Thanks, I knew they didn't look natural. Some were pink and blue and like
weird pastel colors. I guess I won't be getting any of those. Thanks for
the link also. I have some neon tetras, are those natural colored. They
are an ugly grey color first thing in the morning is why I'm asking.



"Billy" wrote in message
...
They are artificially colored, using colored acid dye-baths or needle
injection. The process is horrible for the fish, a many die. The rest
are sold. The fish, in thier weakened state, are further weakened by
netting, transport, and different water parameters. More pass on. The
ones that make it home usually will not live more than a few months,
the ones that do, lose the artificial color anyway as the normal
process of tissue regenration replaces the colors body cells.
You may get the idea I feel strongly about this, and I do. I no
longer spend my money at shops that sell these poor creatures, and I
tell the manager or owner my feelings. IMO, any pet store owner worth
his salt would refuse to buy\sell them.

Read:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...?article_id=72

A good quote from the article:
"If one considers the relative bore size of the injection needle with
that of a glassfish, it would be the equivalent of us receiving
several jabs using a needle of pencil-sized diameter..."

further reading:
http://honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/painted.phtml
http://www.loaches.com/dye.html



"Sarah Navarro" wrote in message
link.net...
| HI all,
|
| I went to the LFS yesterday and they had some fish I had not seen
before.
| They were called painted skirts. They were very pretty, but looked
kind of
| fake in a way. Does anyone know anything about these? I ended up
getting
| 11 new fishies yesterday. Those dwarf gouramies are beautiful
(that is
| when they come out from behind the filter tubes so that I can
admire them).
| Well, anyway, any info on these painted skirts would be much
appreciated.
| They look kind of like toy fish to me.
|
| Sarah
|
|