Color-enhancing food for a GT

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May 11, 2003
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HI,

I have a couple of questions about my Green Terror.

1) Tetra used to have a food called Doro Red that did a great job on my previous GT. I can no longer find that food to feed my current GT. His tail is orange, but not as bright as the previous GT. I believe the difference is in the food. I feed the current one Jumbo Min. Does that help with color? Is there another food that will help make the orange on his tail brighter?

Water parameters are good. He's been in that tank for a year, temp is around 78, ph is neutral, water is moderately hard however. I also feed Hikari Sinking Carnivore once in a while.

2) How difficult would it be to obtain a male five-spot jewel cichlid? I believe it is called Hemichromis Fasciatus.

I used to have a lot of knowledge in my head, but the need to make a living, pay the bills, and finish my current studies are getting in the way.

Thanks
 
Try Tetra Color Bits. My Discus love them......
tetra%20bits%20300gm.jpg
 
The Internet Aquaria Bible, The Skeptical Aquarist says,

"Color-enhancing foods will usually contain carotenoids, such as astaxanthin, which makes salmon flesh and cooked lobster shells pink. Carotenoid pigments deposited in the chromatophores in the fishes' skin help produce red, orange and yellow colors in fish. Carotenoids are a large group of fat-soluble pigments that occur naturally in connection with photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, algae and plants and are also produced by other bacteria, yeasts and molds, which use them as anti-oxidants. Animals, on the other hand, cannot synthesize carotenoids and have to pick them up in their diet. Are you old enough to remember how the captive flock of flamingoes at Florida's Hialeah racetrack lost their pink tint but got back their rosy glow when krill was added to their diet? Krill, cold-water marine shrimp, feed on single-cell algae and concentrate the carotenoids in their tissues; so krill becomes a rich source of carotenoids that is often included in "color-enhancing" feeds. Color-enhancing ingredients won't be able to enhance "structural" colors, such as blues and greens, nor will melanin normally be affected by diet."

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/feeding/flakes.shtml
 
Umm.....

New Life Spectrum, (the stuff I swear buy) will help your color..."or your money back!"

It'll be a little hard for you to find...I can ship you some if you need. You can't get it on Big Als. You can get it at Dr.'s Foster and Smith, Click here, but it would be much more expensive. From what I can tell, their prices (before shipping) are about $2-4 more per bottle.

You can also try frozen food, especially Krill.
 
Thanks for the help. My GT looks good, but not as good as the one that I had four years ago. It might also have something to do with the fact that back then, I lived in an area with soft water. Right now, I live in an area with moderately hard water.

I have access to krill, either frozen or freeze-dried.

I appreciate the offer, Rocketman. I might take you up on that. I've never heard of that particular food. How does it compare to the ones sold by Marineland, Hikari, and Tetra? I also have some Cichlid Complete from Hikari, but the pellets don't look to have any color pigments in them. I guess I can't see how a pellet can improve the red and orange colors unless there is a lot of red pigments in the pellet themselves.
 
Try the Omega One brand. At least from the types of food I have purchased, they contain both krill and salmon! All my fish love it, and all are very healthy. Omega One is the only fish food I have seen that contains no fishmeal or meal of any kind. Not that fishmeal is a bad thing, but Omega One seems to have more of the good stuff in it instead. It may be a little harder for you to find it, but I believe Petsmart carries it now. I can give you a link to order online if you need it.
 
Yes, Omega One is the only food with no fish meal.

The New Life is far above Hikari and Tetra. New Life is a Jaguar, Tetra is an Audi, and Hikari is a Lincoln.
 
Originally posted by kikuchiyo
The Internet Aquaria Bible, The Skeptical Aquarist says,
Click to expand...

WOW! You are going to make Wetman blush. ;)

Fish are just like us. You are what you eat. Plain and simple. If you buy the cheaper brands of foods no names mentioned *cough wardelys cough* cough nutrafin cough* etc... you will not have the nicest looking fish.

Some of the more premium foods when fed and varying the fishes diet will get you some very colorful cichlids.

I have and swear by the following foods.

Ocean Nutrition Cichlid Omni Flake (the best food on the market bar none)
Any cichlid pellet food by either HBH or OSI. The HBH South American cichlid color pellets are fantastic.
Zeigler Prime flake

I also have used Tetracichlid Cichlid sticks at times.

As well as the dry stuff it is also important to vary the frozen food you give the fish. Beef heart, large mysis, krill, plankton, grammodes.

If the fish is fed well with a varying diet you will no doubt be able to bring out the fishes nicest colors.
 
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