Fish suggestions

[madi.ayala10]

So, my sister wants to start a tank. She loves the color light pink and wants to scape it using live plants and rose quartz. She wants the fish to match the theme too. She wants rosy loaches, a strain of skirt tetra called blushing long fin white skirt tetra, and a centerpiece fish. She wants a light pink or white betta with big fins, like a half moon maybe. The thing is, this is a taller tank, it’s a 36 gal bow front. I also warned her that they can be aggressive sometimes so she should get a female if she wants one, but she should steer away from bettas in a community tank since this is her first tank. Any “coquette” fish other than bettas that would be a good fit? It has to be either white or pale pink, pink preferred.

 

[fishkeeper123]

So, my sister wants to start a tank. She loves the color light pink and wants to scape it using live plants and rose quartz. She wants the fish to match the theme too. She wants rosy loaches, a strain of skirt tetra called blushing long fin white skirt tetra, and a centerpiece fish. She wants a light pink or white betta with big fins, like a half moon maybe. The thing is, this is a taller tank, it’s a 36 gal bow front. I also warned her that they can be aggressive sometimes so she should get a female if she wants one, but she should steer away from bettas in a community tank since this is her first tank. Any “coquette” fish other than bettas that would be a good fit? It has to be either white or pale pink, pink preferred.

For a centrepiece, I think a single platinum angelfish would be nice. I also like the idea of rosy loaches as they look like nice little bottom dwellers. Skirt tetras are known fin nippers and I would never in a million years buy the “blushing” long finned ones. I don’t know all the science into it but if they are dyed to make the colour please please don’t get them. If it’s a naturalish white colour that’s fine but fluorescent pink fish are awful as they have Been injected with die. I also believe skirt tetras can be fin nippers but I’ll tag @Andy Sager as he should be able to give better angel tank mates. If that’s the route you want to go.

 

[madi.ayala10]

For a centrepiece, I think a single platinum angelfish would be nice. I also like the idea of rosy loaches as they look like nice little bottom dwellers. Skirt tetras are known fin nippers and I would never in a million years buy the “blushing” long finned ones. I don’t know all the science into it but if they are dyed to make the colour please please don’t get them. If it’s a naturalish white colour that’s fine but fluorescent pink fish are awful as they have Been injected with die. I also believe skirt tetras can be fin nippers but I’ll tag @Andy Sager as he should be able to give better angel tank mates. If that’s the route you want to go.

The blushing skirt tetras have translucent gills, giving their cheek area a pinkish hue, no artificial color haha, we both hate glo fish. But yeah, I was worried about the fin nipping. Thanks for the suggestion about the angel fish, I will see what she thinks

 

[BBradbury]

Hello. Just a couple of concerns. It's best to use a material that's made for an aquarium. Quartz should be boiled and allowed to cool before it goes into the tank water. It can contain traces of copper. Copper is generally alright for fish, but can be toxic to other things living in the tank like snails and shrimp. This type of rock is very sharp and can damage glass and acrylic tanks.

B

 

[Andy Sager]

The blushing skirt tetras have translucent gills, giving their cheek area a pinkish hue, no artificial color haha, we both hate glo fish. But yeah, I was worried about the fin nipping. Thanks for the suggestion about the angel fish, I will see what she thinks

I would skip the " centerpiece " fish and go with a school of fish as the centerpiece. those skirt tetras do not mix well with Angelfish so it should one OR the other, not both together. Same with any fish with flowing fins. You/she may want to go with the pink colored zebra danios, the plain skirt tetras in White or the Rosey Tetra which have a light pink coloration over most of the fish. Pink is not the most common color for fish so she's going to be very limited if she sticks with that plan.

 

[Andy Sager]

. I don’t know all the science into it but if they are dyed to make the colour please please don’t get them. If it’s a naturalish white colour that’s fine but fluorescent pink fish are awful as they have Been injected with die.

