Just saw Glo Barbs at local big box!

It is interesting to know the reason why glofish were produced......a start of research to detect polluted waterways. The trick is getting them to show the effects of the florescent genes only when the water becomes polluted.....which they are working on. Maybe someday that too will carry into the hobby, as an indicator that high ammonia levels and or other polutants are present in your system!
Knowing that the marketing of these fish may pay percentages of the environmental research that is undergoing, makes it easier to take in I guess. They could one day be the saving grace for the "natural" inhabitants and a kick start for saving entire aquatic ecosystems in a timely manner.....interesting to see how far this goes and if the goals of this experiment are reached!
 
I saw the barbs. They don't look much different than albino barbs to me. Not worth $10 a fish.
 
I saw green glo bards at lfs looked great in the tank. $7.00 I think.
 
OrionGirl said:
When the glofish were first introduced, I didn't think much of them. Manufacturing fish that glow felt bizarre, and given the variety of lovely natural fish, why spend that kind of money?

But the 5 yo loves them. So we bought some, 2 summers ago. They spent the 1st summer in a tub out back. No filter. Random water changes. Floating plants, fed when the kids asked if they could feed them. And the fish thrived. Brought them in for the winter, and they've been inside ever since, with plans under way to move them to the youngests bedroom. Those are her fish. She loves them. She gets to feed them, she looks for friends for them, she wants to know more about fish and more about aquariums and more about science (although she doesn't know that's what she's learning) as a result.

The glofish are healthy, active swimmers. Any tank with them is going to pop. Are they 'natural looking'? No. But then, neither is a tank with altum angels and albino cories. Or hillstream loaches and apistogrammas. As much as people strive to say they create a 'natural' tank, at the end of the day it's a glass box with animals and plants and objects that may or more likely do not encounter each other in the wild. If you don't think it's attractive, don't buy them. So long as the fish are healthy and able to behave normally, I don't see the problem. Breeding fish to be heart shaped or tattooing them is a far uglier practice than making them 'glow'.
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true, but many who really want a natural tank do biotopes so they have the fish/plants that would be from the same region which is pretty natural...even tho almost everyone does the amazon biotope, its still natural
 
I was getting food the other day at a big box store, and saw a glo barb. Yellow. He was all by himself in the tank, and I felt so sorry for him. So I bought him, and he's swimming with my regular tiger barbs now, looking much happier. I think he's ugly and unnatural looking and I'm confident the poor fish feels the same way. His instincts are telling him to blend in, to hide, but he can't. But maybe I'm just placing human emotion on a fish and the fish doesn't care one way or another. Either way, he appears happier now.
 
Fish have no clue what they themselves look like. Really. That's instinctive, and while they might look different to other fish, it's not like they have little hand mirrors to check out their own appearance, nor is there any evidence that they understand or recognize themselves if shown a mirror--as any male betta will gladly prove.
 
I actually had an electric green tetra at one point (the daughter wanted him). He actually schooled with my black skirts. It took a week or so, but acted just like any other black skirt. I'm not a big fan, but I don't see a problem with it, especially after reading some of the info supplied in this thread. Humans, unfortunately, do this with all types of animals. It would be the same as buying some of those crazy bred dogs.....you know, those tiny ones. People don't seem to have a problem with them!


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I personally think that if the fish is healthy and looks happy, and whatever being done does not harm its ability to survive in a fish tank, then there is nothing wrong with it. I've never seen a glowfish (weird right?) so I don't know if I would like them or not, but I would not say no to them as a concept.

Edit: having googled them... no thank you, I like my neons and rainbowfish :)
 
as for "glo Pleco's", you know those are going to be on the market :( just a matter of time.

but if i remember correctly there are already natural pleco's (from the near 500 or so different kinds of pleco's) that can change their colors much like a camelion (can't spell)
 
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