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Aquarium Shops Colour Feeding Fish.


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#1 chris1977

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Posted 18 September 2018 - 07:50 AM

Do you think its is OK for aquarium shops to colour feed fish to the point when a customer buys them and takes them home only to watch them fade. I've watched this happen to a friend of mine who wanted a aquarium for a long time so he brought a 6x2x2. His first choice were some dragon blood cichlids from a aquarium shop I don't want to name. After they did fade he was devastated he has females in the tank also and even through mating rituals they never came close to the colouration they were when first bought. Would you consider selling colour feed cichlids as false advertising?

#2 Westie

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Posted 18 September 2018 - 12:34 PM

I think it's ok if the shop labels the fish as colour fed and advises the consumer of this at the point of sale. I don't colour feed my fish, and probably never will. Don't see the need for it. 



#3 malawiman85

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Posted 18 September 2018 - 06:59 PM

Totally agree with Westie.
Personally I don't like the practice but just my opinion... I also think the fish look utterly ridiculous.

#4 humbug

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Posted 22 September 2018 - 04:25 PM

I've spoken out on this topic before.  Yes, unless the shop is openly advising customers that their fish are juiced (and by that I mean they have tanks clearly placarded as such) then in my opinion they are purely and simply misrepresenting the fish they are selling.  Customers have the right to expect that a fish that appears to be a coloured male in the shop's tank is in fact a male. Customers have the right to expect that the brightly coloured fish in the shop's tank, if taken home and kept in appropriate conditions, will maintain that colour.

Under consumer law its against the law for a retailer to misrepresent any item they offer for sale.  Its against the law to wind back the odometer on a car to make it more attractive to a potential customer, or to make it more valuable. So why would it be OK for a retailer to "enhance" the low-quality fish in their tanks to make them easier to sell, or to increase their value, by using products such as WC????

The only shops that I've know to placard tanks saying their fish are colour-fed haven't kept the practice up for long.  Basically its not good for sales.  Once most people understand whats going on they simply aren't interested in the fish.  The shops I've known to do this have either removed the signs relatively quickly, or have just made the decision to stop selling the "enhanced" fish.

I personally feel that the practice is quite harmful to our hobby.  One of the strongest motivators for a newbie to remain in the hobby is having success in those first early experiences of keeping fish.  But unfortunately its the newbies who are duped into buying these fish. Pretty demoralizing for the budding first-time fishkeeper to find that rather than the vibrant, colourful all-male tank they are expecting, they end up with a tank full of insipid fish, half of which are holding.

Thankfully we still have some really good shops which aren't prepared to sell "enhanced" fish, or tatooed and dyed fish.  Generally they are run by really knowledgeable, experienced guys who understand the damage that some of these practices do to our hobby.  These are the guys who are in the "game" for the long haul, not just to make a quick buck.  Most are "hobbyists" themselves who have taken their love of fish to the next level.  They understand that without a strong hobby, there is no industry.  If these practices concern you, I would encourage you to hunt out one of these shops who share your concerns, and support them.


Edited by humbug, 22 September 2018 - 04:48 PM.


#5 gangus

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Posted 24 September 2018 - 09:49 AM

I had a think about this.....

It is fine IMO if the sales staff disclosed this.  The assistant should have gone on to on selling the food that they are already consuming. 

Every time that I have bought fish the assistant always brings up food, and this should be #1 concern for sale of pets/ animals.

There is nothing stopping your mate from going to buy the food that enhances colour and having the fish he saw at the shop.

Just my 2c






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