Glo fish, any of them, are not dyed. They are genetically modified in a lab with either jellyfish or coral DNA that glows. Technically, they are a natural fish so no harm comes to them from this modification. The bad news is that the Glo fish lines seem prone to shorter lives and physical ailments ( i.e. tumors, disfiguration, etc). You will just never find these fish in the wild unless they were released ( on purpose or accidentally) which is illegal almost everywhere.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello again. An interesting thing about Glo fish. They're really quite hardy provided they get good care. I've attached a photo of a Glo fish tank I set up for a local business. They've had their Glo fish for coming up on three years. They have three Rainbow sharks and a Pleco named "Spot" too. As I've mentioned before, the key to keeping fish alive and healthy depends on your commitment to their water quality. We remove and replace most of the tank water weekly, so the toxic nitrogen from the dissolving fish waste material is never allowed to reach a level that would harm the fish. The fish have a strong immune system, because that system is never weakened by toxins in their water.

B

 

[Roxi25]

Glo fish, any of them, are not dyed. They are genetically modified in a lab with either jellyfish or coral DNA that glows. Technically, they are a natural fish so no harm comes to them from this modification. The bad news is that the Glo fish lines seem prone to shorter lives and physical ailments ( i.e. tumors, disfiguration, etc). You will just never find these fish in the wild unless they were released ( on purpose or accidentally) which is illegal almost everywhere.

When I first saw these glo-fish in a big box store I went home and googled them. An article I found said initially they were injected with dye. Once they could mess with DNA they did that instead.

 

[Aiken Drum]

While dye injected fish predate GloFish, GloFish has never injected dye into their fish.

Glofish where originally developed as means of tracking water pollution. Jellyfish DNA was integrated into zebra danios which caused them to fluoresce in the presence of toxins. The company GloFish was then set up to take this technology and introduce it to the pet trade expanding beyond the original zebra danio species.

For info, as GloFish are GM fish, in most of the western world they are illegal to import, breed, keep etc without a licence, which would only be granted for scientific purposes. OPs bio says they are from Australia, so they would be covered by this ban. Potentially here in the UK you could face a custodial sentence, although a fine would be more likely.

Dye injected, or painted fish are still around, and at least in the UK isn't illegal. Practical Fishkeeper magazine did campaign to get aquarium stores to stop selling them, which was mostly successful, but DEFRA has no plans to make the practice illegal here, despite the obvious animal welfare issues.

 

[Roxi25]

For info, as GloFish are GM fish, in most of the western world they are illegal to import, breed, keep etc without a licence, which would only be granted for scientific purposes.

Dye injected, or painted fish are still around, and at least in the UK isn't illegal. Practical Fishkeeper magazine did campaign to get aquarium stores to stop selling them, which was mostly successful, but DEFRA has no plans to make the practice illegal here, despite the obvious animal welfare issues.

Well here in the US, both Petsmart and Petco are selling them as "Glofish." They don't define if they are dyed or GM. Personally I am totally turned off by the idea. Quit mucking with nature.

 

[Aiken Drum]

GloFish is a trademarked product. They are genetically modified fish, not dyed or painted.

Home | GloFish®

www.glofish.com

Im not making a judgement on whether you like or dislike their product. Im just informing you what they are. If fish are sold as GloFish they are GM. If they aren't sold as GloFish they are painted or dyed as GloFish hold the patent on fluorescent GM fish for the aquatics trade and nobody else can make, breed or sell them.

 

[Roxi25]

Im not making a judgement on whether you like or dislike their product. Im just informing you what they are.

Yea. I know what you are saying.

 

[Andy Sager]

Well here in the US, both Petsmart and Petco are selling them as "Glofish." They don't define if they are dyed or GM. Personally I am totally turned off by the idea. Quit mucking with nature.

As Aiken said, the dyed and painted fish pre-date the Glo-fish. If the article you read said that glofish were painted, they are very, very wrong. I went through the whole painted , died and even tattooed fish in the pet stores I worked in before glofish were on the market. It started with painted glassfish for us as well as most countries. It then expanded to Albino Rainbow Sharks, then Tinfoil Barbs and Kissing Gouramis and on and on. The paint never lasted and people were POed that they spent extra money for fish that didn't hold their color. The good news ( if you can call it that ) about glofish is that they do hold their color.
Like you and many others, I'm not a fan of the whole line.