Oh where oh where has all the red gone!

[Iminit]

Sung to where have all the flowers gone .

Got this guy a few months back. A brown based red. Been feeding it red treated foods.9FD0EB70-9AEF-48CC-AC7A-D666C1AEFBCB.jpgwhen I first got it.07F046B5-EE52-4073-928D-1894EFB5F852.jpgat its best. First day after qt and in main tank.E63CC8A3-1AD5-4BFB-85C9-6C61090660C1.jpg this is a few weeks in main tank. You can see the red leaving.1EF45173-C4C5-4673-A631-A3C76BF68520.jpgand this is today. I was away for a bit. Could it have missed me? Well in sure it’s not a pigeon and is a brown based red. Still a great looking discus that has been growing and doing well. But I’m guessing it was treated with something to make it red .

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[jeep]

Most reds are color fed. Carophyll is common. I think it'll even out and be a nice one!

[LizStreithorst]

Hormones, Brian. All imported fish are hormoned. It's sad.

[Iminit]

Yes it’s sad! Hoping they don’t mess with the life expectancy too.

[LizStreithorst]

Sometimes they do. They feed the show prospects testosterone to help them grow huge. Those poor fish are drop dead gorgeous but they don't live very long at all. It actually changes their sex to almost all males. If you're lucky and get a female in the group your lucky if you get a single spawn. I know this because I've experienced it.

[Willie]

I get good red color development just by feeding Vibra-Bites.

[CliffsDiscus]

Probably fed with Macrobrachium Shrimp to give it that red. Doesn't look like a brown Discus that has been colored fed, there are no stress bars, but more of a Pigeon x gray ghost .

[LizStreithorst]

Cliff, you have no clue how much I would love to get just half of what you have stored in your head.

[brewmaster15]

It Used to be pretty well known and talked about on forums that imported bright red Discus or small fully patterned ones were hormoned and then fed foods high in Red pigments to achieve that color. It was also discussed often that the color faded over time or the treatments damaged the fish internally so they had shorter lives or lost their color after a time or wasted away... Now the new lingo on social media is "Color Fed" . It sounds alot better ..Color Fed. ...Color Fed...yep sounds alot better.

Theres a world of a difference between feeding fish food with red pigments added to the diet to bring out the natural red color potential of that fish or to maintain it and what is politely called today " Color Fed" . Can't tell you how many times I have been approached by hobbyists telling me the fish they bought lost its color and can they get it back? Its really sad, but the answer is usually no. Not unless you get the exporter to ship you some of special "color fed" stuff.

al

[Iminit]

Yes Al it’s a gamble what you end up with. Did think we were over it. A few years back I got a red cover from uncle sams and it kept it color. No big loss with this guy. The price was real good.
Cliff here’s a pic when I first got it. You can see the stress bars. A little bit after that pic it got a cc and those bars were showing and oversized.3A638EE2-B321-4721-905B-58BBA9C310BC.jpg.

[Iminit]

Well this is where my once red guy is now.D7C1148B-B22F-4B3D-9554-6FC9E6705F6D.jpg7BECCA4C-D4DB-43B9-AD3C-A89D55759C15.jpg. Don’t think it is a pb looks more like brown to me. So having lost most of his red. I found yet another red one locally!! .86D1D175-1757-431F-827A-DADE527ACD3A.jpg. So now I will follow it’s red and see if it lasts .3B88B91B-4DF2-4BA5-B0D1-86BD0D8D6569.jpg. So far it’s looking great. Almost wishing I bought 2. But time will tell. It wasn’t advertised as a red raffleisa but it sure looks like one. A few years ago I bought 3 red raffleisa. Dennis Discus!261CA9B5-9A1A-46EE-863B-D19C1616357C.jpg. Theses all are pb’s no red at all.

[brewmaster15]

Wow, that guy really did lose alot of red!!!! Guess the vitamins wore off. Hope the new one holds its color more for you, it may since pb based.



al