Color enhancers?

Hello!
First and foremost I want to thank you for all of your hard work bringing all of your gorgeous discus to the states. Kenny is an amazing importer and we are all so lucky to have both of you bringing in these high quality discus.

I have 8 of your beautiful fish. Some red, blue, yellow and white all in one aquarium. I have been trying to feed foods that will keep their colors as well as I can, knowing that it will be impossible with all of the different colors.

How do you keep your whites so white? I have an Albino Platinum that is turning a bit yellow and pink. My golden checkerboard has orange spots as well. I am trying to avoid color enhancing foods. Do your Aquabits contain enhancers? If so what would you suggest to keep these fish in one tank and still looking good? I would not mind letting my reds fade a bit to keep my yellows and whites more pure. Any advice you could give would be very appreciated!

Again, that you for your part in bringing us these gorgeous animals. You are very much respected here for your expertise!

Sincerely,
Jenene Heyer

Might help to list what you currently feed and if you have access to the ingredients, that will help as well...

Basically this is a very tough task and also hard to achieve with your mix of colors...

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Originally Posted by Phillydubs

Might help to list what you currently feed and if you have access to the ingredients, that will help as well...

Basically this is a very tough task and also hard to achieve with your mix of colors...

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Hi Phil, Before I realized how many foods contained enhancers I fed them a multitude of pellets and frozen foods. I made a huge batch of beef heart and I used the DIY guy's recipe and did add the Asthaxian but only a little. I just re-watched Al's video on Discus keeping and saw he mentioned even though spiralina looks green it is a red enhancer so that explains a lot of what I am seeing in my golden checkerboard. I have been trying to find foods that do not have krill or any of the other known enhancers. Some foods just say marine proteins. At this point I am still feeding my beef heart once a day until I can make a turkey/seafood mix, I feed Al's FDBW and his Discus Chow and Forrests Aquabites which is why I wrote in here because I don't think there is a detailed ingredient list on it. My fish love his food though! I was feeding Bio Gold and quit that because that os full of enhancers if I read that one right. I also feed mysis and frozen blood worms as a treat. I know it may be impossible to be able to balance all these colors. I guess I just need to find the best compromise. More importantly I just want them to have the best nutrition I can give them to keep them looking their best.

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Originally Posted by Jenene

Hello!
First and foremost I want to thank you for all of your hard work bringing all of your gorgeous discus to the states. Kenny is an amazing importer and we are all so lucky to have both of you bringing in these high quality discus.

I have 8 of your beautiful fish. Some red, blue, yellow and white all in one aquarium. I have been trying to feed foods that will keep their colors as well as I can, knowing that it will be impossible with all of the different colors.

How do you keep your whites so white? I have an Albino Platinum that is turning a bit yellow and pink. My golden checkerboard has orange spots as well. I am trying to avoid color enhancing foods. Do your Aquabits contain enhancers? If so what would you suggest to keep these fish in one tank and still looking good? I would not mind letting my reds fade a bit to keep my yellows and whites more pure. Any advice you could give would be very appreciated!

Again, that you for your part in bringing us these gorgeous animals. You are very much respected here for your expertise!

Sincerely,
Jenene Heyer

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Hi Jenene,
Most pellets will enhance orangy or red, so do the AQUAbites. Plain beefheart and blood worm will not enhance the color, the fishes will build up their own coloration by age.
Btw,thank u very much for tge great support..

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Originally Posted by forrest

Hi Jenene,
Most pellets will enhance orangy or red, so do the AQUAbites. Plain beefheart and blood worm will not enhance the color, the fishes will build up their own coloration by age.
Btw,thank u very much for tge great support..

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Thanks so much for the reply Forrest, I appreciate it knowing how busy you must be. I just have one more question based on your reply- I was thinking my oranges and reds would fade as they got older if I did not feed color enhanced foods. If I just feed them foods without the enhancers will they remain those beautiful hues as they age. I thought their colors would fade quite a bit without the color additives in their food.

I love your fish either way. They are so beautiful, clean, healthy, curious and so intelligent. They have changed my life- I have found a new focus. I am so thankful that I found Kenny through this forum who brings us your gorgeous fish, Even though my tank is stocked full I still go through your shipment photos every month and choose my favorites from every barrel. Your fish are amazing and I will continue to dream of owning as many as I can as long as I am alive and still able to do water changes... :D

Thank you, thank you for all of your hard work. I am a loyal life long customer... Someday I hope our paths will cross so I may thank you in person.
-Jenene

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Originally Posted by Jenene

Thanks so much for the reply Forrest, I appreciate it knowing how busy you must be. I just have one more question based on your reply- I was thinking my oranges and reds would fade as they got older if I did not feed color enhanced foods. If I just feed them foods without the enhancers will they remain those beautiful hues as they age. I thought their colors would fade quite a bit without the color additives in their food.

I love your fish either way. They are so beautiful, clean, healthy, curious and so intelligent. They have changed my life- I have found a new focus. I am so thankful that I found Kenny through this forum who brings us your gorgeous fish, Even though my tank is stocked full I still go through your shipment photos every month and choose my favorites from every barrel. Your fish are amazing and I will continue to dream of owning as many as I can as long as I am alive and still able to do water changes... :D

Thank you, thank you for all of your hard work. I am a loyal life long customer... Someday I hope our paths will cross so I may thank you in person.
-Jenene

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hi Jenene,
most adult discus will gain their own color, except if u want the fish turning from orange to more red, then u may need enhancer to make them redder, young fishes need enhancer for us to grade them, as for adult, we usually dont need to enhance n let them grow naturally is the best way in my opinion..

Nice read

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Originally Posted by forrest

hi Jenene,
most adult discus will gain their own color, except if u want the fish turning from orange to more red, then u may need enhancer to make them redder, young fishes need enhancer for us to grade them, as for adult, we usually dont need to enhance n let them grow naturally is the best way in my opinion..

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Thanks so much again, That is so interesting. I had always been under the impression that without enhancers as adults they would lose a lot of their color. It is actually kind of difficult to find a variety of foods that do not have them except what you have mentioned previously.

I think what I may be seeing now is kind of an in between or "teenage" stage. I don't need my reds fire engine red. I think having them all their intended natural colors will be beautiful. Your breeding is superb. Your information is very valuable. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Jenene