Glowfish - What are they/how do they get the colour ? Are they only in USA

[Sgooosh]

albino = leucistic

what do you mean by this?

 

[DoubleDutch]

what do you mean by this?

The fish in question are White skirts, which aren't albinos (red eyes) but a leucistic type (black eyes)
That counts for the tetras !

 

[Boundava]

albino = leucistic

No. Albinoism and being leucistic are two different things.

The first is missing the pigment melanin. Resulting in pale coloration and pink/red eyes.

The second is missing all pigmentation resulting in lighter and patchy areas of white and have dark eyes.

 

[DoubleDutch]

No. Albinoism and being leucistic are two different things.

The first is missing the pigment melanin. Resulting in pale coloration and pink/red eyes.

The second is missing all pigmentation resulting in lighter and patchy areas of white and have dark eyes.

I meand that the mentioned albinistic fish actually are leucistic fish.

White skirts are leucistic fish

 

[birdpond]

I would add to the above that I really dislike the whole concept of Glofish. It bothers me to the extent that I will not buy anything from any store that sells them. I feel the same way about those tanks busters they sell as babies which 99% of keepers should never own.

Stores sell them because it is profitable. Kids find them interesting and it is hard to resist a 7 year old pleading for mommy or daddy to get them.

Hopefully, as the ones who genetically engineered these fish claim, they are sterile and cannot reproduce. So maybe this means when some people dump them into to the wild, something nobody should ever do, they won't reproduce there.

My attitude on this stuff is mine. You will have to decided for yourself if these fish are something you want to keep or your want to avoid.

I share your view completely. I am 62, my first job ever was in a ma and pa aquarium store, and I loved it. Much of what I see today makes me feel ill.

 

[kribensis12]

I'll be one of the voices of the opposition, but I'm not opposed to Glo-fish. I don't own any, but I'm not opposed to them.

I would be opposed to them if:
1. There was a tangible harm being done to the fish (ie dye injection, tattoos etc.) or a known lifespan change due to their biology.
2. There was a serious ecological threat by their creation. It is my belief that if they found their way into an environment where they could reproduce and thrive, their unique color makes them an easy target for predators (think the color of fishing bait!).

Since neither of these terms of opposition are met, I don't mind their existence.

I did see here that at least one person mentioned that Glo-fish can't reproduce. I can confirm that this is incorrect. I know someone who "may or may not" breed Glofish for fun. I can neither confirm or deny that they do, as there is a patent and that would be illegal.....

 

[GaryE]

I wouldn't own them.
But I'm not sweet on long-finned mutants, fancy guppies, flowerhorns and a host of other modified fish. If you like them, go for it.

I would like to see common plecos and other fish that outgrow tanks out of the mainstream hobby. Keeping them gets cruel. But if they were 'special orders' instead of easy, convenient mistakes for newbies, go for it. In large tanks, they work out.

I'd like to see intentionally deformed fish banned. They do feel pain if they have twisted spines, etc. Their nervous system is complex. Cruelty breeding is a real issue.

But there is no cruelty in glofish. The gene splicing doesn't hurt them. It hurts my eyes, but my eyes are sensitive. I have seen the beauty of wild fish. I fear that if glo species and fancy mutants take over the market even more than now, you might not ever get to see fish as they come from nature. My best LFS has about 75% "fancy" linebred, human modified fish now, and they are fish designed for sales. It would be a loss, in my opinion, if it became 100%.