I am a bad person

[TomK2]

OK - followed the links,learned about the dye process, found out which species were hybridized to make the parrot fish, but don't know for sure now what the natural color of a parrot fish is. I have seen some rather red ones (like the pic in the response above), and some goldish-yellow ones. Is there a link or reference that I can use to keep from buying an artificially colored one?

TomK2

 

[oscarbreeder]

People that dye fish should go to jail!!

 

[chainsaw]

Well I'm glad to say that it looks like the dye has worked its way out of my fish's system. He's now a beautiful orange and is doing quite well, except he sleeps tail up and nose down. Which is weird but other than that he seems very healthy.

 

[mgrzechowiak]

thats pretty sick, i just happened to catch this post. in one of my first tanks i had like 5 of them. i knew they weren't naturally colored that way but i never took the time to look into it. that link in the 1st page of posts was extremely informative. congrats on the happy paint free fish

 

[Fishyfanatic]

From what I have heard, the yellow and orange/red ones are not painted/dyed/injected. I personally have 4 baby parrots and 3 adults. The babies are silver and black and they will turn red as they mature. I have seen the progression of the parrots from baby to adult and they are not dyed if they are any of those colors. It sucks that you go to the lfs and purchase a fish with good intentions and come home to find out that it has been painted. I had this happen a couple weeks ago with the blueberry tetra's. I was told they weren't painted, but I come home and look online, and sure enough, they are.

 

[Drake]

They inject dye into them to get their color. I thinks its cruel and should not be allowed. Their color will eventually fade and become pastel.

 

[mortalum620]

first off, i believe that it is very cruel to inject the fish with dye...i cant say that enough...

that being said, there will sadly enough always be a market for these fish...i feel that theyve been through enough already, and people should purchase them, not in support for the method, but to give them good homes...the people who read this post obviously care enough about fish to read it, so the fish are better off in their tanks than in the lfs tanks

in response to benji's tattoo question, human tattos are quite safe

 

[xray]

By purchasing them you are encouraging it. They should not be purchased, if there is no market for them the practice will stop. If you already have one keep it and give it a good home. You should always tell the LFS that you disagree with the practice of dying fish and you will take your business to people who have more respect for the pets in there care. JMHO

 

[mortalum620]

id agree with that based on the whole "supply/demand" capitalist ideal we live in, in the US, but we arent the only country that gets these fish, and nothing is gonna stop the practice of dying fish...as long as one person in the world wants one, they will still make them...people have been boycotting puppy mills for years, but they still are thriving

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The worst part about it is that people don't know that they are buying painted fish. I've known about the process of painted/dyed/injected fish for about a year now and just last month I went to the lfs and bought Blueberry Tetra's (not knowing that they were painted). I even asked the saleswoman and she said that they weren't. That's part of what keeps the demand alive, people just don't know that fish can be injected with dye.