it may even help with the peppering
peppering is basically the pb strains way of saying... "im stressed"
peppering is basically the pb strains way of saying... "im stressed"
Peppering in Discus? Darkening in Discus?
- Thread starter sushiray
- Start date
j-gens I have to disagree that peppering is them showing stress. First and foremost peppering is genetics. It's very, very hard to get PB based discus without peppering. The peppering is definitely dominant genetics. Breeders spend years crossing PB based fish with other color varieties to breed the peppering out. And I think you're apt to find much more peppering in lower quality discus than you will in better quality bred PB's because of the breeding. And you'll see more peppering as they mature their colors. A lot of times you won't see any peppering started when they are little, but as they color up, it shows up.
I have light colored gravel, ocean blue background and plants and driftwood. My red melons, which are PB based, have a tiny bit of peppering on their noses. The red melon strains have been bred and bred and bred to get nice clean melons without the peppering. Some breeders lines are better than others. I have a pair of white butterflies, definitely PB based. The male was very white when he was younger. I noticed a big change in his peppering when he started to breed with the female. Discus get dark as they approach spawning. Their mucus coats thicken in readiness to feed the fry. Whites will pepper up at that time and he did. And each subsequent time he developed more peppering. And it all stayed. Could some peppering be from them darkening due to stress? Yes, that too. But I think the other reasons are far more prominent reasons for peppering.
you are telling me stuff i already know....... i know genetics plays a big role in peppering also but im telling you that also fish will try and blend themselves into their surrounding... THIS IS what stress bars helped these fish out with in the wild, Same as peppering.
im just giving you my first hand experience on my pb based fish.. they had peppering when i bought them and i gave them a light substrate and the cleared up and now have very little peppering if any compared to what they started with.
My white pb will get some pepper from time to time when a stressful change happens but usually has none\
if you have a heavily peppered fish odds are you are not going to get rid of the peppering but you can help reduce them
you can outcross just about any feature/tendancy in animals with enough work genetics is a fun thing
im just giving you my first hand experience on my pb based fish.. they had peppering when i bought them and i gave them a light substrate and the cleared up and now have very little peppering if any compared to what they started with.
My white pb will get some pepper from time to time when a stressful change happens but usually has none\
if you have a heavily peppered fish odds are you are not going to get rid of the peppering but you can help reduce them
you can outcross just about any feature/tendancy in animals with enough work genetics is a fun thing
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well then, whatever is the case, genetics stress color of background/substrate/bare bottom, etc. then a few of my stendkers (again the pidgeon based & red marlboros) have varying degrees of peppering - one very almost full body.
the comment that they may be lower quality discus then doesn't sit well with me since I bought from very reputable dealer.
since my background is the ocean reef with a lot of dark blues all my discus in varying degrees showed darkness, even the blue diamond was a darker blue or when lights out a very light blue.
now that I have added plants, the colors are much better on all of them including my long time very dark brown discus which turns out to be more light tan with some red & blue streaks in it.
but the peppering has reduced in only 1 red pidgeon, the other still has it all over while the 2 marlboros showed no change in peppering.
they weren't peppered when I got them so I had surmised from prior feedback it was due to the dark background & barebottom tank.
the comment that they may be lower quality discus then doesn't sit well with me since I bought from very reputable dealer.
since my background is the ocean reef with a lot of dark blues all my discus in varying degrees showed darkness, even the blue diamond was a darker blue or when lights out a very light blue.
now that I have added plants, the colors are much better on all of them including my long time very dark brown discus which turns out to be more light tan with some red & blue streaks in it.
but the peppering has reduced in only 1 red pidgeon, the other still has it all over while the 2 marlboros showed no change in peppering.
they weren't peppered when I got them so I had surmised from prior feedback it was due to the dark background & barebottom tank.
