Food Coloring for that Deep Ocean effect?

[beviking]

Is food coloring safe to add to the aquarium? No, I'm not interested in doing so, but the question came to mind while coloring eggs. I thought, "Why spend $ on lighting that is going to make the water look a certain way when a few drops of color will do?". Of course, to remove the color would be a bit more difficult than switching a switch, but for the sake of curiosity...? You could add:

blue- for the ocean effect
green- for the deep lake effect
yellow- for the public swimming area effect
orange (or purple)- for the "old timers" psychedelic effect
red- for the freshly fed live feed ripped to shreds by sharks effect (when you only have a peaceful community tank!)

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

i was wondering about that also, but i wasnt doing eggs. i think i was probably putting a walmart bad under my lights (for blue color) and i thought... maybe theres an easier way. but i didnt try it cuz its not worth my fishes lives...

[cdawson]

your filter media would probably take the colouring out pretty quickly.

[Sharyl C]

I've never done it...but my guess would be that its not good for the fish in the long run. You may not see the effects right away - but it would probably cause trouble down the road.

IMO to - food coloring blue and green water wouldn't really look like deep ocean or lake. Try turning your current tank lights off...thats closer to what it looks like :)

Now if we can find a way to make that bloody water look with out special lights and/or dye...we could make millions! lol

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

walmart bag...... not walmart bad..... .......

[Bristlenose Chuck]

Originally posted by beviking
yellow- for the public swimming area effect


LOL :D

[isaac newton]

if ur trying to grow plants isnt that bad since the plastic bag is absorbing 40 percent of the light? (estimate)

[K_S_W_I_S_S]

i only use it at night when its "nighttime".... my fish come out and do what they would usually do when the lights were off.. even my pictus cats come out....

[serjuanca888]

food coloring wont hurt fish, this topic came up in a fish magazine once, i think you would get a more natural look with a blackwater extract tho.

[beviking]

Yeah but if I want black water I'll just turn off all the light!:D ;)

[ChilDawg]

Fish are stressed out by psychedelic gravel, so wouldn't psychedelically-coloured water have the same effect?

[GEV83]

Yeah how would you like it if someone said ok no more seeing things clear you see everthing blue now. That would suck I think it would put to much stress on the fish also the carbon would filter it out so it would be pointless.

[Sharyl C]

I think the difference between something not being fatal to a fish and something having a bad effect on the animals are two very different things.

For example in the non-fish realm: red food coloring used to be used in hummingbird food - it was later proven that red food coloring actually causes sterility in these animals.

So just because the fish can survive in a tank dyed with food coloring doesn't mean that it goes uneffected

[GEV83]

Thats probably why hummingbird feeders come with the clear red plastic unlike before. Red has proven to be very affective in trying to attract HB. I always wanted to try those feeders but Ive heard (on TV) that you fill them with sugar water but wont that atract alot of ants??? Sorry went of topic dueing water just to make it look differant is a bad idea. I give it 2 thumbs down.

[tricksterpup]

If you want the blue effect I would go with the Actinic bulb. Most reef keepers use them and they also seem to work with plants to. Atleast it did not effect my plant tank, when I had to use my actinic bulbs when my other lights went down for a short period of time.
I would rather use lights instead of food coloring. IT would be like having a pig farm next door, smelling and tasting it 24/7.
jim

[blitzen25bm]

they sell water tint for ponds that are fish safe. think its only blue though.

[Cearbhaill]

Originally posted by blitzen25bm
they sell water tint for ponds that are fish safe. think its only blue though.
They sell about 10 "blues" with additionl tints in the green family available.
<husband is in the golf course business>

[ChilDawg]

Still, wouldn't that be stressful to your fish?

[Sharyl C]

GER - yeah that's why HB feeders are made with red plastic now. itf you hang the feeder froma porch awning or something else ants shouldn't be a problem. you may attract the occasional bee or wasp but they don't drink to much.


To rest of the thread -

i think the blue dye that they use in ponds and such are used mostly to keep algae and aquatic plants from growing as it blocks out certain wavelengths of light.

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by beviking
yellow- for the public swimming area effect

Gross! Didn't see that before.

Sharyl C brings up a good point--are you keeping this tank planted?

[goozy]

I have a humming bird feeder in my yard that some really big, black with yellow striped wasps took over. I can fill it three times a day and they will drain the whole thing every time. They fly away with the suger water dripping out of them! I just gave up filling it because they would swarm at me everytime I did. Now they go after all the peaches that fall off my peach tree.

[GEV83]

You should get them to attack the feeder again and buy to cans of Raid for wasp's have one in each hand and fire away youll get rid of alot of wasp but then your feeder would be no good anymore. Could always just buy another feeder. I dont know this is what I would do especially if there hitting you peach tree now.

