peppering

[kelseygirl]

Would someone please explain what peppering is? I think my new discus has this, but I wasn't sure about the term. Thanks.

[JimmyL]

Peppering representing fine black dust similar to the appearance of pepper on the snout and body of a discus fish. A main characteristic of the eariler Pigeon Blood strain of discus. It's a black pigment in the body similar to the black bars on wild discus. The black pigment intensify in unfavorable water condition and espicially when caring of fries. They may disappear or lessen when expose to bright light or white background. Breeders has different color backgrounds for each type of discus. Pink is the general color background for Pigeon Blood strain.HTH
Jimmy

[Bainbridge Mike]

So, does the peppering ever go away, or does it just get less noticeable as the fish grows and the peppering is spread out over a wider surface area?

MW

[oodi]

Hi Mike,

Peppering never goes away, however, lighter backgrounds can make it less noticeable. As Jimmy said, peppering will become more prominent under stress.

Judi

:)

[Bainbridge Mike]

ok. Thanks. But I was also wondering whether the spots themselves grow along with the fish--or whether they stay the same size. If the later is true, then it would seem that the peppering would be less noticeable as the fish gets bigger. The reason for my question is that I purchased some discus 6 weeks ago, and was disappointed at how much black peppering a couple of the little discus had. The picture of the "red dragon" on the breeder's webpage (not any of our fine sponsors) did not have any peppering--so I am trying to imagine what the fish will look like when fully grown.

Thanks,

Mike

[oodi]

Mike,

The peppering develops as the fish matures... how much or how little is hard to predict, and will vary amongst fish from the same batch of fry.

Judi
:)

[Bainbridge Mike]

:( Oh well. Thanks for the explanation.

Mike

[JimmyL]

Black peppering does not grow out. It's there until the fish turn into fertilizer. We can only lessen the "ungodly sight" ....JMOHO... by blending with the light background and bright intense overhead light. They will never go away. High quality pigeon blood produced by commercial breeders have little peppering through selective breeding. Only small scale home bred PG remain heavy black dust or peppering.
Jimmy

[kelseygirl]

Thanks for all the info. I learned a lot. Janice

[alpine]

Judi, as I was explained peppering is set at birth and can be seen very early on and breeders find the very clean ones or more pepper ones by placing dark backgrounds in the tanks. I do not understand when you say peppering starts coming as the fish ages ????


roberto.

[oodi]

Roberto,

Maybe I should have explained it differently... the fish will have whatever peppering it is going to have by the time it reaches adulthood. I don't know what you mean by "early on", but the peppering can usually be seen by the time they are a few months old.

Judi
:)

[Terrybo]

It is interesting to note that only 10 years ago, pepper was considered very desirable on a pigeon blood discus. My guess is that pepper is rather dominant, so breeders started striving for fish free of pepper so that they could have something different. (Different usually means more expensive in the discus world). These days, fish without pepper are considered more desirable by most discus "experts". I think dark black fins and a uniform dusting of dark black on a red or orange discus is rather elegant, but it just depends on your individual taste.

Terry