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[fluttermoth]

Apparently it’s called a “Rainbow Widdow”

They said they are perfect for a community tank with guppies. I’ve had no troubles. We did but two but they fight so bad, we put the blue one in my sons tank.

That is awful, awful advice. Widow tetras, if not kept in a suitably sized shoal, are one of the most aggressive, nippy tetras out there! I wouldn't put them with guppies at all, personally, even in a decent shoal. That's terrible advice, it really is

They also only come in two natural colour morphs; the wild black/silver and an albino form which is more or less white, with only a slightly pink sheen under the silver scales. If you see any other colour; blue, green, red or bright pink, they will have been injected with dye.

Please, please avoid buying dyed fish in the future; even though we can't tell exactly how painful it might be for the fish, it is certainly a very, very distressing process for them and many of them die during, or shortly afterwards. The dye will fade eventually.

 

[Paul65]

My son actually brought these two fish for his tank, a blue one and a pink one. After my chat with Colin on Friday I rung The shop and asked what they were called. He said they are “Rainbow willows” I don’t think they would put any die on their fish they sell, it’s a small family run place, been there for years. I don’t buy from there anymore though. We’ve had these fish form three months, we only put the pink one in my tank cos they kept fighting. The pink one has been with my guppies for about two months, first in a little 28L tank, now in a 110L tank, she has never attacted one of my guppies, I’m watching her now, she’s very Calm along side the male “nutty” guppies. She kind of just watches them, like a mother. Lol

 

[Colin_T]

The local petshops do not paint or dye the fish. It happens in Asian. the fish farms where they breed the fish pay children a few cents a day to is there and paint a stripe on the fish. The importers in your country then buy in several thousand painted widow tetras and sell them to the shops. The shops usually buy in 10 or 20 at a time. And you buy them from the shop.

So your shop did not paint or inject dye into the fish, it was done in Asia at the farm where the fish were bred.

An easy way to test if it is natural colour or added by man, is to buy a couple and photograph them when you get them home. Then photograph the same fish each week for several months. You will see the coloured line disappear over time.

They do the same thing to glass chandas and several other fishes.

 

[Paul65]

Good god, What scumbags. Things people will do for money.

The fish I got is a rainbow willow and the shop still has a few left, they all look the same colours to me. There are only pink and blue ones.

The blue one in my sons tank is very calm too, they just don’t like being together, well the blue one attacks the pink one. Hence why I have the pink one in my male guppy tank.

If I could post a video I would but even a pic I have to trim down or it won’t let me post it.

 

[Colin_T]

It's not necessarily the breeder's fault, they are simply providing a product to you and me and every Jo Customer out there. If people didn't buy the painted fish to begin with, they would not be painted. And a lot of it comes from people wanting something different for their aquarium.

I personally don't like albino fish, birds or animal and don't see any point in them because they don't have any colour and are white. There are numerous other colour variations in animals that make the animal look nothing like its original ancestor too. I like the original colours and that's just me. But other people want things that are unusual and different.

 

[Paul65]

I want my fish to be natural as nature intended, I wouldn’t want a fish that’s been painted or treated in any way, just to look good, different in my aquarium.

I’m very new to all this, three months now and I learning all the time. Thanks to forums like this and knowledgeable people like you Colin.