A question about color.

[Iminit]

I got these 2 discus in sept and they were at bright red on arrival 129880. 4 days later they turned into a beautiful red blue129881. Now after 2 months they’re starting to turn brown.129882. I’ve been feed the blackworms with the red enhancers and color flakes. What do I need to feed to get the red back? Or are these fish just going to get browner?

[peewee1]

You might try something with salmon in it, like Bug Bites.

[seanyuki]

I like Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef flakes for its red enhancers....Ingredients Plankton, dried fish protein digest, salmon, fish meal, wheat gluten, wheat flour, wheat starch, brine shrimp, lecithin, cochineal (added color), salmon eggs, fish oil, annatto seed (added color), paprika, dried kelp, kelp meal, mussels, choline chloride, magnesium sulfate, iron, inositol, a-tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, calcium carbonate, biotin, calcium pantothenate, niacin, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), riboflavin (source of vitamin B2), L-ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), potassium iodide, vitamin A supplement, citric acid (preservative), folic acid, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K3 activity), cobalt carbonate, vitamin B12 supplement.

129884

[14Discus]

I add Astaxanthin to the cubes to bring out the reds.

[Iminit]

Thanks guys. Never thought of feeding my fish reef or salt water food. Where do I get Astaxanthin?

[danotaylor]

Tom it's actually in most commercially produced fish foods, especially some of the super red flowerhorn preparations. The Asian breeders use hormones and very potent color enhancers to achieve the vibrancy their fish have, and in some cases as those are removed from the discus's diet once sold to the end consumer the colors simply fade back to the fishes base color.

[14Discus]

I bought my Astaxanthin powder from KensFish.com. Two bags go a long way. Imho, discus don’t eat a lot per the body size compared to other tropicals, so the food they do get for such a large body (surface area wise) is very concentrated w the added coloring enhancement. I do the same w Carophyll for my yellow tank discus.

[twocat]

I sprinkle Astaxanthin powder from KensFish.com.over my beef heart, mix it in good before I freeze it and feed my fish this way.