Blueberry Oscars?

My husband came home with what our LFS called a Blueberry Oscar Friday. It's
about an inch and a half long and such a pretty blue. After watching it for
awhile I googled on it to see what I could find out. (it stays around the top of
the tank near the air bubbles and acts like it's uncomfortable or something)
What I've found is that this is an albino oscar that has either been put in a
dye tank or injected with dye. I'm guessing that could be why it acts a little
sickly...not much of an appetite, swims like it's off balance and keeps charging
the sidewall.

Is this a common practice or is there a possibility they didn't know what they
were on about when they called it a Blueberry Oscar? (if you look closely, you
can see the same markings and spots that a lot of the albinos have, or the red
ones for that matter) It sickens us to know anyone would do this just to be able
to charge double the price for them. What I've read says they usually live
around 2-4 months with some lasting as long as 6. *If* they make it to a year,
they are no longer blue. We're thinking about taking it back to the store today
and telling them what we think of this practice and why we feel it's wrong. I
doubt it'll do any good, and they will probably sell Frankensmurf (the blueberry
oscar) to someone else.

Are there any other types of blue oscars that are naturally blue and would do
well in a fresh water tank suited for the S.American (reds, tigers, ...) Oscars?
Two of my kids favorite color is blue and they've been SO excited just watching
this one. Kinda sucks that now we have to tell them how he got his color and why
we're taking him back...will probably confuse them.

noname
--
*** It's a shame society would
rather fill their time with junk
than their souls with substance. ***

"noname" wrote in message
...
My husband came home with what our LFS called a Blueberry Oscar Friday.
It's
about an inch and a half long and such a pretty blue. After watching it
for
awhile I googled on it to see what I could find out. (it stays around the
top of
the tank near the air bubbles and acts like it's uncomfortable or
something)
What I've found is that this is an albino oscar that has either been put
in a
dye tank or injected with dye. I'm guessing that could be why it acts a
little
sickly...not much of an appetite, swims like it's off balance and keeps
charging
the sidewall.

Is this a common practice or is there a possibility they didn't know what
they
were on about when they called it a Blueberry Oscar? (if you look closely,
you
can see the same markings and spots that a lot of the albinos have, or the
red
ones for that matter) It sickens us to know anyone would do this just to
be able
to charge double the price for them. What I've read says they usually live
around 2-4 months with some lasting as long as 6. *If* they make it to a
year,
they are no longer blue. We're thinking about taking it back to the store
today
and telling them what we think of this practice and why we feel it's
wrong. I
doubt it'll do any good, and they will probably sell Frankensmurf (the
blueberry
oscar) to someone else.

Are there any other types of blue oscars that are naturally blue and would
do
well in a fresh water tank suited for the S.American (reds, tigers, ...)
Oscars?
Two of my kids favorite color is blue and they've been SO excited just
watching
this one. Kinda sucks that now we have to tell them how he got his color
and why
we're taking him back...will probably confuse them.

noname
--

It's OK to selectively breed fish for their color only, but not OK to
artificially color them? Flushing millions of undesirable babies down the
toilet, because the color isn't quite right to go to market is OK with you?
Isn't that how they eventually got red, tiger, red tiger, albino, and other
Oscars that we see now? I'm not being judgmental here, only asking your
opinion Noname. We are all forced at some point to draw the line on what is
OK, and what goes too far with fish.

--
JK Sinrod NY
Sinrod Stained Glass
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

JK:
I got the impression from "nonames" post that disposing of fry that
didn't meet color specs wouldn't be "OK" either ... perhaps she didn't
know that this was common pracice ....

NoName:
IMHO,
I think that your idea of letting the LFS know how you feel about these
practices is "spot on" the right thing to do .. however ... if you truly
have the interests of this particular little fish at heart .. why not
keep him/her .. and give it the best chance at a "normal" life as you
can ... realize though that "fish keeping" inherently .. subjects these
creatures to "unatural" conditions .. for the sake of our own enjoyment.
personally, I make myself feel better by absolutely spoiling them


jk wrote:
"noname" wrote in message
...

My husband came home with what our LFS called a Blueberry Oscar Friday.

It's

about an inch and a half long and such a pretty blue. After watching it

for

awhile I googled on it to see what I could find out. (it stays around the

top of

the tank near the air bubbles and acts like it's uncomfortable or

something)

What I've found is that this is an albino oscar that has either been put

in a

dye tank or injected with dye. I'm guessing that could be why it acts a

little

sickly...not much of an appetite, swims like it's off balance and keeps

charging

the sidewall.

Is this a common practice or is there a possibility they didn't know what

they

were on about when they called it a Blueberry Oscar? (if you look closely,

you

can see the same markings and spots that a lot of the albinos have, or the

red

ones for that matter) It sickens us to know anyone would do this just to

be able

to charge double the price for them. What I've read says they usually live
around 2-4 months with some lasting as long as 6. *If* they make it to a

year,

they are no longer blue. We're thinking about taking it back to the store

today

and telling them what we think of this practice and why we feel it's

wrong. I

doubt it'll do any good, and they will probably sell Frankensmurf (the

blueberry

oscar) to someone else.

Are there any other types of blue oscars that are naturally blue and would

do

well in a fresh water tank suited for the S.American (reds, tigers, ...)

Oscars?

