# Don't buy these if you see them!



## TheFishGuy

Check out this thread:

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showt ... p?t=316583


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## CDMOK

Oh, God.

If for some reason we get those in at PetSmart.. I'm out. :?


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## Rift485

I only get the register page


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## Guest

You have to be logged in to see that thread. Could you copy and paste the first post here?


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## LJ

WTF!?!


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## Cook.MN

Bah, can't view it either...copy and paste anyone?


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## LJ

Well hopefully it's okay to copy this in here from the other forum...I really don't know the rules. If it's not cool just delete it.




























> these so called camel cats have been around for a few weeks already at alot of lfs and there is a previous thread on them.dunno why anybody would buy these anyways as its ridiculously deformed but apparently there is a market here for these as quite a few have been sold in lfs.some of these breeders n farms will do anything to earn more money even if it means purposely creating deformities,hybrids etc selling them to make more $.they should just stick to breeding normal natural fish and stop purposely selling and distributing things like deformed and hybrid fishes


Absolutely ridiculous!


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## dwarfpike

Not surprised though ... catfish version of the fake parrot cichlids. It was only a matter of time given how popular deformed fish are.


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## TheFishGuy

Thanks LJ...


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## Cook.MN

Thanks LJ

And honestly, I'm not surprised, I mean look how popular the Parrot Cichlid is...same exact thing.

Now days it's all about making money, morals/ethics get set aside for a minimal amount of cash.


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## LED

That is disgusting. :x


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## MetalHead06351

I wonder what catfish came together to make that pile... the head almost looks like a tsn. Its a tsn/bp hybrid :lol:


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## dwarfpike

*Cook.MN* - Well of course Parrot cichlids are popular ... they are rare and huge and a beautiful green color!!!! :thumb:

Unless you mean those fake parrot cichlids. :lol:


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## jordanroda

Gross...why would anyone buy those?
:zz:


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## Joels fish

> Gross...why would anyone buy those?


 Because people like to buy things that are different, and those are different. It's certainly not right to sell deformed fish IMO , but there is an unfortunate maket for this type of thing. I wish there was an effective way to halt these sorts of practices , but as long as folks are buying them they'll breeding them  .


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## Desi&lt;3

OMG! that mad me sick to look at!

I would NEVER buy one of those!

I might even go as fare as to creat a scene in the LFS, ya know saying (very loud) how it makes the fish sick and is just down right MEAN!


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## RickB68

That looks like something that came out of a sci-fi movie :?


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## TheFishGuy

Joels fish said:


> Gross...why would anyone buy those?
> 
> 
> 
> Because people like to buy things that are different, and those are different. It's certainly not right to sell deformed fish IMO , but there is an unfortunate maket for this type of thing. I wish there was an effective way to halt these sorts of practices , but as long as folks are buying them they'll breeding them  .
Click to expand...

This is how we stop them. Don't buy them, don't promote them, warn new hobbyists, spread the word by starting threads like this one.


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## Joels fish

> Joels fish wrote:
> Quote:
> Gross...why would anyone buy those?
> Because people like to buy things that are different, and those are different. It's certainly not right to sell deformed fish IMO , but there is an unfortunate maket for this type of thing. I wish there was an effective way to halt these sorts of practices , but as long as folks are buying them they'll breeding them .
> 
> This is how we stop them. Don't buy them, don't promote them, warn new hobbyists, spread the word by starting threads like this one.


True , you know with the worldwide membership we have here on this forum maybe we can make some impact on it .


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## Desi&lt;3

I would have to agree w/ Joel we could make a difference!


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## dwarfpike

Funny, I'm not as upset as I thought I would be ... mostly becuase we went through this before when the fake parrot "cichlid" (aka blood parrots) came out. We couldn't stop those or balloon mollies/dwarf gouramis or angel rams ... guess the youthfull rightousness has gone ...

honestly, my first thought was ... "oh great ... now blood parrot keepers have a catfish to match."

Which is sad. Cuase it's deffinately wrong ... and I deffinately won't own them nor the above mentioned fish ... but ... fish ... spirit ... crushed ... by ... chain stores ... selling ... deformed ... fish ... and ... making ... them ... popular.

Gawds I sound old.


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## CichlidAndrew

We could start by calling or emailing all our lfs and explain to them of this catfish if they have not already heard of it and explain to them our worries about it finally requesting their cooperation in stopping this hybridization and refusing to stock any of these fish. Just a thought.


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## misplacedsooner

WHAT THE **** IS THAT????


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## TheFishGuy

To me, they look like the tube of toothpaste after all the kids get done with it... I really wish they could just squeeze it from the bottom :?


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## Gibbs

That is just really sad. Poor things. And why the **** would anyone want that in an aquarium. :x


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## iceblue

They are sad looking.  Right up there with Dr. Mephesto's 4 but monkey and just as useless imo.


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## LED

I know a chick that will probably buy some of them. But, she doesn't think mutants are ruining our hobby either....a little thick in the head I think! Definitely not even a knife you would keep in the drawer she is so dull! :lol:


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## Guest

Are they born like that or made that way after they were born normal? If they were genetically engineered to be born that way, then, it's not that big of deal, but if they were made that way by bending the bone after they were born normal, then, it's pretty cruel.


