What type of fish is this?

[Skeptical_Mutt]

Hello! My husband and I are new to the fiahkeeping hobby. We have a 35 gallon tank set up right now and we just bought 6 of the most colorful little fish! Only problem is, there wasn't a sign on the tank and the guy at the store said they were glowing tetras, but they don't look like the pictures online of glowlight tetras.

 

[Colin_T]

Painted glass fish. They eventually lose the colour because it is painted on them by kids in Asia. It's preferable not to buy these fish, however, it's too late now.

Keep them in water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. You can add a bit of salt (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres) if you don't have Corydoras or tetras in the tank.

They prefer frozen (but defrosted) or live foods but most will pick at dry foods.

 

[Skeptical_Mutt]

Oh no, that's awful. I wish I had known that before we bought them. I think ours are injected, which is somehow way worse than being painted on. We'll, lesson learned. Thanks for the reply

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh no, that's awful. I wish I had known that before we bought them. I think ours are injected, which is somehow way worse than being painted on. We'll, lesson learned. Thanks for the reply

It's sad that this happens, but you didn't know when you bought them. The only thing now is to give them the best life possible, to make up for what they've been through

Welcome to the hobby! We're not all monsters out there painting or injecting fish, the majority of fishkeepers hate this kind of thing. Hope you stick around and share your journey in the hobby! Lots of friendly helpful people here

 

[Skeptical_Mutt]

Thanks for the welcome! And yeah, we'll do the best we can by them. I'm kind of shocked that our local fish store had these on sale, to be honest. It wasn't a big box store either.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thanks for the welcome! And yeah, we'll do the best we can by them. I'm kind of shocked that our local fish store had these on sale, to be honest. It wasn't a big box store either.

I'd have been shocked too, never seen anything like that here. Think it might be illegal to sell them here in the UK, I know glofish are banned anyway.

Might be worth looking and seeing if there are any other mom and pop fish stores near you, and choosing them instead. But I know that it varies a lot by area how much choice you have in that regard. If this is the only store, maybe after a while once you've got to know them a bit, can mention that you weren't happy about being sold these fish and not being informed on what they are, and that they were trading in these fish. It might make them reconsider ordering them in again in the future.

Delicate topic though, I know! Easy to say "Call them up and yell at them, then never shop there again!" but if they're your only local fish store, or the closest one and you might need to get something from them in an emergency, not always a good idea to burn bridges! So you'll know best how you want to handle it.

A 35 gallon is a nice sized tank to start off with! You already avoided the most common beginner mistake of buying a really small tank, thinking a small one is a good beginner tank, only to struggle with water quality. You can do a lot with a 35 gallon, while it's also not overwhelmingly large and hard to maintain. What other fish have you got? Any pics? We love tank pics!

 

[Skeptical_Mutt]

I'd have been shocked too, never seen anything like that here. Think it might be illegal to sell them here in the UK, I know glofish are banned anyway.

Might be worth looking and seeing if there are any other mom and pop fish stores near you, and choosing them instead. But I know that it varies a lot by area how much choice you have in that regard. If this is the only store, maybe after a while once you've got to know them a bit, can mention that you weren't happy about being sold these fish and not being informed on what they are, and that they were trading in these fish. It might make them reconsider ordering them in again in the future.

Delicate topic though, I know! Easy to say "Call them up and yell at them, then never shop there again!" but if they're your only local fish store, or the closest one and you might need to get something from them in an emergency, not always a good idea to burn bridges! So you'll know best how you want to handle it.

A 35 gallon is a nice sized tank to start off with! You already avoided the most common beginner mistake of buying a really small tank, thinking a small one is a good beginner tank, only to struggle with water quality. You can do a lot with a 35 gallon, while it's also not overwhelmingly large and hard to maintain. What other fish have you got? Any pics? We love tank pics!

Sadly this is the only non big box store one. I think I'll avoid them in the future though. I'm actually kind of mad now that I wasn't warned or given more information. Oh well, nothing to be done now.

We actually did buy a 10 gallon first and had a ton of issues with it, lost a couple of platys and green cories in different stages. So now we have one green cory left, one platy left, and the six painted. Will take a picture tomorrow!

 

[Neleono]

Sadly this is the only non big box store one. I think I'll avoid them in the future though. I'm actually kind of mad now that I wasn't warned or given more information. Oh well, nothing to be done now.

