From: grjost@uts.amdahl.com (Garrett Jost)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: 'stained glass' fish - genuine or modified fakes?
Date: 7 Oct 92 05:35:10 GMT
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

thester@nyx.cs.du.edu (Uncle Fester) writes:

>In article <1992Oct6.195657.4581@javelin.sim.es.com> tpehrson@javelin.sim
>es.com writes:
>>please help settle a dispute:
>>
>>are 'stained glass' fish -- transparent fish with a various bright color
> down
>>the back -- a bona-fide variety of fish or a fallacious novelty created 
>y
>>injecting dye?

>Pure, unadulterated fakery.  In a few months, the injected dye will fade,
>and you will be left with a fish that is as plain and uninteresting as a
>Bush campaign promise.
>I advise that anyone NOT purchase this fish in its colored form.  This
>would only serve to encourage the continued fraud.  A reputable dealer
>will inform you of the fakery.  Many will not, since they only desire a
>sale and we don't need more of their kind.

     This is not always the case:  many of these dealers don't even know.
I used to work for a aqaurium store and knew many of our local competitors.
Many of the people that work for aqaurium stores are paid little, so they
have little or no experience.  They just pick up what they know at the
store.  On top of that, most distributors will not tell you up front if
the colors are natural...you have to ask them first.
     There may be dealers that actually deceive their customers, but there
are many others that plain just don't know.

>Some may consider this practice a harmless novelty.  This is true when the
>consumer is made aware of the way in which this fish attains its color. 
>Overall, (sadly) most dealers of these fakes, make no attempt to draw any
>attention to this.  Beginners are taken in, and are parted from their
>money only to learn later when they believe their fish is 'sick' that
>there is no 'cure'.

     I always wondered how harmless it was.  It doesn't seem humane, but
I actually bought two a couple of years ago.  They were losing their
color at the store, so they were marked down.  And I actually liked them
better WITHOUT the color, so I bought them.  They are some of the oldest
fish I have!  BTW, each one STILL has some dye left it in them.

>Any product, be it fish or lug-nuts, should only be sold under totally
>truthful circumstances.  Anything less, regardless of how cheap the cost,
>is dishonest and serves only to make a buck no matter what.

     I never liked the concept of these dyed fish since the dye was never
talked about up front.  If most distributors told the dealers to tell
their customers that the fish were dyed and would go away in a couple of
months, I doubt there would be many that were sold that way.

     The most pathetic marketing I've seen with these was last year when
we got shipments of these fish: half colored black, the other half orange.
They were called "Holloween Glass Fish!"  I was suprised how many people
thought the colors were natural...

What are the chances that fish evolve into two flourescent colors that
are the same as the colors traditionally used for Holloween?  And where
do they go after October?  They're not in stores!

Garrett
A