Keeping Yellow Discus Yellow

[lastflea]

Hi everyone. I believe there's a knack to this, because they lose the yellow pigment with age. Is there a specific diet that maintains a bright yellow colouration?

Rob :)

[Megalodon]

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two yellow/orange carotenoids. The supplement FloraGlo contains both. I haven't had to use it for my fish yet but it worked for my bird.

[brewmaster15]

Rob your biggest challenge with yellows is to avoid reds and oranges. These are in so many foods and readily taken up by discus. Most yellow discus usually succumb to turning orange. If you can avoid orange and red pigments a little supplimentation with yellows mentioned goes a long way.

al

[lastflea]

Most yellow discus usually succumb to turning orange.

Thanks both of you :)

That's not a surprise if the supplements contain yellow AND orange enhancers. So is there a specific carotenoid for yellow only? Doesn't make any sense to feed a yellow discus carotenoids that contain enhancers for orange, as well as yellow, if yellow is hard to maintain. May as well feed them reds.

Just gathering info here, on things that aren't clear, and difficult to find definitive answers on the web.

[Megalodon]

www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/16/2/1710/pdf

Skip to the section entitled "3.1. Orange and yellow pigment carotenoids." Discussion of yellow carotenoids continues after pages and pages of tables.

That article is going to be a lot more reliable than my memory but a lot of fish foods contain beta carotene, astaxanthin, or canthaxanthin which I believe are all orange/red carotenoids.

You would have to minimize those and load up on the yellow carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, etc.).

Many carotenoids can be converted from one to another so that's something else to watch out for. I don't know if a yellow can be converted to a red/orange but I suppose it's possible.

[Hidan]

Interesting thread.

I have mostly blues and yellows. Do I just have to avoid astaxanthin or add astaxanthin to the beef heart mix or should I be adding in any other color enhancers to keep their colors bright?

[RogueDiscus]

Rob your biggest challenge with yellows is to avoid reds and oranges. These are in so many foods and readily taken up by discus. Most yellow discus usually succumb to turning orange. If you can avoid orange and red pigments a little supplimentation with yellows mentioned goes a long way.

al

Hi Al,
I feed your FDBW and discus pellets to my whites and yellows to avoid the red/orange. Are one of the supplements mentioned above good for enhancing yellow without going orange or red?

[lastflea]

www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/16/2/1710/pdf

Skip to the section entitled "3.1. Orange and yellow pigment carotenoids." Discussion of yellow carotenoids continues after pages and pages of tables.

That article is going to be a lot more reliable than my memory but a lot of fish foods contain beta carotene, astaxanthin, or canthaxanthin which I believe are all orange/red carotenoids.

You would have to minimize those and load up on the yellow carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, etc.).

Many carotenoids can be converted from one to another so that's something else to watch out for. I don't know if a yellow can be converted to a red/orange but I suppose it's possible.

Really useful, thank you :)

Hidan....!! I'm really leaning towards blues and yellows for my first throw. Was also planning to buy Stendkers, but not seeing any yellow variations on their website, so possibly changing my mind on the source. This is a real problem with discus. Their beauty seems to cast spells and control your decisions.

[Hidan]

I am loving my Golden Melons and the Blue Diamonds & Tiger Turquoise are stunning as well, so there are good options in yellows and blues. No idea bout Stendkers as that really is not an option in my country.

The fact that most foods available here have is something of a concern astaxanthin is a bit of a concern to me as I am still not sure how it will affect my Yellow and Blue Discus and sadly its been a bit difficult getting reliable information about the same.
Hopefully someone here who has dealt with yellows and Blues or a mixed Discus tank can let us beginners know how to manage the discus food without having the yellows and Blues lose their color.

[Willie]

Admittedly it’s been a while, but I’ve never had any problems keeping yellow discus yellow with beef heart. I order more me from one of the sponsors here.

Willie