Melody
Nov 17th 2006, 10:06 PM
Color enhancing fish food is all the rage it seems. Everyone wants to see their fish sporting their best colors and brightening their tank. Your fish can have their natural colors enhanced through their food without the use of hormones or other unnatural additives. Natural color enhancers can bring impressive results. These results, as with other additives, are temporary. If you discontinue the diet high in color enhancers, the coloration will return to its 'normal' state.
I don't want to drown you in technicalities, but a basic understanding of how coloration/pigment appears in fish will assist you in making your food choices
Fish 'skin' has chromatophores, a type of cell that contains color pigments. These pigments utilize carotenoids to bring forth shades of yellow, red, brown and black. Genetics dictate where these colors are, while the diet facilitates the actual pigment. Yellow and Red shades are the two colors most effectively enhanced with color enhancing foods which utilize the chromatophores. However, protein can also work hand & hand with the chromatophores to produce brilliant blues, etc. Combine that with the possibilities opened by layering and you have a virtual rainbow of fish shades. The main chromatophores found in fish influence coloration as follows:
Xanthophores: Yellow
Erythrophores: Red
Melanophores: Black / Brown
Leucophores / Iridophores: Reflective crystals (influence how shiney your fish are)
Carotenoids are so heavily focused upon because they are most influenced by the diet. Carotenes are a group of Carotenoids, as are Xanthophylls, such as astaxanthin and lutein. Other carotenoids, such as Melanins, are effected more indirectly by food, requiring a balanced diet in order to produce pigment. Once the fish have ingested, processed and absorbed Carotenoids, they are mixed with oils (lipids) and deposited into the chromatophore cells.
Not all types of fish utilize color enhancing components in the same way. Some fish must ingest these components because they are unable to convert them within their system. Many carnivores, for example, must ingest astaxanthin as they are unable to convert other carotenoids within their system in order to complete the process of pigmentation. These capabilities are indictated by the fish's wild diet. If you are unaware of how your fish feeds in the wild or if you own a wide variety of fish (Carnivores, onminvores, etc), it is best to select a high quality food which addresses the conversion capabilities of most fish kept in captivity, and/or supplement with foods containing a variety of carotanoids yourself. The astaxanthin, for example, can be supplied by feeding Krill, a standard ingredient in commercial color enhancing foods, and microalgae.
There are hundreds of carotenoids found in plants and algae. These are often ignored by commercial foods. However, when you are dealing with creatures which require vegetation anyway, why not utilize these natural sources? Here are some examples:
Bok Choy
Kale
Winter Squash
Spirulina
Red Algae
Broccoli
Collards
Pumpkin
Dandelion Flowers
Mustard Greens
Swiss Chard
Dill Weed
Romaine Lettuce
Carrots (None of my creatures particular care for carrots)
Peas
Brussels Sprouts
Paprika
Other color enhancers include Krill, Plankton, Salmon and Brine Shrimp.
One fact rarely spoken of by companies who manufacture color enhancing foods, is that there is a limit as to how much we can influence the color of the fish. Feeding over and above this point is a total waste for the purpose of increasing color. The limits vary amongst fish, but it does indicate that a diet of color enhancing foods only is not necessary for ultimate coloration. The fish are far better served by ingesting a complete diet based on their wild feeding habits and known nutritional requirements. Color enhancing foods should not be fed at the expense of other diet requirements, so choose your food wisely. You do not have to feed the color enhancing foods exclusively to obtain results and in fact, the results can be amplified with dietary supplementation, including fresh foods.
There are many color enhancing formulas available to the hobbyist. Following are some examples of color enhancing foods that I have tried, which were accepted and well tolerated by a wide variety of fish in my tanks:
BioBlend Color Enhancing
Omega One Color
Tetra Color Bits
TetraColor Pro
Colorup Flakes (Mike Reed Enterprises)
OSI Color Flakes
Wardley Total Color
Nutrafin Color Enhancing Food
Fishalicious Flaked Krill
Emerald Entre' (Frozen Shrimp fortified with Spirulina)
I'll be trying Dainichi food soon as well and I'll let you know how that goes.
Be aware that a food bringing out a fish's color does not necessarily indicate that the fish is healthy. This can interfere with diagnosis or a visual assessment of the fish's general well-being. If you are not feeding color enhancing foods, it is much easier to assess general health at a glance. I don't feel that this is a reason to not feed the color enhancing foods, but it is something to be aware of when you judge the overall health of your fish.
These foods have also been known to tint the water. I know an experienced breeder who was perplexed at why his water appeared 'dirty' all the time. He called the water supply department, did extra changes, etc, but could not figure it out. Then it hit him - he'd started using color enhancing food recently. He cut back on it and his water was clear again.
To sum it all up, natural-sourced commercial color enhancers can benefit your fish in more ways than one, as long as you don't sacrifice a complete diet for it. Using a variety of foods for color enhancement provides other essential vitamins and minerals, which all comes together for a fish that both looks and is healthy.
