Fish ID

[izzie]

I bought a tetra today and i forgot what the name of it is. Its in the shape of a strawberry or blue jay tetra but is silver and in some places almost transparent. It has a very bright neon pink back starting at the top fin and running to the tail. Can anyone help me out and tell me a name for it. Sorry for no pic and the very little description.

 

[black angel]

sounds like a dyed glass fish sometimes called fruit loop tetra

 

[rdd1952]

I agree that it's a dyed glass tetra. The stratberry and blue jay tetras probably are also. I'm assuming you are new to fish keeping. Dyed or painted fish will have very short lives and the color will fade. It is a very cruel thing that people do to them to make money. I would strongly advise against buying those in the future. As a matter of fact, personally, I won't buy anything from a LFS that carries them.

 

[izzie]

No its not a fruit loops tetra it isnt died i knew about that and asked the LFS. And apparently the strawberry fish sometimes comes natural like that i also thought it was shot up with die and then i looked on the internet and asked the guy at the LFS and he said no they come like this naturally sometimes and thats what the internet said to. Its hard to find them like that but i guess we have a local breader that breads them so he says and so i hope. But no the fish i have doesnt look like that its much more silver and it kinda has a bright green line down its stomach to.

 

[izzie]

Many of these fish are dyed by injecting them with dye using a needle and this will usually result in a decreased lifespan these fish. Some are fed dyed food to make them colorful, but this color is not permanent either. There are several different varieties, which are named according to their colors. Some of these include the Strawberry, the Blueberry and the colorful Rainbow Tetra.In addition to artificially dyed varieties there are also natural pink and blue color variations which are quite popular in captivity.

 

[rdd1952]

Trust me, the one with the neon pink back is definitely dyed. There are 3 LFS near me that sell them in neon pink, orange, yellow, blue and green. I have also never heard of a strawberry fish or a blue jay tetra. Here is a picture of painted/dyed tetras. Looks like exactly what you have described.

 

[rdd1952]

In addition to artificially dyed varieties there are also natural pink and blue color variations which are quite popular in captivity.

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I'm not sure where you found this article and it may be true but I have never seen them either in pictures or in stores near me.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Why not just take a photo? And if it has a green line on its belly too, its definately dyed.