Fruit salad tetra? just found out about process

[MermaidMother]

Hello...I am new...long time observer. I have a 40 gallon planted aquarium and I recently got fish for my aquarium. This included one algae eater and 3 fruit salad tetra. I picked the tetras because my daughter liked the pink color. I was not aware of the cruel practices in place that dye these tetras such bright colors. If I would have known then I would not have purchased them, but it has already happened. I was wondering if anyone knew of anything specific I should do/research in order to help alleviate any distress or side effects that harsh process had on the fish?

[FinalJenemba]

Not really, the damage has already been done. Just take care of them the best you can and keep the water clean. Most of the time they don't live long but sometimes they can work all the dye out of their system and be ok. It's really a shame that so many fish stores sell them now, even reputable stores carry them, I can't think of one store in my area that doesn't.

[Stlouisfish]

Fruit salad - what a name - surprised with it's color it wasn't named cotton candy tetra - humor aside, I can't imagine that these fish would require different care than any other fish - a cycled tank, regular water changes, variety of food, good maintenance, etc

From what I've read about others who have purchased these types of fish, their life span doesn't seem to be as long as normal colored fish but I could be wrong.

[talldutchie]

Still amazes me threads like these....

Anyway, treat them well like you would with any other fish and whenever appropriate drop a casual hint to keep other people from buying these

[Lady Hobbs]

You just have to know that not too many fish are blue, pink and purple. If in doubt, don't buy them until you've had time to do some research. They also are schooling fish and should be in groups. 6 is a bare minimum to be considered a school but larger schools work far better. With a 40 gallon, I'd be having schools of at least a dozen or more.

[moghedan]

Write your Congressman.



As for care, there are several different source fishes for the process. Treat them like their source fish. In all honesty, they usually live just as long as undyed fishes of the same source. Our bias makes us focus on the ones that die early.

If you have trouble identifying the source fish, because color obviously isn't an option and it can sometimes be difficult, post a picture and someone can help you.

Common Sources...
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...php#Artificial
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...ns/sdollar.php
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...whitetetra.php
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...ns/diamond.php

[Lady10Godiva]

To up your school to a good number you can get the "base" tetra that yours were before they were dyed. There are different tetras they dye but I would guess that yours are white skirt tetras.

[genocidex]

Post us a picture and we can help id the base tetra. Tbh ive kept dyed fish before, that was before i was a member here. They were kept in poor water conditions. 5 in a 5.5g tank. 4 died together in about 2 yrs while the last one survived a long 4 yrs before its death.... Now that i know how they are dyed i refuse to buy them. In fact i try to avoid buying from shops that even sell them. One lfs in my area actually took them off the selves because i informed him how cruel it was to stock them. If you find a lfs that would do something like that to keep his customers happy then you should support them till to cant no more.

[Float-Goat]

I've never seen any dyed fish in any LFS so i guess it's different here, how about you talldutchie any dyed fish in your area?

[talldutchie]

No, fortunately not. If I did I'd kick up a monumental stink and get the Animal Protection involved and even gutter journalism shows like "hart van Nederland". I'm glad we don't have that nonsense here, it's bad enough we have shops selling Pangasius, clown botia and common plecos.