Diet and Colour

[Bilbo]

I wanted to ask a question on this quote from another thread.

the color is not as red as found on wild fish (maybe due to food it eats in the aquarium)

What would apistos eat mostly in the wild and how much difference does diet and hardness make to colouration in the home aquarium?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The enhanced red colouring comes from the carotenoids in the fishes diet, these pigments originate in the cyanobacteria, but are usually acquired from crustaceans in the fishes diet.

These are the pigments that make Flamingo's and Salmon flesh pink. A diet rich in Copepods ("Cyclops") is one route to red fins, possibly in the wild Macrobrachium sp shrimps may be a source?

You can cheat and feed your fish a food rich in caretonoids, "Cyclopeeze" is one, and ""Astaxanthin" is the carotenoid used in commercial Salmon feed etc.

In the UK I buy the "Red Astax crumb" from TA Aquaculture.

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I've just found that I've actually slightly misinformed you, the commercial source for the carotenoid pigement "Astaxanthin" is the green alga (Chlorophyta) Haematococcus pluvialis.

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Haematococcus_pluvialis

cheers Darrel

 

[Bilbo]

Interesting thank you Darrel.

We cant get the "Red Astax crumb" but I have got a pile of GP Diets and the apistos seem to really love it.

Does hardness or minerals in the water cause more vivid colours.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Does hardness or minerals in the water cause more vivid colours.

I'm not sure, hard water certainly reduces fin extension and colour in some soft-water fishes, but whether that is because they are less fit and healthy in the "wrong water", or whether this a physiological issue I don't know.

My suspicion would be that a fish like a Malawi cichlid would show a similar response to softer water than it was adapted to, but I've never kept them so I have no personal experience of this.

Diet definitely makes a difference, I feed a lot of live food as well as the "red crumb", so I can't say to what degree it is a water, general environment or a food issue but when I've bought fish they have usually noticeably coloured up after a short period in my tanks.

cheers Darrel

 

[viejo]

IMHO. Even soft water types often show brighter colors in water with a higher TDS for unknown reasons. I do know that trace amounts of iron, manganese & most likely other elements increase the color level & intensity
of the warm colors & I routinely add trace amounts to me home made diets along with astaxanthin, spirulina & marigold petals in hopefully balanced quantities to hopefully balance the expression of color.. My last brood of hemichromis 'cristatus' was actually too red (although the wholesaler that I sold them to didn't object :wink.
P.S. The hemichromis in my avatar was in hard alkaline water when photographed. Presently, they reside in soft acid conditions & the colors are muted. Probably due more to the fact that they aren't 'in heat' presently than to H2O conditions.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

with astaxanthin, spirulina & marigold petals

These are all substances that contain a lot of different pigments in them, and I can see why they might enhance colour. Calendula (Pot marigold) flowers are rich in flavonoids, and as well chlorophyll the Spirulina (a Cyanobacteria) contains phycocyanin and carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Astaxanthin is another carotenoid.

An experiment on the effect of these would be very interesting, I think it was Ad Koning who advised adding spirulina powder (and paprika?) to his cichlid "shrimp mix" as a colour enhancer and I think he did have picture of "with" and "without" ciclid fry.

cheers Darrel