Seeing this really upset me....

[OddBallKeeper]

Its So Cruel

 

[mofisher]

thats sickening

 

[GolemGolem]

If I were to boycott all LFS's in my area that sold painted and tatterd (Tattooed) fish as well as follow the MFK law to boycott all chain pet stores due to poor conditions and unknowledgable employees, I honestly ask: should those of us like you and myself who do NOT have these LFS's in our area with ultra-moral ownership that refuses to carry this garbage be totally shut off from the hobby, even though we DO NOT support the practice of fish inking? *snip*

I think we're supposed to mail order wild fish...which involves other ugly things like travel stress, (possible) poaching, aqua-bid, and 100$ shipping fees...
Though at the end of the day, I just try not to buy anything for my hobby which makes me course with liberal guilt.

 

[TheRussian]

its painless

 

[skillzizzo]

Totally disgusting in my opinion



steve

agreed

 

[philfreenode]

its painless

No, it's NOT painless. A needle is stuck in them. sometimes they are dipped in something to remove their slime coat and then dunked in the paint.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/paintedfish.htm

 

[GolemGolem]

Even if they sedate the fish before hand, when they come to they have to heal. Healing wounds tends to be painful (I believe fish feel pain, this is why they try to get away when another fish is eating them). There is a high mortality rate, and many secondary infections.
I can get over this, after all I eat many animals and enjoy doing so.
I have never seen a tattooed fish that doesn't look like random jabs with a pencil though. The worst homemade Slayer tattoos tend to have cleaner lines, which leads me to doubt the sedation. It just looks bad, maybe they could use some Sailor Jerry flash art or something and make it last more than a month, and I wouldn't hate it quite so much.

 

[Dr_Shakalu]

What I want to know is if anyone has had or seen one that has lived for a couple of years. Do the tattoos stay in or do they disappear? Also, did they grow at the same size or shape as the same type of fish that hadn't been tattooed? The Doctor

 

[GolemGolem]

They go away after a month or three. Usually there is a little scarring, but if the fish lives that long (lots of post surgical infections) it is otherwise a normal fish.