Two of my kids favorite color is blue and they've been SO excited just

watching

this one. Kinda sucks that now we have to tell them how he got his color

and why

we're taking him back...will probably confuse them.

noname
--


It's OK to selectively breed fish for their color only, but not OK to
artificially color them? Flushing millions of undesirable babies down the
toilet, because the color isn't quite right to go to market is OK with you?
Isn't that how they eventually got red, tiger, red tiger, albino, and other
Oscars that we see now? I'm not being judgmental here, only asking your
opinion Noname. We are all forced at some point to draw the line on what is
OK, and what goes too far with fish.

"noname" wrote in message
...
My husband came home with what our LFS called a Blueberry Oscar Friday.
It's
about an inch and a half long and such a pretty blue. After watching it
for
awhile I googled on it to see what I could find out. (it stays around the
top of
the tank near the air bubbles and acts like it's uncomfortable or
something)
What I've found is that this is an albino oscar that has either been put
in a
dye tank or injected with dye. I'm guessing that could be why it acts a
little
sickly...not much of an appetite, swims like it's off balance and keeps
charging
the sidewall.

Is this a common practice or is there a possibility they didn't know what
they
were on about when they called it a Blueberry Oscar? (if you look closely,
you
can see the same markings and spots that a lot of the albinos have, or the
red
ones for that matter) It sickens us to know anyone would do this just to
be able
to charge double the price for them. What I've read says they usually live
around 2-4 months with some lasting as long as 6. *If* they make it to a
year,
they are no longer blue. We're thinking about taking it back to the store
today
and telling them what we think of this practice and why we feel it's
wrong. I
doubt it'll do any good, and they will probably sell Frankensmurf (the
blueberry
oscar) to someone else.

Are there any other types of blue oscars that are naturally blue and would
do
well in a fresh water tank suited for the S.American (reds, tigers, ...)
Oscars?
Two of my kids favorite color is blue and they've been SO excited just
watching
this one. Kinda sucks that now we have to tell them how he got his color
and why
we're taking him back...will probably confuse them.

As far as color goes I have never heard of a blue Oscar.

The same thing happened a few years back with the "blue Jack Dempsey."
Personally I think it is fraud. It may look blue but it is not blue. One
lie may be harder to prove than another, but a lie is still a lie.

I haven't seen the oscar, but our local LFS has albino catfish with green
and purple ends, and I heard they are injected as well, so have stayed away
from them, I can see the color fade every time I'm in the store. They were
charging double the regular price as well, and I agree it is sick. I'd tell
your kids what happened and why so they know to research on thier own before
buying the "pretty" fish. If you want blue fish, try some african cichlids,
or bettas, every color blue you can think of, and they are wonderful to
breed

It's OK to selectively breed fish for their color only, but not OK to
artificially color them? Flushing millions of undesirable babies down the
toilet, because the color isn't quite right to go to market is OK with
you?
Isn't that how they eventually got red, tiger, red tiger, albino, and
other
Oscars that we see now? I'm not being judgmental here, only asking your
opinion Noname. We are all forced at some point to draw the line on what
is
OK, and what goes too far with fish.

Eh??? Did I miss something in the post from noname? I didn't see anything
about flushing fry down the toilet or even disposing fry due to undesirable
coloration.

- J

"Pete" wrote in message ...
The same thing happened a few years back with the "blue Jack Dempsey."
Personally I think it is fraud. It may look blue but it is not blue. One
lie may be harder to prove than another, but a lie is still a lie.

Blueberry Oscar is an albino that has been injected, but the blue
Dempsey is a legit color strain. For more information on the dempsey,
get hooked up with the SACSG (South American Cichlid Study Group)
which converses at Yahoo groups. They seem to discuss it frequently,
although Jack Dempsey is Central American and not South - -

--Mark

"jk" wrote in message v.net...

It's OK to selectively breed fish for their color only, but not OK to
artificially color them? Flushing millions of undesirable babies down the
toilet, because the color isn't quite right to go to market is OK with you?
Isn't that how they eventually got red, tiger, red tiger, albino, and other
Oscars that we see now? I'm not being judgmental here, only asking your
opinion Noname. We are all forced at some point to draw the line on what is
OK, and what goes too far with fish.

You may have a point about selective breeding, if indeed "millions of
undesirable babies" get flushed. But I'm not certain they are. The Red
Oscar and the Red Tiger Oscar are the same, and were bred by Charoen
Pattabongse in the late 1960s in Thailand in what I understand to be a
small shop. It's hard to see how "millions" of Oscar babies could have
been "flushed" by this one businessman. The Tiger is the naturally
occuring color in the Amazon (both the orange and olive var.). I don't
know where the Albino came from. As far as I know, people that breed
species for color variations don't wantonly murder all the rejects.
People that I am acquainted with that breed Millions Fish and Bettas
for color for shows are not cruel at all. If millions of Oscars are
being killed for the sake of breeding specific colors, we'd like to
see the evidence.

However, dying fish for sale is a very cruel process, where dye is
injected under a layer of skin with needles. These specimens rarely
grow and live beyond a year, and lose their color within weeks. This
is a very cruel way to market live animals.

--Mark


Mark Stone tractorlegs at msn dot kom
OSCAR Lovers! http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/oscar.html
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.

Thanks Mark!

I do have to say though that I have seen injected Dempseys. Not at all a
pretty sight.