How Can I Enhance The Colour Of My Fish?

[Soundspeedy]

how can i make my fish have more enhanced in colour?
Thanks
Danny

 

[kelly528]

how can i make my fish have more enhanced in colour?
Thanks
Danny

1) Live food
2) Frozen food
3) High-end dry food

 

[three-fingers]

Depends what fish, but if they are healthy and thriving they should be at thier best colours anyway.

Make the conditions perfect for the exact species you have, and give a nice varied diet with frozen food and a couple of different complete pellets or flakes.

Changing the lighting can also help you see the colours better, and different backgrounds/plants can contrast different fish nicely.

 

[llamalord305]

Darker gravel and a darker background can really help to bring out the colors.

 

[drobbyb]

Darker gravel and a darker background can really help to bring out the colors.

Yup. The darker the background and substrate the better. I use black gravel and black background.

 

[howard_hopkinson]

I have had very good results using Tetra Pro Colour, it definitely seems to work. In fact it's the only flake food I use.

 

[pirate monkey]

Lots of water changes! This is by far the best way of getting the fish to colour up. My cichlids always look their best right after a water change

Other things to consider are tank mates - if fish are stressed by others their colours will be dull. If you keep fish that like to be in pairs or trios, they will always colour up better with the other sex present than if kept singly.

And I agree with the others:

Feeding a good varied diet, including colour flakes, frozen/freeze dried such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and also some cooked and shelled peas once a week.

These things won't make the fishes colour up themselves but can change the appearance of the colours:

Dark background and gravel helps to show the colours better.

three fingers mentioned lights - high (colour) temperature white lights will show up blues and whites well whereas a lower temperature light will show reds and yellows better

HTH

 

[mr130gallon]

also i have heard that fishkeepers used to feed their fish carrots before the coulor enhancing food was around, just dont let it rot, i will be trying this tonight.

 

[pirate monkey]

also i have heard that fishkeepers used to feed their fish carrots before the coulor enhancing food was around, just dont let it rot, i will be trying this tonight.

it's the carotenoid that gives the colour flake the redness.

If you do feed carrot, make sure it is blanched (blasted in boiling water for a while, just nuke it in microwave) - to make it softer for the lil fishies to nibble at. Make sure any uneaten stuff is removed after 24hrs, better after 12.

Watch out for the red poop afterwards!

Just a note - the carotenoid only helps the red, orange & yellow fish colour. If you want blues and greens to colour up, you need to feed spirulina, which is a type of algae.

 

[Gilli]

Also make sure the water temperature is correct for the fish you are keeping - unhappy fish will not colour up! Male fish will colour up better when kept with females as they like to look their best for the ladies!

 

[BigC]

Any food supplements which contain colour enhancers such as Carotene and Astaxanthin.

ATB
C