peppering of yellow discus

[yellowdiscus]

Hello all,
I am fairy new to discus. I did raise a few PB and turquois before but that was 10+ years ago. Anyhow, I got 2 yellow diamond and 2 millenium yellow discus a month ago and now they have peppering all over. :confused: Is there anything I can do on my part to somehow clean them up a bit? I am doing a 80%-90% water change every 3 days. They are about 2.5 - 3 in and I feed them mostly frozen bloodworm.

YellowDiscus

[Eddie]

yellow,
Alot of people say that using a light backround on your tank can eliminate some peppering. HTH

Eddie

[shalu]

Did you happen to have bought them from SunriseTropicals? The trick that Tony and many other discus hobbiests use is to make the bottom and sides light colored. The peppering will lessen, even disappear in that environment.

[KIWI13]

White background, light for good 13 hrs a day, Bare bottom tank and peppering will diminish. i have done this with PB's and it worked.

HTH

jason

[Kindredspirit]

Okay...if i dont have enuff to worry about!! What is Peppering??

[crimson cross]

Try lowering your hardness with ro water..sometimes this will help.

[DarkDiscus]

Peppering is the black speckly stuff that appears on the sides of a pigeon blood discus. It's kind of the pigeon blood equivalent of stress bars on other strains.

The best PB discus have little or no peppering under good conditions with a light background as discussed above.

John

[yellowdiscus]

Yes, I bought these from Sunrise Tropical. I've changed the background to a really light color and my gravel is white now as well. I tried leaving the light on all day for the past week but it was little help. Also, I tried half RO water and half tap water as well but still nothing change much. I guess I just have to let it be. :(

Yellow

[Greg Richardson]

You made the right moves. Now just give it some more time.

[CliffsDiscus]

Only time will tell but I think those Discus went to the Wash before
shipping.

Cliff

[yellowdiscus]

Only time will tell but I think those Discus went to the Wash before
shipping.

Cliff
Cliff, what is the "wash"?
I didn't know how difficult it was to keep yellow discus yellow.

[CliffsDiscus]

Yellow Discus,
The Wash is a term use for a solution or chemical to take out the black peppering. If you Discus has been wash, the black peppering will return
back after a month or two, this is the true coloring, plus sometimes
the yellow will fade to a light orange/yellow.

Cliff

[KIWI13]

I have also heard of some commercial breeders keepin PB's under 24 hour lighting to keep the peppering off and that way they sell clean fish. Only thing is the peppering returns later when kept under normal conditions...

BTW white gravel is not a good option when it comes to algae.

Jason

[Kindredspirit]

Thanks John!! So, i gather 'peppering' is not a good thing?? Would you buy from that same source again?? John, you seem to be quite knowledgeable, could you tell me where i could find the medicine called Hex? I am just getting things on hand as i am new to this and i cannot find that any where! The real name is Metronidazole, or Metrozol, but of course i am sure you knew that! Thank you!! Marie!

[Willie]

Every LFS will carry Hexamita medication. You can also buy large quantities (100 capsules) online.

Willie

[cobaltblue]

Can someone pls advise if peppering is in fact harmful to the fish. I have 4
pg discus all that have peppering, and always have had it. I just assumed it
was part of their natural colouring???

[kaceyo]

Don't worry. Peppering is not harmful, it's just undesirable because of the way it looks. It is thought to be the the same as the virticle black bars in non-pigeonblood's.

Kacey

[yellowdiscus]

Thanks John!! So, i gather 'peppering' is not a good thing?? Would you buy from that same source again?? John, you seem to be quite knowledgeable, could you tell me where i could find the medicine called Hex? I am just getting things on hand as i am new to this and i cannot find that any where! The real name is Metronidazole, or Metrozol, but of course i am sure you knew that! Thank you!! Marie!

I don't know if I would buy from the same source again or yellow discus but then I don't have any more room in my tank anyway. If I buy more discus, I will probably buy from a TRUE breeder instead of someone who just import them.
Cliff, thank for the feedback.

YellowDiscus

[KIWI13]

Actually I like peppering on the PB's it looks real nice on some of them. I guess everyone has his or her own taste....

Peppering is absolutely not harmful.

HTH

Jason

[Giniel]

Hi , here is a picture of my ugly fishy"duckling" .He has grown on me and is now one of my favorites.Picture is not too clear and he hasgained some blue in the peppering and dots or circles in the fins.He has a good personallity though.
Debbie