A campaign in Australia and in the UK has limited the sale of these fish. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) regards the practice as cruel and unnecessary cosmetic mutilation. Practical Fishkeeping has launched a similar campaign with a global scope and maintains a register of stores which do not stock dyed fish. For example, the British publication Practical Fishkeeping started a campaign in 1996 to ask retailers to stop selling dyed fish, which led to a significant decrease in the number sold in the United Kingdom. Some members of the aquarium trade want to ban this practice. In addition, fishes injected with dye often die without apparent external disease symptoms, presumably due to kidney disease caused by injection. The infection may have been caused by transmitting the virus from fish to fish via an infected needle, or by a reduced resistance to the infection due to stress from the injection process. Ī 1998 survey carried out in the South of England revealed that over 40% of painted glassfish showed signs of a Lymphocystis infection, compared to 10% of unpainted glassfish. Tradenames: Jellybean Cichlid Cotton Candy Cichlid. Blood parrot cichlid ( Amphiliphus citrinellus x Heros severus).Tradenames: Patriotic Suckerfish Mixed Color Suckerfish.

Suckermouth catfish ( Hypostomus plecostomus).Tradenames: Ice Blue Albino Cichlid Zebra Ice Albino Cichlid. African Rift Lake cichlids, such as Pseudotropheus.Tradenames: Blueberry Oscar Strawberry Oscar. Black tetra ( Gymnocorymbus ternetzi).Tradename: Painted glassfish Disco Fish Colored Glass Tetra Lightbulb tetra. Indian Glassy Fish ( Parambassis ranga).Other than the Indian Glassy Fish, most dyed fish are albinos. In more recent times (2004-2005), injection dyed albino Plecostomus and rift lake cichlids have also become available. Some species, such as albino Corydoras and 'painted' glassfish, are injected with dye using a hypodermic needle. Hormone administration can sometimes increase colouration, although it can also render female fish infertile. Lasersįish can also be tattooed using a low-intensity laser with a dye, a process that was developed by scientists for fisheries but is now applied to ornamental fish. One source reports that harmful dyes are sometimes used by wholesalers, however. Generally, these foods contain natural dyes, such as beta-carotene, and are not harmful to fish, although, as with other dye methods, the effect is temporary. Many varieties of 'colour-enhancing' foods for aquarium fishes are available to the consumer. These methods are reported to have a very high mortality rate. Fish may also be dipped in a caustic solution to strip their outer slime coat, then dipped in dye. Generally, fish are injected multiple times. There are a number of methods for introducing artificial colour into fish.Ī common method of creating 'painted fish' is through dye injection via syringe.