via Nautilus Tropical Fish Wholesale, text and images by Joe Hiduke
GloFish® cory cats are here! This is a super-exciting development that has been a long time coming; we were finally able to display these fish for the first time at SuperZoo. These have actually been in development for longer than the GloFish bettas, which have been on the market for over two years now. Glofish Corydoras catsfish will be arriving in stores starting September 12th. Numbers will be very limited initially, but we are allocating some of these fish specifically for our Certified GloFish® Retailer program, which ensures that our best independent retailers are more likely to get these fish. Wider release to independent channels is expected by early 2023.
This is a great-looking fish, available in both green and orange. They fill space at the bottom of the tank, much like the GloFish® sharks, but in a smaller, more peaceful package. The price point is the same as the sharks as well, with a suggested retail price of $14.99. Their care is similar to any other green or albino cory cat, with the caveat that GloFish® cory catfish generally perform better with more frequent targeted feeding.
It’s an exciting time for GloFish®, with the long-awaited cory cats coming on the heels of the wildly successful GloFish® pristella Tetra launch in August, which in my opinion, was the most successful launch since the original GloFish red danio. The Pristella tetras are crazy bright, and school tightly, making for an amazing display. Releasing all three colors at once has been a home run. And equally important, they’re both hardy and prolific, so we haven’t had availability issues to date.
One final August release has been overlooked with the success of the pristellas and the excitement over the cory cats. Purple bettas were released in August and may be the nicest betta in the product line. The entire line of bettas has come a long way since they were first released. They have been shipping at a great size for a long time now, and many of the fish have neat contrasting red or blue in their fins. The purple is even brighter than the green and orange, and now that there are three colors available it’s even easier to justify dedicating some shelf space to properly display these. Even easier is a sorority tank with all three colors of females displayed.
Look for GloFish cories soon from your local retailer, and you can already find pristellas and all of the bettas in stores now.
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In my opinion, Glo varieties are an abomination and do nothing but encourage kids with little to no experience to buy fish they have no business caring for. This leads to an excessive number of mistreated fish and premature death. The Glo fishes are nothing but an industry cashgrab in an industry that already prioritizes profit over animal health and happiness.
To be clear, I am not some PETA-toting, tree-hugging person. I am a fish breeder with many years of experience in the hobby. However, playing with genetics that cause a fish to fluoresce under UV light (which, how does constant black light exposure affect fish health? Has a study been done on it?), or breeding fish to have compact (balloon) body forms, even longfin varieties, negatively impact fish health and quality of life. This process should be banned from the industry, citing animal abuse reasons.
It is our duty, since we have the ability to effectively play god with these animals, to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to create the most robust and healthy fish we possibly can; NOT fish that would be normally considered to have birth defects if not for the fact that some people consider it “cute”.
I’m a grown adult woman with two teenage sons, and I love glofish and treat mine with the utmost respect. I am extremely excited to add glocats to my collection! I’ve been eagerly awaiting this launch since I first heard about it. Glofish aren’t just for kids. Some of us just like colorful fish. The danios are very active and beautiful.
gosh I don’t like this trend ;( Those cories just look “sick” and strange to me.
Hi Matt, it’s Katherine Kraft from Tropic Isle Aquarium (new owner still working with the previous owner, Ellis London (78, in charge for 58 years); we have worked together for 16 years and fought hard to save this store and transform it back to greatness. We are looking to bring people with shared passions for this hobby together). I just wanted to thank you for your article keeping busy people & new business owners like myself in the know and sharing our passions of fish husbandry and education.
Ellis London, the previous owner (now 78 but still working for the love of the fish), has done a lot of genetic research (some cancer research) and has 58 years breeding, running retail and wholesale stores, and lots of experience with an impressive background in chemistry and biology. We have over 300 aquariums in our store with both freshwater and saltwater livestock and a passion for learning/teaching and evolving. If you are ever nearby, please stop by and take a peek at our new larger location and labor of love full of plants, corals, invertebrates, snails, rocks, driftwood, aquascaping and breeding tools at 686 Worcester Road, Framingham, Ma. It would be our pleasure to show you around. If you are ever looking for an article of interest, Mr. Ellis London would be a great point of interest to share for the hobby and experiences in the research/breeding/wholesale/retail and service sector from the age of 20-78 years.
Best Regards and Thank you again,
~Katherine Kraft~
Des poissons abominables ( les humains font n’importe quoi.Il ne faut surtout pas acheter , ni promouvoir ces abberations faites par les humains.)Moi,je possède des vrais poissons et aucun trafiqués génétiquement avec des couleurs de fous pour les aquariophiles qui n’en sont pas ?
What a shame! Who loves nature, who loves planet earth cannot love this abomination
Its a bloody shame to mistreat “glow” fish. And also to commercialize it in Amazon Magazine.
Real aquariumlovers try to keep fish on a natural way, this is the opposite.
People do a lot for money, this is an’example.
I love the Danios, they are so beautiful even without a blue or black light. It is like an opulent drag show mixed in with all the other fish scurrying around. The neon green cory snuggles right in with the albinos in tank. Rainbow community in one of my tanks!