We actually did buy a 10 gallon first and had a ton of issues with it, lost a couple of platys and green cories in different stages. So now we have one green cory left, one platy left, and the six painted. Will take a picture tomorrow!

Sorry you had trouble with your local fish store. Those stores can either be super good or not so great, and they are uncommon so you are kind of stuck with what you have. I don't have a local fish store near me, there's one an hour away but its mostly salt water aquariums, but the local PetSmart has been quite good (Of course not perfect but you can't expect much from that kind of store). However, it sounds like those fish are in good hands. I'm exited for pictures! Welcome again, and have a great weekend!

-Nele

 

[UnknownFishies]

Painted glass fish. They eventually lose the colour because it is painted on them by kids in Asia. It's preferable not to buy these fish, however, it's too late now.

Keep them in water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. You can add a bit of salt (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres) if you don't have Corydoras or tetras in the tank.

They prefer frozen (but defrosted) or live foods but most will pick at dry foods.

that’s messed up that they do that

I'd have been shocked too, never seen anything like that here. Think it might be illegal to sell them here in the UK, I know glofish are banned anyway.

Might be worth looking and seeing if there are any other mom and pop fish stores near you, and choosing them instead. But I know that it varies a lot by area how much choice you have in that regard. If this is the only store, maybe after a while once you've got to know them a bit, can mention that you weren't happy about being sold these fish and not being informed on what they are, and that they were trading in these fish. It might make them reconsider ordering them in again in the future.

Delicate topic though, I know! Easy to say "Call them up and yell at them, then never shop there again!" but if they're your only local fish store, or the closest one and you might need to get something from them in an emergency, not always a good idea to burn bridges! So you'll know best how you want to handle it.

A 35 gallon is a nice sized tank to start off with! You already avoided the most common beginner mistake of buying a really small tank, thinking a small one is a good beginner tank, only to struggle with water quality. You can do a lot with a 35 gallon, while it's also not overwhelmingly large and hard to maintain. What other fish have you got? Any pics? We love tank pics!

are glofish really illegal in the UK? i always thought they weren’t dyed and were genetically modified. still a little inhumane but didn’t know they were illegal.

 

[Colin_T]

They have been making painted glass fish since the late 1980s and it still gets done today. Nobody in the government cares, if they did, they would have outlawed it last century.

Glofish on the other hand, have a jellyfish gene added to the developing embryo. Once the fish has the glofish gene, they pass it on to their offspring, which are produced naturally like any other baby fish.

Personally, I think the Glofish are much more humane than taking a fish out of water, drying it, applying oil based paints to its body, leaving it out of water for a minute and then putting it into a container of water.

 

[Skeptical_Mutt]

They have been making painted glass fish since the late 1980s and it still gets done today. Nobody in the government cares, if they did, they would have outlawed it last century.

Glofish on the other hand, have a jellyfish gene added to the developing embryo. Once the fish has the glofish gene, they pass it on to their offspring, which are produced naturally like any other baby fish.

Personally, I think the Glofish are much more humane than taking a fish out of water, drying it, applying oil based paints to its body, leaving it out of water for a minute and then putting it into a container of water.

I've read a lot of articles saying that the painted glass fish are now injected with dyes instead of painted on. I don't know which one is worse, they both sound awful to the poor fish

 

[Essjay]

@Skeptical_Mutt These are the fish you have, there care is the same for dyed and non-dyed fish.

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/parambassis-ranga/

are glofish really illegal in the UK?

Yes, and in the EU. No GM organisms are allowed unless specifically approved on a case by case basis, and I doubt that the powers that be would consider GM glofish to meet the requirements for approval.
Dying fish is against the law in the UK, but the import of fish dyed elsewhere is not banned.

 

[UnknownFishies]

@Skeptical_Mutt These are the fish you have, there care is the same for dyed and non-dyed fish.

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/parambassis-ranga/

Yes, and in the EU. No GM organisms are allowed unless specifically approved on a case by case basis, and I doubt that the powers that be would consider GM glofish to meet the requirements for approval.
Dying fish is against the law in the UK, but the import of fish dyed elsewhere is not banned.

ok that makes more sense

 

[PheonixKingZ]

That’s just sad.

It is a pretty fish... but at what cost?