The most common way this dyeing is done is to inject
the fish with the dye at several
points.The needle used is not even a very small one.As you can expect many fish will not survive
long enough even to be sold while the ones that do get sold are much more
susceptible to diseases including the viral disease Lymphocystis.Evidence has also been found of toxic effects
of the dye on the fish’s kidneys.
Another way that has been reported as being used is to
treat the fish with a caustic solution to remove the slime coating and then put
the fish into a dye solution.
There has been a largely successful campaign in Australia and the United Kingdom to stop the sale of
these fish. Selling these fish is not in
itself illegal in either country, but arguably the sale of these fish is
illegal under common law which requires goods to be suitable for the purpose
for which they are sold.Since these
fish have been subjected to a process that will greatly reduce their average
life span, it could be argued that selling them as an aquarium fish is an
offence under common law.In addition if
these fish are sold as being natural, this would be misrepresentation.
Tattooed
Fish
Tattooed fish are slightly different.The process was apparently developed for
serious scientific research.However it
is now used by some fish dealers.The
tattooing in done with a low powered laser and is, perhaps, less harmful to the fish than injecting them with a dye.One fish that is sometimes tattooed is the
Parrot Cichlid.The Tattoos are very big
compared with the size of the fish, and must cause some disruption to the skin
Many, but not all, of the natural colours of fish come
from the foods they eat.The plant foods
eaten by fish contain Carotenes.Carotenes
are powerful antioxidants that promote health in fish as well as humans.Colour enhancing foods simply contain plenty
of this substance.β-Carotene (Beta
Carotene) is pro-vitamin A.Fish, humans
and many animals can convert this to vitamin A as they need it.
Unfortunately some people confuse colour enhancing
foods with the abhorrent practice of artificially colouring fish.
Glofish
Glofish are another type of fish sometimes confused
with artificially coloured fish.Glofish
are genetically modified fish containing a gene taken from other species.For more details of this patented fish, see
the Zebra Danio Fact Sheet.The last
part of this is about Glofish.
The Glofish is a genetically modified fish and breed in the same way as other Zebra Danios. The sale of these fish is limited to The United States of America, and they are not even available in all the states.
