fruit tetra fish?

ok…last weekend i bought two fruit tetras(one pink and one blue)they are still alive after one week and i have them in a regular bowl with no filter thing but i recently brought my fish two my parents house and they wont get off my back about there oxegyn so heres my question………….do my fruit tetras need a filter to live or is the oxegyn in the water good enough?or…do they breathe the oxegyn in the air…..

Your parents are right. All fish need to derive oxygen from the water in which they live. Only a few types can breathe in atmospheric oxygen (from the air we breathe) and they do that only to supplement what they receive from the water.

Next, all fish need filtration in order to live their longest and best. You are quite lucky these fish are even still alive! But your luck won’t last much longer if you don’t get them in a properly outfitted tank. You may ask the shop where you bought them if you can return them while you get the tank set up and allow it to go completely through its nitrogen cycle. That cycle takes about 6-8 weeks if you lack any gravel, ornaments, filter media or other material from a tank which is already well-cycled. You aren’t ready for fish yet.

Lastly, ‘fruit’ tetras are not naturally those colors. They are white skirt tetras (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi) which have been injected with dye by companies which are just trying to make more money. This is a cruel practice and it also leaves the fish which survive (many die during the injections) much more vulnerable to infections and shortened lifespan than those tetras left to their natural coloration.

With these factors combined, I am sorry to say, your fish probably won’t live long. Please check with your shop and ask them to accept the fish back. If you are really wanting to keep tropical fish, please consult a recent well-written book on the topic of establishing a new aquarium. In the US there is one by David Boruchowitz (publisher is TFH Publications) called "The super simple guide to freshwater aquariums." It’s great!

Good luck to you and your fish.