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Although you are welcome to share the URL of this post, please do not copy and paste all or part of it in any other location without my permission. Thank you.
==================================
I don't want to drown you in technicalities, but a basic understanding of how coloration/pigment appears in fish will assist you in making your food choices
Fish 'skin' has chromatophores, a type of cell that contains color pigments. These pigments utilize carotenoids to bring forth shades of yellow, red, brown and black. Genetics dictate where these colors are, while the diet facilitates the actual pigment. Yellow and Red shades are the two colors most effectively enhanced with color enhancing foods which utilize the chromatophores. However, protein can also work hand & hand with the chromatophores to produce brilliant blues, etc. Combine that with the possibilities opened by layering and you have a virtual rainbow of fish shades. The main chromatophores found in fish influence coloration as follows:
Xanthophores: Yellow
Erythrophores: Red
Melanophores: Black / Brown
Leucophores / Iridophores: Reflective crystals (influence how shiney your fish are)
Carotenoids are so heavily focused upon because they are most influenced by the diet. Carotenes are a group of Carotenoids, as are Xanthophylls, such as astaxanthin and lutein. Other carotenoids, such as Melanins, are effected more indirectly by food, requiring a balanced diet in order to produce pigment. Once the fish have ingested, processed and absorbed Carotenoids, they are mixed with oils (lipids) and deposited into the chromatophore cells.
Not all types of fish utilize color enhancing components in the same way. Some fish must ingest these components because they are unable to convert them within their system. Many carnivores, for example, must ingest astaxanthin as they are unable to convert other carotenoids within their system in order to complete the process of pigmentation. These capabilities are indictated by the fish's wild diet. If you are unaware of how your fish feeds in the wild or if you own a wide variety of fish (Carnivores, onminvores, etc), it is best to select a high quality food which addresses the conversion capabilities of most fish kept in captivity, and/or supplement with foods containing a variety of carotanoids yourself. The astaxanthin, for example, can be supplied by feeding Krill, a standard ingredient in commercial color enhancing foods, and microalgae.
There are hundreds of carotenoids found in plants and algae. These are often ignored by commercial foods. However, when you are dealing with creatures which require vegetation anyway, why not utilize these natural sources? Here are some examples:
Bok Choy
Kale
Winter Squash
Spirulina
Red Algae
Broccoli
Collards
Pumpkin
Dandelion Flowers
Mustard Greens
Swiss Chard
Dill Weed
Romaine Lettuce
Carrots (None of my creatures particular care for carrots)
Peas
Brussels Sprouts
Paprika
Other color enhancers include Krill, Plankton, Salmon and Brine Shrimp.
One fact rarely spoken of by companies who manufacture color enhancing foods, is that there is a limit as to how much we can influence the color of the fish. Feeding over and above this point is a total waste for the purpose of increasing color. The limits vary amongst fish, but it does indicate that a diet of color enhancing foods only is not necessary for ultimate coloration. The fish are far better served by ingesting a complete diet based on their wild feeding habits and known nutritional requirements. Color enhancing foods should not be fed at the expense of other diet requirements, so choose your food wisely. You do not have to feed the color enhancing foods exclusively to obtain results and in fact, the results can be amplified with dietary supplementation, including fresh foods.
There are many color enhancing formulas available to the hobbyist. Following are some examples of color enhancing foods that I have tried, which were accepted and well tolerated by a wide variety of fish in my tanks:
BioBlend Color Enhancing
Omega One Color
Tetra Color Bits
TetraColor Pro
Colorup Flakes (Mike Reed Enterprises)
OSI Color Flakes
Wardley Total Color
Nutrafin Color Enhancing Food
Fishalicious Flaked Krill
Emerald Entre' (Frozen Shrimp fortified with Spirulina)
I'll be trying Dainichi food soon as well and I'll let you know how that goes.
Be aware that a food bringing out a fish's color does not necessarily indicate that the fish is healthy. This can interfere with diagnosis or a visual assessment of the fish's general well-being. If you are not feeding color enhancing foods, it is much easier to assess general health at a glance. I don't feel that this is a reason to not feed the color enhancing foods, but it is something to be aware of when you judge the overall health of your fish.
These foods have also been known to tint the water. I know an experienced breeder who was perplexed at why his water appeared 'dirty' all the time. He called the water supply department, did extra changes, etc, but could not figure it out. Then it hit him - he'd started using color enhancing food recently. He cut back on it and his water was clear again.
To sum it all up, natural-sourced commercial color enhancers can benefit your fish in more ways than one, as long as you don't sacrifice a complete diet for it. Using a variety of foods for color enhancement provides other essential vitamins and minerals, which all comes together for a fish that both looks and is healthy.
==================================
Although you are welcome to share the URL of this post, please do not copy and paste all or part of it in any other location without my permission. Thank you.
==================================