I bought a Tetra that may be dyed...OH NO!

[Yodlem]

Am I a terrible person?

I just rememberd that some fish were dyed artificially, and now i feel bad for buying it. I heard some fish change color over time b/c there are natural fish flakes out there that will change the color of the fish over time or smt like that...but does it look like it's artificial or what?:

 

[UTcolorchangn]

Yep, I'd say that's a dyed fish.

 

[rich311k]

Looks dyed to me. Sorry

 

[R&L]

YOU are not terrible. It does look like a white skirt tetra painted. Some come where the whole body is colored.

If it does ok, id keep it and not buy anymore. If you take it back and noone ever buys it, the ones left could be put down. The color will fade as the fish grows and will become the natural color as the botom of it is.

You are not terrible for buying it because you didn't know and of course wouldn't support the coloring.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yes it is a dyed fish. It is a "Blueberry" tertra.

 

[plecoperson]

R&L is right, you didn't know and wouldn't have bought the fish if you did. The store you got it from is to blame in this situation.

If you want to make up for it though, go git him 4-5 undyed friends (if your tank can support them). He'd love a school!--

 

[Yodlem]

R&L is right, you didn't know and wouldn't have bought the fish if you did. The store you got it from is to blame in this situation.

If you want to make up for it though, go git him 4-5 undyed friends (if your tank can support them). He'd love a school!--

unfortunatly i don't have anymore space. But if i did i'd love to do that.

I bought it at a walmart, and there were about 10-15 more in the tank 'strawberry' and 'blueberry' ones

 

[Alshain]

Also, fish flakes don't change the fish's color. Certain fish flakes are designed to enhance the fish's natural color. They work well on red and orange fish but can also bring out the silvery scale color of a tetra too.

 

[Elmware2000]

Yup, both blueberry and strawberry tetras are dyed unfortunately.

I made a petition for this kind of thing, because lots of people like yourself are buying these fish unaware of what has been done to them.

Please sign if you really care.

 

[Ky'smommy]

Elmware2000 i really think u should start your own thread on this as im sure many people will sign it to try and help.
its for a good cause and worth a shot.

 

[MattAquaBio]

Hey its Ky! .
Unfortunatly this little torturing animals to look prettier thing isnt important enough to companies to give up their profits. So the only way they would stop is if they actually lost their profits. Petitioning them wont make them stop because veteran fish keepers know about the problem, but the average new aquarist has no idea.
There are lfs's that dont sell these fish on moral basis, but not many. So rather than trying to get them to stop selling, you should try to make people stop buying them.
and theres the rub lol.
We cant very well stand outside of every fish store in the world and say "dont buy these fish"
So seems to me the route to take would be through the media. Editors really wouldnt care about this story alone i'd bet. But maybe as part of the reader forum they would accept it, that would get word out.
Or, if you have a store around you that takes poor care of their animals like cats and dogs, you could take it to the papers, they COULD do a story on the mistreatment and get the authorities involved. And its a possobility that they could do a story on the dying of fish as a sidebar to the mistreatment of the animals. Although this sounds farfetched its fairly feasable if done properly and with the right circumstances lol.
But basically it seems more logical to inform the public about the process rather than trying to make companies give up their profit. Just a thought.
Sorry to hijack this thread.
And no Yodlem, you didnt know. I bought fruit tetras when i first started as well.