industry.

Other fish that are colored by man to improve salability:

The lutino and albino morphs of the "Black Skirt Tetra" (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi) are injected with dyes and fed dye laced foods as fry to produce Blue skirt tetras, red skirt tetras, purple skirt tetras, blueberry tetras, grape tetras, strawberry tetras, patriot tetras, Halloween tetras, and mixed fruit tetras.
Some "Skunk Botia" (Botia morleti) are injected with dyes and painted to produce purple, red, and blue loaches. (Another botia, Botia lecontei, is also sold as a blue loach or blue botia, and is not dyed - though a painted blue botia is now available. Apparently the natural blue wasn't blue enough.)
Painted Tinfoil Barbs (Barbus schwanefeldi) are available, though I could not tell the difference between the painted and non painted versions with three exceptions - the painted ones had a darker eye, the painted ones seemed to have difficulty seeing (they would bump into stationary objects in the water), and I could not get a painted one to live over three months...
Red Painted Tiger Barbs and Green Painted Tiger Barbs are produced from gold, albino, and red color morphs of the Tiger Barb (Barbus Tetrazona) that have been injected with red and green dyes (I do not know why there don't seem to be blue, purple, or black versions of these fish). The particularly odd thing about these (and this is frustrating as well) is that there are perfectly good red and green varieties of these fish available through selective breeding...
I have also recently learned that the Bala Shark (tricolor shark) is being dyed to produce a "Gold Bala Shark"
The carcinogenic pigments used on the colored tetra and colored botia are stored in vacuoles in cells creating a faint background color. The more intensely colored areas are created by injecting the fish with more of the dye in strategic locations. The fish's immune system then proceeds to fight this infection until the dye has been removed from the system. This added stress makes these fish highly susceptible to any other infection which they may be exposed to, since they are unable to defend themselves from it.
In all of these situations, the coloration of the animal eventually fades, but only those specimens hardy enough to survive significantly after the fact. If you are interested in glass fish, I recommend that you look into getting glass perch (not painted) they are very hardy, and interesting, and your purchase of them does not encourage the inhumane treatment of animals. Unfortunately, laws preventing cruel treatment of animals only apply directly to mammals, though some can be extrapolated as far as birds or occasionally reptiles (though reptile protection is as close as you can get to unheard-of), and never apply to amphibians or fish.

In addition to the cruel treatment these fish are subjected to, these processes are performed by untrained laborers paid below poverty level wages in third world countries. By purchasing painted fish, you are not only encouraging cruelty to animals, but encouraging these appalling work conditions. Remember, never purchase any animal at a pet store if you feel sorry for it - this just encourages a store to get another to replace it.

Responsible pet stores will not knowingly order these fish, even on special orders. There are many beautiful fish available which have not been colored by humans which will do much better in your home or office aquarium. Aquarists should also be aware that there are many fish that are called "painted" that are not actually dyed, but are natural colorations. Among these is the Painted Platy and its cousin the Painted Swordtail. Many fish with impressive coloration come that way naturally, such as Neon, Black Neon, Cardinal, and Glolite Tetras. I strongly encourage consumers to purchase only naturally colored fish and to request that pet stores in your area not carry Dyed fish should you see any.



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TONY
Australian and proud of it!!
My Cichlidfish.com Home page
No Feeder Nazi
worldcichlids.com

tiger o you most likely have purchased a few painted glass fish. when i bought a small tank for my girlfriend she saw them and fell in love with them. she bought 4 of them and within two weeks all the fish mysteriously died. water conditions were fine the tank was well cycled and the fish ate and seemed healthy. i would try and stay away from them even though they look cool you are just setting up your kids for heartbreak.

Hello all!
I recently called Petsmart and asked them why they sell tortured fish if they are advocates of animal rights, and they told me that their "vet" would contact me about this. Supposedly they have done studies regarding these fish and have found that there is no ill-lasting effect on their lives.

Hello all!
I called Petsmart this morning and asked them why they sell tortured fish if they are advocates of animal rights, and they told me that their "vet" would contact me about this. Supposedly they have done studies regarding these fish and have found that there is no ill-lasting effect on their lives.

I phoned their head office and was hung up on. This only makes me mad. Little do they know who they are dealing with! Stay tuned for the details.
I was promised an official statement from their vet. I am thinking I will take this to the media HEHEHEHE

I then proceeded to email them as well with a quote from TONY...hope you don't mind!
I encourage everyone to either phone or email them regarding this and maybe we can change their minds about these fish.
The phone number is 1-800-738-1385 ext.2518 not the number listed on their site!

your fish does sound like a painted glass fish. the color is injected into them and after a while fades away. i have heard that when they inject color into fish it shortens their life span, i have not heard this about painted glass fish but i have about blue oscars and other types of fish. i think we should start a boycott on all kinds of painted fish.



[This message has been edited by cichfreak (edited 04-19-2002).]

I am not sure of their email address, but you can email them from their website under contact us. I put mine under animal health.

i sent them an email so they should write back soon and i will have the email address

Originally posted by TigerO:
Hello all!
I called Petsmart this morning and asked them why they sell tortured fish if they are advocates of animal rights, and they told me that their "vet" would contact me about this. Supposedly they have done studies regarding these fish and have found that there is no ill-lasting effect on their lives.

I phoned their head office and was hung up on. This only makes me mad. Little do they know who they are dealing with! Stay tuned for the details.
I was promised an official statement from their vet. I am thinking I will take this to the media HEHEHEHE

I then proceeded to email them as well with a quote from TONY...hope you don't mind!
I encourage everyone to either phone or email them regarding this and maybe we can change their minds about these fish.
The phone number is 1-800-738-1385 ext.2518 not the number listed on their site!

Good stuff stick it too them
Let us know their reply,,it should be very interesting


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TONY
Australian and proud of it!!
My Cichlidfish.com Home page
No Feeder Nazi
worldcichlids.com

i got their email address even tho they never wrote back to me. its cs@petsmart.com. everyone should post on their webpages to boycott all pianted fish.

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Brian

[This message has been edited by cichfreak (edited 04-19-2002).]