caffeine thought of the day... maximum fish coloration...

[GaryE]

Colours that come from diet work, as the sources quoted above say. They don't work in all fish, and they don't work overnight. A fish that gets colour from diet eats the same basic foods every day, and slow but steady wins for us.
It can be from specific insects, plants, algaes, etc, and we can't always get the same mix. I don't think minerals affect colouration. Tannins do, as many blackwater fish are stunning in the right tannin level, usually darker than we like.
Iron stimulates their senses, apparently, if they come from iron rich waters. If not, no. I don't see how it could be anything but just another mineral for them.

 

[GaryE]

Chelated iron. I am pretty unscientific in how I dose. A tiny amount on the point of a sharp knife dropped in a vial, capped and shaken is my measure. I add it to the filter, so no fish eats it.

 

[Magnum Man]

I should get a reading of the minerals in my well water... I'm sure there is iron, but I'd bet the bulk is calcium, as we are in pretty much a limestone area...

 

[Innesfan]

How does one pronounce araguaiae? I’m serious.

Think 'Paraguay,' drop the "p" and add an 'eye' at the end. "ara-GWAY'-eye." I defer to anyone more familiar with Portuguese than I if I got any of this wrong.

 

[MaloK]

@MaloK
Would it help to see more science to realize that the colors of fish mentioned in the above paper need specific ingredients they cannot make on their own to create those colors which they have the potential to show? I would be happy to link you to more papers if so? There are quite a few. It is not just food that matters it is the ingredients that affect pigmemtation which must be in that food and in there all the time to maintain specific coloration. Here is a quickie:

Yes, I understand that.

For example Gary specifies that spirulinae did nothing much for him with the fish he tried.

But from experience, If I feed tons of it to comets they become Stunning piece of shining metal. instead of the yellowish tint they have when you buy them.

But bringing these pigmentation enhancing ingredients in an unnatural manner.

Still makes an unnatural looking fish.

 

[Innesfan]

But from experience, If I feed tons of it to comets they become Stunning piece of shining metal. instead of the yellowish tint they have when you buy them.

Yes, goldfish are especially responsive to color enhancers such as beta carotene. Feed a white goldfish high-beta-carotene foods and the white will yellow in a matter of a few weeks. Keep doing it and the yellow will darken to orange. Stop, and the fish will slowly return to white.

 

[gwand]

The color enhancing effects of beta-carotene are more pronounced in fatter fish. Beta-carotene is preferentially absorbed by adipose tissue.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

One of the key take-aways from the articles Iposted was that in the wild fish get the pigmentation they need as part of their diet. However, in order to maintain the colors this requires regular consumption of the requisite pigments. And as the paper point out, this is not always possible as the needed pihments may not be in constant supply. This can be especially the case due to seasonality.

Once in our tanks most of what we tend to feed must contain suffiecient amounts of the needed pigments and do so regularly if we want to get the best of the natural colors for any given species. Fortunately, I spotted a number of papers which deal with this for specific species.

In theory, a quality manufacturer of foods for specific fish should know what pigmentation is required and then be able yo provide it with quality ingredients. So discus food should contain pigment needed by discus etc. The same would apply to frozen foods and even to live. What the live food consumed before the fiah eat should be what is "good" for the fish.

Using poor ingredients or trying to save money by cutting corners will produce poor qulity food which does not do the job. Over feeding pigment will likely produce abnormal coloration for a given species. Similarly feeding the wrong pigments should produce "wrong" colors.

The one thing I have learned about keeping fish and keeping them healthy as well as spawning in some case depends on a proper diet. The other part if that is often this means spending more to obtain the right foods. I know the benefits of live but I decide long ago that it was "bridge too far" for me. So, I went with quality frozen is the next best option from live. After that mamy of the foods we feed are manufactured. So our job becomes dining our homework on what to use and then to be able and willing to pay for it.

And then as mentioned in this thread, stress will cause many fish to show faded coloration. In addition, fish colors are usually in harmony with the environment. If we do not pay attention to this aspect of things we may not elicit the best colors in our fish because the ones in their environment are not what they need to feel comfortable and safe.

A certain amount of all off this must also be related to what is in the water we use. not only is this determined by the water source but it can also be altered by what we put into tanks in terms of type of substrate etc.

I gardened for many years outsdoors before I started keeping fish, And then my gardening all migrated from the earth and into the water in my tanks. I need to fertiilze my tanks more than I needed to do so in the ground. And in my high tech tanks it went beyon minimal fertilization. I had fish spawn in fertilized planted tanks and do so regularly. The also were healthy and prolific in tanks with no plants, some of which also had no substrate.

As us a lot of what is in this thread, when I am not quoting science I am then talking anecdotally about what has worked for me.



Not everyone in the hobby can do this. Smaller quantities of good foods tend to be expensive. But if one suffer from MTS and has enough fish, buying in bulk lowers the cost a lot.

edited so you buy in bulk not bulj