pepper grains

[seagul]

hi, i'm a newbie to discus. I have 5 discus and pepper grains start to appear more and more every passing day.

What causes pepper grains and can they be removed?

[Carol_Roberts]

Pepper is little dots of pigment found only on pigeon based discus. Many things make the pepper more pronounced. To name a few . . . . Dark backgrounds, poor water quality, stress, illness, breeding and raising fry

[seagul]

so are they good or bad??
???

[Carol_Roberts]

Personally I don't not like the way it looks. I think it makes the pigeonbloods look dirty.

[seagul]

i think so too....a pic for better refrence

so they are permenant and cannot be removed? :-\

[lesley]

This was one of my first fish. When I bought him he was an irridescent white colour with a blue tinge. I put him in a tank with a huge piece of very dark driftwood and lots of plants. A dark tank. The peppering got worse and worse and never changed even when the driftwood was removed and the tank decor lightened. As this was my first tank, probably water quality could have been better too!!

[seagul]

i see...... so that means i should actually birghten up the tank heh..

i noticed too that the pepper grains would become a lot less after i switch on the aquarium light

[Willie]

You can lighten the fish by using a white and pale blue background onto the outside of the tank. A white background would work best. However, the peppering would return when you darken the background.

In Singapore, I'd expect much higher quality pigeon bloods. That sort of stuff usually gets exported to North America. :) >:(

Willie

[seagul]

realli??? i didnt get it from any farms....given to me by my neighbour who self bred them :-\

[Willie]

Pigeon bloods are great fish to practice on. They're tough and resilient. Once you're comfortable with raising discus, there'll be plenty of time to check out the stuff on the farms. Lots of pictures posted on this forum as well. Check around.

Willie

[seagul]

you bet i would ;)