Glofish

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memeaquarist

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
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Hi! Just wanted to start a discussion on Glofish. If you don’t know what they are: here’s a brief description and a picture.

The Glofish[emoji769] is a patented and trademarked brand of genetically engineered fluorescent fish. A variety of different GloFish are currently on the market.

I own 3 Danios, one barb and 2 tetras. I really love their colors and they do great in my 20 gallon tank, with about 8 other tank mates.

IMG_5492.jpg
 
Interesting topic, but you might have opened a can of worms. There is evidently a significant percentage of hobbiest who enjoy keeping Glofish. The big box LFS' s sell mega thousands of them. I'm very neutral on the topic. As long as the genetic engineering process is humane how different are Glofish from hybrid cichlids. An altered fish is an altered fish.
Purest will debate your topic to no end. Really all that matters is that you provide a good home for your Glofish and enjoy them. :)
 
In my area, GloFish are about 3X the cost of the regular varieties.

I'm not sure that I like the genetic manipulation involved to achieve the effect.

That being said, I did buy 3 of the Starfire Red Tiger Barbs, and they do add a nice bit of color to my tank. :cool:
 
They just came out with a Glo-Shark. I have nothing against them personally. They are injected with pigment from other fish as embryos, not sure how that can be inhumane.
 
My son is wanting glofish for his first tank. We picked up a 20g this weekend but I'm confused on the light we need. Do we need a true fluorescent blacklight or do blue led lights work on them?

I've read people mention the fish are injected but, others have said the species initially were but the subsequent offspring now are born with the coloration. I would be interested in finding out which is which.
 
My son is wanting glofish for his first tank. We picked up a 20g this weekend but I'm confused on the light we need. Do we need a true fluorescent blacklight or do blue led lights work on them?

I've read people mention the fish are injected but, others have said the species initially were but the subsequent offspring now are born with the coloration. I would be interested in finding out which is which.
Hello Raignis,
GloFish and not "injected" per say that was a bad choice of words. They are not dyed but genetically changed as embryos to make the colors (using pigment from jellyfish).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GloFish
As far as lights; the black light makes the colors "pop" but regular LED lights do fine as well especially if you add a black background to the tank and dark substrate. No matter what light you choose they should always have pure darkness at night to sleep.
 
R.
Glofish look to be a permanent part of the hobby and I'll admit that the colors of those fish can be striking. On the other hand, Glofish are really expensive. Most Glofish varieties are simply altered common inexpensive fish such as BlackSkirt Tetras, Tiger Barbs and Zebra Danios. All usually available in my area for a dollar a piece. Glofish go for $5 - $9 A piece.
I keep a school of common Blackskirts in my no frills grow out tank. Pictured is a 50 cent piece sized female. Not a great picture, but her colors are silver and black with a purple sheen. IMO a very pretty fish. Standard Tiger Barbs are also nice looking and have color variants of green and orange / albino. My point is unless you are just completely sold on Glofish, don't overspend on otherwise common, readily available, inexpensive fish.
 

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Hello Raignis,
GloFish and not "injected" per say that was a bad choice of words. They are not dyed but genetically changed as embryos to make the colors (using pigment from jellyfish).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GloFish
As far as lights; the black light makes the colors "pop" but regular LED lights do fine as well especially if you add a black background to the tank and dark substrate. No matter what light you choose they should always have pure darkness at night to sleep.

Globefish breed true. The original breeding stock had jellyfish pigment genes spliced into their genome as embryos and it resulted in their trademark bright colors. Now all they do in order to create more glofish is spawn their brood stock. The fry are hatched with the same fluorescent traits of their parents without any more human intervention.

While they don't necessarily really appeal to me or a lot of fish keepers, I see no issue with what they are doing honestly. The only thing I would be even slightly worried about is what happens if some escape into wild waterways where they could establish feral populations? Even though thats a concern I have, I'm sure that their bright colors would prevent them lasting very long out there as predators would be drawn to them like fishing lures. All in all, I think it's just a harmless way to give people the option of having a fluorescent glow tank if they decide they want one.
 
My son is wanting glofish for his first tank. We picked up a 20g this weekend but I'm confused on the light we need. Do we need a true fluorescent blacklight or do blue led lights work on them?

I've read people mention the fish are injected but, others have said the species initially were but the subsequent offspring now are born with the coloration. I would be interested in finding out which is which.
Go with a black light. It turns out way better.
 
I own every color of Tetra and long fin Tetra. I even got gravel that glows under a black light in the tank. For me it is something different and pretty cool under a black light. They are also one of my most hardy fish.
 
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