Colour Enhancement

[kevinattwyford]

I was told by one of our revered experts over Christmas that a good number of Far Eastern breeders find it acceptable to colour enhance fish.

I must admit to knowing little about this. How it's done? With what? How long does the enhancement last? etc.

I have mixed views on this since I'm totally uneducated in the matter other than what I have read about natural carotenoids and the use of paprika.

What do you think?

[Paul]

Almost all foods contain some form of colour enhancing chemical, even the carrots that get fed to the rabbit or guinea pig do.

There is a whole host of ingredients that will boost the fishes colour, even in some cases change it. All of these are perfectly legal and work with the fishes natural colour production. For example if you wanted to tan your skin,e at a lot of raw carrots, and use a lot of tomatoes, particularly puree!

Here are some of the things that affect colour, with thanks to Greg Richardson:

Rolled oats ground up. They are rich in amino acids that will enhance blue tones.

Beta carotene.

Astaxanthin.

Shrimp.

Canary Yellow.

Carrots.

Krill.

Salmon oil.

Nutrurose.

Spirulina.

Turmeric.

Red algae.

Paprika.

Daisy or Chrysanthemum petals.

Licorice.

Capsorubin.

Zeaxanthin.

Lutein.

Kryptoxanthin.

Alpha.

Capxanthin.

Xanthophyl.

Chlorophyll.

Phuycocyanin.

Tomato Puree.

Now as to what the safe levels of these chemicals/additives are I am in no way certain. Adding any additive to their food needs to be done with caution, too much of anything can, and does, prove harmful (except for clean water).

I can see no reason why, under any circumstances, we should add hormones to the fishes food or to the water. The only reason to do this is to cause the fish to colour up quicker so that the fish can be got to market sooner and get a higher price. Sadly greed rears it's ugly head everywhere.

[John Dempsie]

The only food with colour enhancer that I use when on special offer from the wholesaler is Tetra prima. But I tend to stick to Beef Ox, Prawns and Spinich. My fish seem to colour up just as well, and the growth rate is much better.

[kevinattwyford]

I'm not playing devils advocate here Just genuinely curious.

I understand the way in which "natural" ( possibly what fish would find in the wild ) food can have an effect on the colour of a fish. Am I correct in assuming that these types of ingredients are what is used by the breeders as acceptable? Or is there an acceptance that hormones can be used.

Don't know much about hormones other than some very memorable pics of female Russian athletes Why not use them? What harm do they do?

[LizStreithorst]

They are de-toxified in the liver so liver damage is the number one harm. They affect the immune system. That's another harm. They have affects on the reproductive system. That's a third.

[kevinattwyford]

Originally Posted by LizStreithorst

They are de-toxified in the liver so liver damage is the number one harm. They affect the immune system. That's another harm. They have affects on the reproductive system. That's a third.

Is that all

Thanks Liz

[Mark Evenden]

Almost all foods contain some form of colour enhancing chemical, even the carrots that get fed to the rabbit or guinea pig do.

Chemical? How does a chemical get added to a carrot? Carrots are one food that requires no listed declaration of content, like oranges and apples.

Tetra Prima and most granulated foods are really poor choices for Discus...monitor Phospahates pre and post feeding, then decide if it is wise?

[Steve B]

No....they grow beards

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Mark Evenden

Chemical? How does a chemical get added to a carrot? Carrots are one food that requires no listed declaration of content, like oranges and apples.

ever heard of beta carotine? that is a chemical naturally produced in carrots.....

[Mark Evenden]

Natural is fine, if its natural it is there for a reason.

But this does not make it an enhancer in the Tetra sense.

Enhancer indicates that "it" has been added for a specific reason by a third party, or by someone seeking an advantage........a la Dwayne Chambers, cheating scum bag

[John Dempsie]

Last year, I had a batch of WLSS from Chai Discus.(Web Leopard SnakeSkin) I devided the to up, into 36x18x18 both with 50% W/C everyday. Using Tetra prima, the other Ox Hart mix (my own) 3 months later, the tank being fed prima were slightly smaller, but were more sickly and seemed to be more proned to infection, then the others fed own OX heart mix were slightly bigger not quite as colourful, but with no problems.

Almost 12 months, both set of fish were just about the same size, but still one batched seemed to have the same problems. May be it's just not enough vits n mins.

John.

[kaceyo]

There are enhancers that not only enhance colors, but are benificial to the fish. Astaxanthin (NatuRose) in particuler is a very good red enhancer that is all natural and has loads of enzymes, antioxidents, increases immune responce and helps in the uptake of assorted vitamins etc etc. There is a very good article about it on the BrineSrimp Direct website if your interested in learning about it. Another benificial color enhancer is spirolina which we are all aware of.
I don't think you can clump all color enhancers into a group and call them indesirable. Certain strains like the bright reds in particular and spotteds to a lesser degree would look altogether different without enhancers. That's why the RGD's and Super Melons that are homegrown don't have the same intense colors as the imports, which are colored with carophyl pink and carophyl red, synthetic carotenoids, that are much stronger than the natural ones like astaxanthin.

Kacey

[Discusinn]

Originally Posted by Paul

ever heard of beta carotine? that is a chemical naturally produced in carrots.....

and can be extreamly dangerous ( ie fatal ) if eaten to excess.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by kaceyo

I don't think you can clump all color enhancers into a group and call them indesirable.

I wasn't meaning to say they were undesirable, so sorry if that was the impression. I was trying to point out that many foods already contain these colourants, what I do mean to say is that under no circumstances are additional hormones acceptable.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Discusinn

and can be extreamly dangerous ( ie fatal ) if eaten to excess.

Graham could you actually eat enough carrots or shrimp shells to kill yourself....