Black Pepper on Pidgeon Bloods Q/A

[allan_mark76]

Does anybody know how to take off the Black Peppers on the Pidgeon Blood Discus???? ??? I just recently purchased two and was told that with age that the Black Peppers will decrease over time. Right now my two are juveniles. I've seen some Pidgeon Bloods that look magnificent with little or no spots and was just wondering what I can do on my part to decrease the Black Spots so once they mature they would look beautiful.

Thanks.

A-

[Aquatic_Design]

Allen,
Welcome to the board. I know you'll love it here.
The peppering on the discus is genetic. You can help reduce the amount by making sure the background on the tank is a very light color. I changed mine to white and it has made a considerable difference. Also don't put a dirty PB in a planted tank. It will only increase the peppering.
Hope this helps.
Donna :)

[DarkDiscus]

I guess I am pretty much crazy, but I actually LIKE the peppering on some fish. Al has one marlboro red that is highly peppered but I think he looks cool.

:crazy:

John

PS. Yeah, I've always heard that using the light background works wonders.

Allen,

Leaving your florescent light on 24/7 for about 4-6 weeks, will get most of the speckes off..

phil..

[Carol_Roberts]

I tried leaving the light on 24/7 with mine and didn't see much of a difference. . .
Carol :heart1:

[Barb Newell]

Hi, I don't like the peppering either. Like the yellows, reds and oranges but not the black peppering.

Barb

[fcdiscus]

Hi Allen Cary told me the same thing Donna wrote. A light background should lessen the peppering. Frank

Hi Carol,
The 24/7 didn't for you? Two things come to mind. 1)old fluorescent tubes and or 2) insufficient intensity on your current tubes. just a thought..
Phil..

..and if that still dosen't work for you, then, I'm sorry, ...I stand corrected..

Phil..

[allan_mark76]

Okay folks I have a Light Blue background in my tank for my PB.... How long would it take for the peppering to go away??? Is there anything on my part that I can do to increase the peppering to go away???

A-

Some say too much light causes peppering some say not enough..and the planted tanks..that can cause peppering?? Can one of the pros comment please? Cary, wazzup wit da peppern man?

[Pick]

It's basically (not exactly, I know) the pigeon blood version of stress bars. Some have enormous amount of peppering while a select small percent of spawns will have almost none. The breeders keep their cleanest for breeding but for retail purposes >90% clean is considered clean. A fish showing peppering of more than 10% would generally be considered dirty and probably a cull. At least this is my understanding after spending a couple of years shopping before I bought any.

The light background definately does make a difference with mine. Keep in mind that anytime something excites them - either bad, like someone slapping the glass - or good, like feeding time - the spots will intensify.

I also have noticed that skipping water changes seems to increase the peppering. Again, this would be water quality = stress.

So in summary IMHO: It is genetic but can be reduced by good water changing practices and light colored background. Also if there are other elements contributing to stressing the fish (like a bully or something) removal of the stress factor.

I have no experience regarding the long high intensity light treatment.

TC

[John Kwek]

B P is always in the genes of Pigeon blood and sorry to say that once it's there, you can never remove it. But you can make it less obvious by having dimmer yellowish light, away from direct or indirect Sunlight or florescent light. But it will also intensified when you fail to do water change, stress, and also early sight of sickness. Breeders now will usually choose the least B P or none to spawn to get a high percentage of clean ones or cross over with other none pigeon strain. Still you will still get B P but lower percentage. Inbreeding was known to remove B P but not proven yet. I had one very red marlboro with a lots of B P but after she spawn and with fries, to my amaze all those B P just disappear and turned very aggressive.
So remember, try to buy the clean ones, but if you fail to take good care of it, it will still appear.

[Willie]

Allan;

When I changed the background from light blue to white on my tanks, the peppering was further reduced.

Willie

[Rikk]

a whiter background or sand does help a little when they are still growing but the rest is in there gens

that means you can try to get it out by crossing over and over the ones without and in the end you will have some without. But still it wil be in there gens.

So when you buy some without and cross them you can have pepper again.

So for the fish you have:
Buy an orange pair of sunglasen ;D

[Rod]

Hi,

The pb black pepper is genetic and it is possible to tottally remove the pepper with selective breeding and some luck. I like to keep my pb in dark bottom tanks as it tends to show the amount of pepper the fish carries so it makes selection for the really clean ones easy. This photo below shows a pair of golden pb, the male carries pepper on the nose and a tiny bit in the fins, and the female also carries a little on the body. 15% of their fry are tottally clean, (2nd photo) and about 50% are like the parents. The rest are dirtier than the parents.

Rod

[Rod]

This is a youngster from the previous pair.

[allan_mark76]

Okay folks here's what I did... I changed their background from a clear background to a bright BLUE. I did noticed that 75% of their peppering did go away, but the remaining 25% still remains. What I'm thinking is it's either inherent genes or stress. I double checked all my parameters and they all came out clean. So right now I'm guessing it's just their genes for the remaining peppers that remain. Thanks for all your help and info;D.

Allan Mark Asuncion ::)

[Ivan]

I've tried using a scrubby sponge on them, the fish went red! And didn't swim anymore. :jester: :shocked: