What is Astaxanthin?

[wo]

Hi:

Today I find a brochure on omega products. I find an item called astaxanthin. What is it? I heard that overfeeding the astaxanthin can cause severe damage to the ability of reproductivity. And it's quite expensive- 200 gram/can for USD50.- Perhaps the naturose is cheaper and harmless. Is that true or they are just of the same components? Now I only add chorella powder (for human consumption) in the hamburger. Are overdosed chorella powders also harmful to discus? Thanks.

[arpanlib]

hey wo,
what does the chorella powder do??? is it aslo for red colouration???

arpanlib

[wo]

Hi Arpanlib:

Yes, on the description it says chlorella has the brightening color effect. However I am not sure the effect on the red discus.

[cobalt]

HI guys
Astaxantin is a derivate of beta carotene. it is a type of vitamin that causes the fish flesh to turn red and hence enhances the red tones on discus. It does not change the blue colors.
It is made by a company ROCHE pharma and is called charrophyl pink.
it is used commercially to turn the salmon flesh to the right color of pink. almost all comercial fish foods have this inside.
it is expensive like 100 euro per kilo here. (ouch).
Naturose is a natural dyluted form of this.
Cobalt

[wo]

Thanks Cobalt for your neat explanation on astaxanthin. Now I know which to add in the hamburger for them.

[cobalt]

Glad to be of assistance ;D

[flogger426]

why do you guys want to artificially color up your fish? i'm just wondering. doesn't color fade after discontinuing the color agent?

later flogger

[wo]

Hi flogger426,

I am interested in the natural betacarotin because I heard it brings out the color of the youngsters; especially for the RSG. Some say if you don't feed them with coloring rich food when they are young then the number of spots will be less than you feed them. So I am only interested in safest products for them. Yes, the color will fade somehow but I plan to feed them when they are 2 months-6 months old. So far I have not buy any coloring food though.

[boobar]

Hi all

there's a film-strip constantly broadcast on the israeli national geographic channel about the way Astaxanthin is being produced.
it produced out of an algae (don't remember which) so it's all natural. the algae go's through this process of decomposing in the sun. in the end, when it all dried up, what you get is a dark red powder.

they use it as a food additive and red color enhancer for salmon fish who grow up in commercial fishpond.

i always wondered how it's going to work with discus. does any one hed any experience with it ?

[Carol_Roberts]

It's frequently used as a food additive for discus. It really brings out the red

[skoda]

hi all,

does the product also have other product range to bring out the blue (for BD) and green (for ocean green) colour? that will be great! ;D ::)

[Carol_Roberts]

Not that I know of. The red enhancers may turn the lips and where the fins join the body pink or peach colored even on blue or green fish.

[boobar]

hi skoda

I heard somewhere that crushed oats are used as a blue color enhancer.
but i don't know that for sure. does any here know if it true ?

[cobalt]

Hi boobar
a bite when the ffil is down ha?
anyway oat contain a lot of Guanin and other amino acids that allow the fish to express blue colors better. It is not like pigments the stain the flesh but it naturally helps the fish show its colours.
It worked nicely at Dag Zeev 1 's discus tank all the leopards turned blue.
Cobalt

[skoda]

hi cobalt,

if it is kind of pigment that stain the fish, will the stain be permanently there? if yes, would it be possible to pass down to next generation? ???

[Carol_Roberts]

The red color enhancement is not permanent. Even if it was permanent it could not be passed on to the next generation. Thank goodness, all my grandchildren would be born with tatoos. ;)

[cobalt]

LOL
Good one Carol!
anyway you only pass on what you are born with not what you pick up along the way, unless your genes pick it up......
Cobalt

[hanleong]

I am confused.. please help with my questions

1) I suppose Astaxanthin is a part of naturose.. should I get naturose? or can I just get Astaxanthin?
2) where can I find Astaxanthin?
3) how do I feed Astaxanthin to my fish? thru mixing into the BH mix?
4) how much is enough?
5) any side effects on using this

sorry for being confused..

Thanks

[Per]

Hi Hanleong,

You may find some of the answers in this tread:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=4782;sta rt=0

Per

[cobalt]

skoda
nothing you can do to the parents will be passed on to next generation, exept messing with their DNA.
like if you go saddist and cut off 10000 mouse tails it will not cause and the offspring to be born without tails.

astaxantin and rolled oats will not stain the fish, and even ink will wash away in the sea of time .
Cobalt

[black rat]

Just a thought and no more than that ok but, flamingos and salmon obtain their natural pink colour by eating crustaceans such as shrimp etc which i believe are rich in a natural colouring agent called canthaxanthin,
for those interested mayb the addition of shrimp to the diet of discus would assist?.
this is not backed up by any experience with discus so dont go mad at me it's just a thort and no more. :)

[cobalt]

Yes it works.
I fed for a time with "red " artemia adults that where enriched with astaxantine. it worked swell but was a lot of work.
so it
got dropped :-[

Cobalt

[blaze]

not meaning to stray from the 'Astaxanthin' topic..... but about the 'oats' to bring out the blue :fish:,

I like to know what kinnda oats you would reccomend;
1) instant oats (like 1 minute Quaker oats)
2) oldfashions oats (the type that u have to soak before cooking it for human consumption)
3) or crushed/rolled oats ( fine almost powdery oats)

[cobalt]

they all work
the diffrence is ease of use. it is important to make sure that they do not have sugars and stuff added for flavor, it does not benefit the fish.
Cobalt

[algaegrower]

I've done my research and NatuRose is not quality controll tested. Having problems with containmenants like bird guano and dead insects. Not to mention there production process infringes upon another companies patent, meaning there is a more efficient producer of astaxanthin out there. This company provides higher concentrations of Astaxanthin and larger capsules. Some people I know who actually tried NatuRose have had violent allergic reactions probally due to excessive containminant levels. Those people now use Asta-Factor with no problems. I use religiously on my Discus, Bettas, and Cardinals with terrific results.

here is a link to the place I get mine Astaxanthin from:
http://www.store.yahoo.net/astafactor/astafactor.html

I don't work with the company nor know anyone who works there, yet I sell there product with no mark up becasue it works so well. And it's good to know that I am not the only one feeding my fish supplemental astaxanthin.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?foodo&1066595101

Much aloha
Paul

[Dave C]

It sounds like the product you're selling is food-grade Astaxanthin for human consumption. It is sold by the capsule rather then just a bag of powder. Is there anything else in the product other then Astaxanthin? Do you have any details of your research on NatuRose and the quality control issues?

We can buy 2.5oz of Naturose from Brine Shrimp Direct (http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/brineshrimpdirect-product-4-3-26.htm#naturose) for $12. You're selling 150mg of Asta-Factor for $25. That sounds unbelievably expensive. There must be a mistake. If you do the math you'll find that 150mg is equivalent to less then 1% of an ounce (actually it's .00529oz). In other words, you will get more then 472x the amount of Naturose for 1/2 the price.

Have I made a mathematical error somewhere? If so I apologize, please correct this.