I have recently upgraded to my very first large tank and, incidentally, my very first Oscar fish. I did a lot of research before I brought home a very pretty albino. After about 8 days of owning this particular fish, it seemed to me that something wasn't quite right with the fish. The pretty albino was returned and I decided to find another Oscar, but this time at a different retailer.
While looking for my new Oscar, I stumbled across what was being called a "Blueberry Oscar." Intrigued, I brought him home. He's a 1.5 inch baby with your typical Oscar personality. However, I haven't been able to find much information on this color variant. What I have found suggests that he may have been dyed or injected which absolutely angers me. Is there anybody who is familiar with Oscar coloration who can hopefully debunk the possibility of him being dyed?

post a photo can you please? Please use photo bucket. If you don't know how to use it, just type photo bucket into Google, you will have to register with the username and password, is very very easy.

to begin with welcome to the site

now to the blueberry oscar. i have seen several post regarding the blue oscar and unfortunatly all that i have read about them suggest that they are dyed that nice blue colour. i to think that it is a barbaric practice and personally never buy anything from a store that sold these poor fish unless it was my only option.

Here are some pictures of my fish. The last one I found on google because I know that mine are not very clear. Aside from the orange spots, the coloration looks very similar to my fish. Rather than orange spots, he has slight blue spots and an orangey sheen when he turns, kind of like looking at an oil spill from different angles while sunlight reflects on it.






Not my fish... but similar in appearance.
i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/TengoLor/betta/031107DSCF3640.jpg

I would say the fish is actually an albino with a little bit of strange colouration. I don't think it is vibrant enough to be actually an artificial dyed fish. the problem with dyed fish is the colour often fades off. Your fish does look a little wishy-washy so there is a chance is actually a dyed fish, but the colour is wearing off. Having said that, I haven't had a lot of experience with dyed fish so it might be an idea to get other people to give their opinion on whether your fish has just been bred like that, or if indeed it has been dyed

about a month ago i saw baby oscars labeled as "blueberry" and "raspberry" oscars. to me, they seemed to be albinos injected with dye of some sort because it just didnt look natural. they looked very simular to yours, accept they were a tad more blue. i woulda picked one of each of em with but i dont have a tank that they would have survived in >< u didnt happen to get them in nj did ya?

Its looks like it might be dyed. Dyeing fish is barbaric and cruel and usually results in shorter lives for the fish

If i was you i would return the fish and would tell the shop i will not shop there unless they agree to stop selling fish like this. Also tell them that you will tell your friends not to shop there too. While this sort of thing is legal the best way to stop these sort of fish being sold is to make stores realise that it is not going to be profitable to sell them, so dont shop in shops that sell dyed or tattooed fish

No, in Michigan. But I wouldn't have bought him if I'd known he had been dyed. It's too cruel. Is it possible to speed the process of regaining his natural color?

As far as i know there is nothing you can do but wait

I will say again that if you dont like this practice then
tell the shops that sell these fish that you will not spend
a penny or a dime in their shop if they continue to stock
these fish