[Sharyl C]

you should try to locate the nest and get rid of them that way. If you wait until dark - they will all be in the nest for the night and you can spray them all at once. Of course you'll probably get rid of your primary pollinators for your peach tree like that too.

[beviking]

Originally posted by GER1023
Yeah how would you like it if someone said ok no more seeing things clear you see everthing blue now. That would suck I think it would put to much stress on the fish also the carbon would filter it out so it would be pointless.

C'mon GER, you're from CA, don't you use sunglasses? How many different colors do they make sunglasses in? I don't use carbon so don't have to worry about it taking out the coloring.

"IT would be like having a pig farm next door, smelling and tasting it 24/7." It's food coloring!! It doesn't have a taste or odor, how is that the same???

[GEV83]

Actually yeah I live in CA but I hate sunglasses they hurt my eyes I see no point in wearing them also we as humans choose to change the color to see the world now whos to say a fish want to se his world like a pi$$ed in pool or a blood bath or in the ocean. The only color I would have no prob with it brown and that is obtained from Driftwood which is completely natural and harmless to fish. Dyes would eventually stress fish out to much remember humans and fish two totally differant species of animal (not calling anyone an animal just making a statement) you wouldnt compare a bird to a snake or a spider to a whale so why compare fish to a human. One thing that works for us dont work for other creatures. Like humans could eat avacados without getting sick (unless you allergic) but feed a bird a avacado and you going to have a dead bird so dont compare to totally differant creature.

[Sharyl C]

beviking - just curious how you are absolutely sure that fish can't taste or smell food coloring - how about changes in electro-chemical aspects of the water like conductivity?

To say that the only thing that changes is the color of the water is premature. Tanins are a natural pigment - that lowers pH and softens water.

[GEV83]

I know that about the ph and water softening but Im getting at it doesnt effect fish in a ad way in the sence there not going to become ill or sterile I know its bad for like africans who like hard water or other fish that like high ph. Work with me here.

[Sharyl C]

GER - sorry I re-read my post and realized the confusion. I was not making the remark against tanins, but rather trying to use them as an example of a substance that not only causes color change but chemical change as well.

I agree with you tanins are a very good thing when appropriate.

Sorry for the mix up:p

[GEV83]

Ok thanks for your clearification.

[OrionGirl]

I recall that many years back, the University of New Mexico had a pond on campus that experienced a serious algae bloom--the pond was basically a solid green marsh. They treated it with one of the dye algacides. It did get rid of the algae, but all the fish and ducks that were in the pond were also died blue. Caused a huge problem, everyone was screaming mad.

I would worry that the dye would change the color of the fish, and potential influence the slime coat which is essential for fish health. My best answer is: not in my tank!

[BK]

if you feel such a great need to make the tank looked colored to you why not just cover the outside glass with see through colored plastic. less messy and probbly wouldn't mess with the fish as bad as foodcolored water.

[goozy]

Back to the humming bird feeder. I watched these wasps fly out of my yard to who knows where carrrying this liquid with them. I think there are some wasps and bees in my yard that are extinct in some places.
My house is 120 years old and most of the former owners didn't take care of it. there are so many bee hives or different varieties I can't believe it. some day I might have to to the fumigating thing but I don't want to kill my mantises.

[beviking]

Conductivity??? What ions in food coloring are going to affect this???
How can you be absolutely sure the fish like looking through brown water (tannins)???
Tannins change the water color and chemistry but they're good? If food coloring changes the color and chemistry they're bad??:confused:

BK offers a good alternative, but if you go back to the original post, I stated I have no intention of adding food coloring to my tank. I was just curious.:p

p.s.- yes I'm aware of the "benefits" of tannins.

[Sharyl C]

BK -

I think this thread can be seen mostly as a brainstorm of ideas reguarding the food coloring issue. We are just throwing in our 2 cents on the topic.

Personally I have always preferred the natural approach to aquarium keeping and that is always highly reflected in my statements.

[rdelbalso]

Just a thought. Are fish colorblind? If they are then changing the color of the water wouldn't really affect them in a psychological sense (I'm not currently talking about the chemical sense). But maybe if they're color blind if we change the water color, then they see in color!:D How do we know that they don't want to swim in different colored water. I know I have always wanted to swim in a pool with red water, how cool would that be?

Also, talking about psychadelic confusion reminded me of my science teacher doing an experiment where he adds a few different liquids together and mixes and every 5 seconds the water changes from blue to white to red to blue. Wouldn't that give the fish some confusion.:confused: It would also be cool if you could add harmless dies that would stay in layers, so you could have the top half of the tank blue and the bottom green. It would be like having a two story tank.:p