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## MetalHead06351

It is a big deal if they were genetically engineered that way.


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## MalawiLover

RickB68 said:


> That looks like something that came out of a sci-fi movie :?


That was my first thought. They look like someone stuffed a bunch of ping pong balls into their body cavities. (in the whole tank shot, they actually look dead - or maybe they are just wishing they were)


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## trimac

Honestly your thoughts are noble-but it will be almost impossible to stop the sales of these fish-there will always be an ignorant newbie who is looking to buy something odd or different-and no matter what you say they won't listen-the other day a LFS had some Parrots with a dyed heart on them-I tried to explain to the customer on why not to buy the fish and how they are injected with dye-"But they are so cute I'll take three!"-some people are either ignorant or just don't care-I tried to explain to a pal of my who owns a LFS why it was a bad idea to sell Red Tail Cats every week-you think he listened-NO-the next day he ordered 3 more and they were sold within two days-as a matter of fact one of the customers who purchased it put in a 55 gallon tank and has no plans of upgrading-I have gotten to a point in my life that I just quit-nobody listens or cares-they think "it's just dumb fish, Art what do you care"


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## dwarfpike

It's not just newbies though ... look how popular blood parrots are with even some experienced keepers.


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## CDMOK

I would like to know the story behind blood parrots. How are they altered? What species are they originally?


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## dwarfpike

According to an old interview with one of the lab techs in asia (circa 1992ish) they are a test tube mix of gold severum, red devil, and either vieja bifasciatus or Vieja fenestratus ( can't remember which of the two viejas it was atm) so technically they aren't a hybrid, but a trispecific fish (I refuse to call them cichlids  )


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## MetalHead06351

the most common thought is that they are a hybrid between a midas and red devil, although I am sure that there is something else in there. Alot of them get dye injected into them to make them bright and shiny and easy to sell. The reason fish like this are no good is because it is hard enough to find a fish that does not have a little bit of another species in it, and eventually it could be almost impossible to find pure fish if things keep going the way they are.


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## sickchild

I have feelings like this towards those who keep flowerhorns as well. And the prices people pay for those mutants? You know, as long as these goof balls keep breeding all of these contourted animals (cause they do it with Dogs too) we eventually never may be able to enjoy quality fish again in the future. Seriously, imagine those cat fish in a show tank? Imagine trying to explain to someone what the **** a camel catfish is? "Uh, well it's kinda like a desert sand fish, that kinda like looks...or lives like..." BS! These "breeders" who do this for money seriously are in the fish trade for the wrong reasons. Makes me wonder sometimes if there is a higher organization funding breeding experiments of animals for possible profit...


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## xalow

Are these "camel catfish" for sure something that was man made? If so, is it done through breeding, or some other method? A person on the other forum suggested rubber bands were used (If so thats pretty awful). Either way they certainly leave something wanting in the beauty department. It should win the photocontest next April 1st.


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## F8LBITEva

eeeeew poor things


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## Narwhal72

Those catfish are atrocious but I don't think we will have to worry about seeing them in the U.S. Those fish appear to be Clarias sp. which are illegal to import into the U.S. Unfortunately that doesn't stop them from being popular in the Far East. Asian tastes in fish are somewhat different than the U.S. and are far less regulated.

Andy


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## LED

Even IF the process is genetic and isn't painful they shouldn't be creating those things. You can't tell me that they can function and perform like mother nature's normal catfish of that species.


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## JL15219

Man what kind of **** is that!!!!! Poor fish...where did you see those fish?


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## chefkevin

dwarfpike said:


> Not surprised though ... catfish version of the fake parrot cichlids. It was only a matter of time given how popular deformed fish are.


The thing that bothers me is that everyone gets all bent out of shape over the blood parrot but no one ever really raises a fuss about all the different fancy goldfish, that have far more debilitating deformities.

-Kevin


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## trimac

My beef is that in 10 years the Trimac will be non-existent due to all the Flowerhorns!


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## dwarfpike

> The thing that bothers me is that everyone gets all bent out of shape over the blood parrot but no one ever really raises a fuss about all the different fancy goldfish, that have far more debilitating deformities.


Despite the deformities, the main fuss over the fake parrots was the fact they are a test tube created mix of several differant species ... where as goldfish are always the same species.

But that being said, I've never owned anything but regular comet goldfish. 



> My beef is that in 10 years the Trimac will be non-existent due to all the Flowerhorns!


And lyonsi too ... as much as I'm morally against hybrids, if they want to keep to the more common cichlids that are found everyone in their natural range, that's okay for them ... but leave the rare cichlids alone else they will disappear!!!


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## Guest

trimac said:


> My beef is that in 10 years the Trimac will be non-existent due to all the Flowerhorns!


Doubt it. If that's the case, then it will be due to lack of demand for trimacs. If there is no demand for a certain type of fish, then why should the LFS or others should carry them?

For example, one of my LFS's has a tank full of trimacs. They are listed $4.99 each and they have been there for months. No one wants to buy them. So, if no one wants trimac I don't see why anyone would want to carry them. But I do really like the looks of flowerhorns, and I would like to keep one sometime in the future.


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