There's a new fangled invention being hyped in the trade magazines lately that made me revisit one of my age old prejudices. Over the years in retail, one of the items I always refused to carry in my store was painted fish. I had formed objections to these abominations on several fronts. Upon reading how these fish were created, my knee jerk reaction was "Ouch! Those poor fish!" (yes, even aquarium store owners occasionally anthropomorphize). When looking at all of the beautiful, naturally colored fish available without undergoing unnatural human "improvement", I thought "Where is the need to do that?", and when I had a customer react with disbelief and disdain upon hearing the fish they had bought at the 'mart didn't fade because it was sick, that the artificial color stripe had just worn off, I thought "is fooling the public and making them feel like chumps really good for business?" If you're reading this magazine, you probably know the proper answer to those questions.
My canned response to folks who came in raving about painted glass fish they had seen elsewhere and salivating for exceptional colors in their aquariums was to explain the scam then point them towards cardinal tetras or, if they seemed serious enough, suggest a protein skimmer, a bag of marine salt, and a good starter saltwater book.
What dredged up this old topic and started me on a tangential rant is this tidbit of news from a few weeks back: Segrest Farms and 5-D Tropicals have introduced into the hobby, with much fanfare, a new item called the GloFish™ fluorescent fish, which is really a genetically engineered zebra danio that, according to the photos in the advertisements and on their web site (www.glofish.com), seem to glow bright red. My immediate, curmudgeonly cynical reaction was to file these creatures with painted fish and think something along the lines of "Just what we need...more phony fish". Then, I spent some more time at Glofish.com, doing some research. When I read "Each new GloFish™ fluorescent fish inherits its unique color directly from its parents, maintains the color throughout its life, and also passes the color along to its offspring," I began to reconsider.
Thinking of fancy guppies, exotic goldfish, the many strains of angelfish, swordtails, bettas etc. that selective breeding have created really underscored how much experimenting with genetics has been a major part of the hobby. After some internal debate with myself, I decided to be open about the subject. The biology and purpose behind the project was interesting - GloFish™ were specially bred as a research tool to help detect environmental pollutants, and to help further the research, a portion of the proceeds from sales of all GloFish™ fluorescent fish goes directly to the lab where these fish were created. That all seemed worthwhile, so I ventured on.
Since one of the aspects of these little guys I found intriguing was the genetic possibilities, this disclaimer posted on the website caused me some concern: "Because fluorescent fish are unique, their sale is covered by a substantial number of patents and pending patents applications. The providers of GloFish™ fluorescent fish are the only distributors that have the necessary licenses to produce and market fluorescent fish within the United States. The production of these fish by any other party, or the sale of fluorescent fish not originally distributed by the authorized providers, is strictly prohibited."
I understand the desire to protect proprietary investments and the all important buck, but do we need to really threaten that the fish police are going to bust some kid because his zebra danios spawned? I mean, ultimately, that decision really comes down to the fish, doesn't it? I conjured up visions of the fish police going around enforcing the practice of piscine infanticide, and wondered if they really expected that folks will destroy fry, especially given the premium the fish are commanding at the moment. If you're a law abiding breeder, this means you'd better stick with regular old zebra danios - they may only be worth one tenth as much, but you're free to make as many copies as you like!
Anyway, after all the hype, I was pleased to find out one of my local fish stores actually had some in stock. I wasn't interested in purchasing any because my fish have a habit of reproducing, and I'm no scofflaw, but I was interested in actually viewing some.
You know how when you go to a fast food drive thru and the menu has a picture of a perfect hamburger on the menu, with a smooth round bun, the tomato and lettuce peeking out from under it, and a nice big juicy patty centered perfectly and looking delicious, then when you get your order and unwrap your burger, it's squashed flat and looks like a distant mutant cousin of the picture at best? It's that kind of relationship the fish I saw had to the pictures in the ads and on the GloFish™ website.
Having had years of experience trying to coax some color out of rummynose tetras in my stock tanks at the store, I did understand that these fish probably had an optimum environment where they would look their best. On the other hand, zebre danios have to be one of the least temperamental species I know, so I went back to the web for more info.
"Because GloFish™ fluorescent fish absorb light and re-emit it, the fish's color will appear brighter and more vibrant as the amount of light used is increased. White gravel will further deepen the color since the reflective white color of the gravel will increase the overall amount of light in the tank."
My negative (I actually prefer "realistic") bent immediately thought that the average freshwater home aquarium, underlit with a single, less than new fluorescent lamp that only gets replaced when it actually burns out, is not going to show these fish off any better than the similar conditions where I saw them on display. And, if you are any kind of real aquarist, you know just how much fish like a bright white substrate beneath them.
All told, these new fangled fish will give some folks some fun, others some disappointment, and if they boost interest and participation in the hobby, great. But they really don't have a thing on a tankful of cardinal tetras.
Posted by Ben at March 1, 2004 11:09 PM